Some ball pythons will switch between different food types, but many go their entire lives eating only mice, while others will eat only rats. Many ball pythons will imprint on a single food item, meaning they will only recognize one type of animal as food. Ball pythons have particular tastes when it comes to food. Unless the snake is acting ill, skipping a week or two usually is not a concern.īreeders usually sell ball python hatchlings that are already established feeders on rats or mice. However, it is common for snakes, especially ball pythons, to skip a meal here and there. While wild-caught adult ball pythons have a reputation for refusing foods, captive-bred ball pythons and hatchlings usually have healthy appetites and will embrace a regular feeding schedule. Captive-bred hatchlings (we always recommend captive-bred pet snakes over wild-caught) are easy to handle and grow into interesting pets. Caring for a ball python is not as demanding as other snake breeds and most keepers will have little trouble providing a proper captive environment. Ball Python Care Levelīecause of their relatively small size and docile nature, ball pythons are one of the best types of snake for beginners and intermediate keepers. If you want to buy a ball python with a specific color morph or patterning, your best bet is to contact a reputable breeder and buy directly from them. Other morphs include the stripe, banded, pinstripe, sugar, cinnamon, jungle, Mojave, fire, banana, and spider ball pythons. The clown ball python has a golden yellow-hue and is very distinctive in appearance. ![]() Clown Ball PythonsĬlown ball pythons have beautiful markings on their heads, with the dark background color fusing into a vertebral stripe that travels the entire length of the snake. Even the normal colorations of piebald balls are not normally patterned, many times appearing in dual stripes running along either side of the snake’s backbone. Piebald ball pythons have sections of pure white that can cover anything from a small percentage of the snake’s belly to up to 95 percent of the snake, where only the head and neck are normally colored. No other reptile can achieve the pure white of the piebald alongside its normal body color. Piebald ball pythons are truly unique in the reptile world. “Piebald,” used to describe patches of white and black, or white with other colors, is a term that for years has been used to describe black and white horses, and in the reptile world it works just as well. Some axanthic ball pythons have brown, silver, or dark gray hues to them. These pythons lack the yellow pigment called xanthin and are typically black, white, and gray. These are referred to as orange ghosts, yellow ghosts, and green ghosts. This morph is extremely muted, with individual ghost ball pythons exhibiting a particular color or shade. One type of albino designer morph is the snow ball python, or snow ball (get it?). Occasionally, an albino ball python will have random black scales or patches of normal coloring. It’s possible to breed caramel albinos as well as lavender albinos for even greater color variations. This type of color morph lacks the pigment responsible for blacks and browns, which results in a yellow and white snake with red eyes. The most common ball python color morphs are listed here. ![]() What the ball python lacks in subspecies it makes up for by having a large variety of patterns, markings, and color variations (called color morphs). Forty-seven years is the official record for the oldest ball python in captivity it lived at the Philadelphia Zoo. The average ball python has a lifespan of 20-30 years. If you’re considering getting a pet ball python, it’s important to know that these snakes have long potential lifespans. Their average length when fully grown is considerable - between 4 and 5 feet (1.2 and 1.5 m) - but they only weigh 3-5 pounds. Compared to other pythons, the ball python doesn’t grow to be very large. Ball Python Sizeīall pythons are fairly short, muscular, heavy-bodied snakes. Breeders are also producing varieties called morphs, but most of these are not naturally found in the wild. No ball python subspecies are currently recognized, but a variety of ball python colors and patterns can be found from region to region.
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