Care Sheet for Ball PythonsAverage Rating Given To This Care Sheet Is 0 (1=lowest, 5=highest) Last Updated: 06/20/2008 |
Main Category: | Snakes |
Sub Category: | Ball Pythons |
Care Sheet Submitted By: | Bazzer |
Years Experience: | 1 to 2 Years |
Species: | Ball Python |
Other Species or Phases this Care Sheet May Cover: | N/A |
Sexing and Characteristics: | Only sure ways to tell are by popping or probing. Females are generally bigger than males when fully grown and are more heavily bodied. Another way to tell is by the size of their anal spurs, with males having longer spurs and females being near none existent, but this is not 100% reliable. |
Mostly Active During: | Night |
Substrate and Water Needs: | Newspaper, Aspen, Cypress Mulch, Aubiose, reptile carpet, Orchid Bark. This list isn’t exhausted but do not use sand, pine shavings or cedar as these are dangerous to the animal. |
Lighting and UVB: | No specific lighting requirements are needed. |
Temperatures and Humidity: | Cool end should be between 82 - 84f and warm end should have a basking spot between 92 - 94f inside their warm end hide. Maintain these temperatures 24 hours a day, unless you have them in a breeding cycle.
Maintain humidity between 40 - 60%. I tend to raise this to about 70% during a shed cycle. |
Heating and Equipment: | Simple is better. I provide a heat mat underneath my plastic tubs/ vivs and maintain my snake room with a temperature, which allows the tub to have an ambient temp of 82 - 84f. All heating appliances MUST be controlled with a thermostat and digital thermometer/hygrometers must be used to record temperature and humidity.
Other methods to heat enclosures include ceramics and spot lamps, but these MUST be guarded to prevent burns and do tend to dry out enclosures. In conjunction with these, you must provide some under tank heat sources these animals thrive with belly warmth. |
Caging Provided: | I use plastic blanket boxes for my BP’s, which are 50 liter in size, with ventilation holes drilled in to allow air and to release some humidity. Other options are vivariums, aquariums and racking systems. What ever you decide to choose, it shouldn’t be too large as these animals like tight secure environments and large enclosures may cause stress, putting an already picky feeder off his/ her food. Make sure that you provide a good locking mechanism to prevent escape. |
Diet: | Carnivorous |
Description of Diet: | Mice or rats. Only feed one item per week and this should be no larger than the snakes body at the largest point. Sometimes it is wise to leave them for 2 weeks to ensure you keep an active feeding response. If overfed they will become obese and no doubt the will go off their food for a while.
These snakes may go off their food over the winter periods when temperature is colder and barometric pressure drops. This is normal for them in the wild as it stimulates a breeding season. |
Supplements, Nutrition and Usage: | Not required |
Maintenance: | Spot clean daily.
Change water daily and clean water bowl out.
A full substrate change is discretionary, but at least once every 2 - 4 weeks. All equipment should be disinfected and thoroughly rinsed with fresh water. |
Some Words on this Species: | A very enjoyable animal, which is classed as the smallest of the giant snakes. Males generally reach no more than 3 foot in length (1500g) and females 4 - 5 ft max (up to 4000g). They are generally docile and tame to handle and would rather curl up into a ball (hence the name) rather than bite a predator.
There are many various morphs to choose from on the market and this creates fantastic breeding opportunities to discover new Morphs. |
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