Scientific Name : Python regius

Sex : Male and Female

Length : Male 3 Ft; Female 4 ft (Avg. 4 – 6 Feet – Females are longer)

Weight : Male 2 lb; Female 4 lb (Avg. 4 – 8 lb. – Females are heavier)

Lifespan : Captive Born 2000, Age 4 years (Longevity 20 – 30 years)

Breeding: Egg Layer, 4 to 8 young, biennial, females brood their eggs raising their temperature for proper incubation.

Range: West Africa from Senegal in the north to Angola in the south and westward through Zaire to Sudan and Uganda. Most imports are from the Ghana rainforest area.

Habitat : Typically a resident of tropical grasslands and open forests; generally living in hollow logs and rodent burrows.

Food and Hunting : Primarily nocturnal, feeding mainly on small mammals they also take birds. In captivity they are fed mice and rats appropriate to their age and size.

Conservation : Ball Pythons are still quite common throughout their range although hunted for their skins and exported for the pet trade. Their small brood size and biennial breeding make them susceptible to over harvesting. They are commonly raised on "farms" in Ghana and are more frequently being captive bred. Aberrant color patterns such as albino and patternless are selectively bred.

Captive Care : A great temperament and relative ease of care make this a suitable species for captivity. Captive bred specimens are a better choice than imported adults. Most specimens feed well on frozen thawed rats and mice, although Ball Pythons have a reputation for long self-imposed fasts, sometimes exceeding 6 months, the record being 22 months.