Snakes: Python Regius (Ball Python)
Tuesday, December 11th, 2007 Snakes are one of God’s greatest inventions of the animal kingdom. They are absolutely stunning in every sense of the word. Videos courtesy of youtube (and their respective uploaders). Any video that says WARNING contains footage of a strike/kill/feeding so if that bothers you don’t watch it. You’ve been warned!But before we get going lets take a few things into consideration.
- Not everyone will appreciate your new found friend. Ask those who will be living with it BEFORE you buy one
- Snakes are predators and they can appear brutal, but when compared to most peoples table manners they’re quite endearing
- Prey animals don’t like to die and they WILL scream when they are being constricted. Keep this in mind when you’re showing it off to people because not everyone will be as appreciative of feeding time as you are
- Every snake is a unique personality. Just like every other living creature. Because one snake likes to sleep curled up in your pocket doesn’t mean its brood mate will
- Snake grow. Some such as the Burmese python (who we’ll take a good look at a little later) can get huge! Over 20 feet and 200 pounds. Others only a couple of feet and a few pounds. Keep this in mind as you’re looking for a snake to buy
- Snakes can live well over 20 years. That’s a long term commitment. Be sure you are ready, willing, and able
- Never ever attempt to scare someone with your snake. They are misunderstood as it is the last thing we need is for some poor granny to keel over dead because you shoved your pet snake “Gertrude” in her face
- When adopting get one that is captive hatched, already feeding (be sure to see it happening to verify), and local to your area so you can pick it up
Google Images
There are a ton more “rules” I could list out, but lets get started with the fun stuff.
- Ball Python (Python regius)
- The Ball Python (sometimes called a Royal python) is known for being docile and shy. It grows to be about 3-4 feet in length when full grown and gets its common name from the fact will often coil up into a ball when frightened. Consistent handling will help this snake overcome its shyfulness however don’t be alarmed if it still coils into a ball. That is the nature of the animal.
One problem with this snake is that they are known to stop eating for no apparent reason. Snakes can go a long time without food so it isn’t always as big a problem as it might seem. It seems to happen most frequently in wild caught specimens and that’s a good reason as any to get a captive hatched one.
Experience level: Intermediate beginner. I would go with beginner except the fact that these snakes are known to stop eating and getting them to feed again can be quite a chore.
Aggressiveness: Very low. Will sometimes strike out of fear, but is much much more likely to coil up into a ball.
Food:
- Baby - Pinkies
- Adolescent - Full grown mice, gerbils, etc
- Adult - Rats and similar sized rodents
Of course every snake is different so one might be dining on large rats while another of the same size will only eat mice.
Price: It depends on the age and marking (pattern)of the snake but expect anywhere from $50.00 to several hundred dollars. The difference in price is usually only a matter of their appearance and really has nothing to do with things like temperment.
And now for a few videos of our friend the Ball Python in action. The first one is a baby only a few months old and the second is a full grown adult.
WARNING
Google Images
In the next few days we’ll spend some time with a 20 foot plus beauty and learn what it takes to handle an animal like that.