HABITAT AND RANGE:
Ball pythons are from western Africa.
They are primarily arboreal, and live
near water, although they are able to
live in a variety of habitats.
PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS:
The ball python is heavily built, like
other pythons. The name comes from its
typical defensive posture, which is to
wrap itself into a ball, with its head
at the center. The ball python is one of
the smallest of the pythons, usually
reaching no more than 8 feet in length,
5 to 6 pounds. It has a comparatively
small head and a short tail. It has a
dark brown color on the top, with
rosettes of greenish-yellow with cream
bordering. The underside is a uniform
whitish color, and is similar to the
boas. They are distinguished from the
boas by the presence of an extra
supraorbital bone in their skull, and
also by the fact that they lay eggs.
They are one of the more primitive
snakes, and therefore possess rudiments
of a pelvic girdle, observable as small
claws, or “spurs”, on either side of the
vent. The vent is an opening for
excretion and reproduction. It is
synonymous with a cloaca, found in both
birds and reptiles. The spurs in males
are noticeably larger, and are used in
copulation. Pythons, like other snakes,
contain an incredible number of
vertebrae. Some species have over 400
vertebrae. This increased vertebral
column allows amazing flexibility in
these animals.
ADAPTATIONS:
Ball pythons are generally considered
non-aggressive. They inflate their body
and hiss, attempting to intimidate their
attacker. They have poor eyesight and
poor hearing, but they make up for this
in their sense of smell and in their
ability to sense vibrations. Pythons
also have the ability to sense heat like
a pit viper. They have small pores
lining the upper lip, that have
heat-sensing organs contained within.
Ball pythons are primarily solitary,
only joining others for mating. As with
all reptiles, pythons are cold-blooded.
Their body temperature will fluctuate
with their environment. Therefore they
do not need the constant intake of
calories.
DIET: They
are mainly crepuscular, hunting at dusk
and dawn. Their diet is almost entirely
made up of small warm-blooded animals,
such as birds and rodents. Due to being
cold-blooded, pythons on average only
need to eat on average every few weeks,
but can go up to several months without
eating depending on environmental
conditions.
REPRODUCTION AND DEVELOPMENT:
Like all boids, ball pythons have
spurs near their cloaca; these are
vestiges of ancestral legs. Males' spurs
are longer, and stimulate the female
during courtship. Ball pythons become
sexually mature at about 5 years of age.
Females breed every two to three years,
after the cool season, usually December
and January. When they're gravid
(egg-bearing) the female colors darken.
STATUS IN WILD:
Threatened due to habitat loss and pet
trade.
