Ball Python
Python regius • Order: Squamata, Suborder: Serpentes, Family: Pythonidae, Genus: Python, Species: Python regius
Native to West and Central Africa, ranging from Senegal and Mali eastwards to Sudan and Uganda.
Look up Ball Python in the Snake Encyclopedia →Family
Order: Squamata, Suborder: Serpentes, Family: Pythonidae, Genus: Python, Species: Python regius
Conservation
Listed as Near Threatened on the IUCN Red List due to habitat loss from agricultural expansion and overcollection for the international pet trade and skin industry.
Physical Description
Robust body with a distinct, broad head clearly separated from the neck. This specific specimen exhibits a morph variation (likely Cinnamon or Pinstripe/Ghost combination) showing reduced or linear pattern features with muted dark brown and silver-gray coloration, light-colored labial scales, and dark eyes.
Size & Dimensions
Typical adults reach 1.0 to 1.5 meters (3 to 5 feet) in total length, with females generally growing slightly larger than males. This specimen appears to be a juvenile or sub-adult.
Habitat
Inhabits savannas, grasslands, and sparsely forested areas, often utilizing underground burrows created by other animals during the day.
Diet & Feeding
Strictly carnivorous, feeding primarily on small mammals such as rodents and occasionally birds, utilizing an ambush hunting strategy followed by constriction.
Reproduction
Oviparous species. Females lay clutches typically ranging from 3 to 11 eggs, which they incubate and protect by coiling around them and shivering to generate heat until hatching.
Conservation Status
Listed as Near Threatened on the IUCN Red List due to habitat loss from agricultural expansion and overcollection for the international pet trade and skin industry.
Cultural Significance
Highly revered in the traditional religion of the Igbo people of southeastern Nigeria, where they are considered sacred, treated with great care, and protected from harm.
Notable Features
Famous for its behavior of rolling into a tight ball with its head tucked in the center when threatened, as well as possessing heat-sensing labial pits along the upper jaw for detecting warm-blooded prey.