Ball Python

Overview

Ball pythons are one of the most commonly kept pet snakes. Being relatively small compared to other python species, ball pythons are easily kept without the need for a massive enclosure. Though they can be shy, their gentle and curious nature, along with the dozens of colors and patterns to choose from, make it easy to believe they are so popular.

Feeding

Ball Pythons are carnivores and therefore strictly eat animal protein. This can be offered by feeding mainly mice, rats, and occasionally young rabbits, and small birds. It is recommended to start offering your ball python frozen thawed food from a young age to train their feeding habits and allow them to become comfortable feeding from humanely pre-killed animals. Feeding live animals to your snake is not only inhumane to the feeder animal but also poses a serious risk of injury to your pet snake. In the case of food refusal, there are many other options you can try before feeding live. If you need help with a snake that will not eat, contact us, we can help.

Feeder size is also important when choosing what to feed your snake. As a rule of thumb, their food should not be wider than 1.5x the largest part of your snake (typically their midsection). Snakes are powerful eaters and have a mandible that is detached in the center, acting almost like a joint to allow for more space for large prey to be swallowed whole.

Considering the size of their meals, Ball pythons can go 1-2 weeks between feedings, and sometimes seemingly for no reason they are known to go on "hunger strikes" refusing food for weeks to sometimes months at a time. Hunger strikes are a common occurrence in this species and can often be explained (ex. brumation, egg laying or mating behavior, change in temperature within the enclosure, shedding, etc.). Refusing food can go on for a while but it is not of concern unless the snake begins to lose weight. That is why it is very important to own a gram scale dedicated to tracking the weight of your snake. Weighing should be done at least once per month, if not every 2 weeks.

Dietary supplementation

Ball pythons do not need additional supplementation in their diet, though it is not a bad idea to offer an all-in-one calcium and multivitamin once per month to fill in any gaps in their nutrition.

Special considerations

Heat

As with many snake species, ball pythons eat large and infrequent meals which allows them to go longer periods of time between meals. Large meals also require more energy to digest and being a cold-blooded animal, this snake is able to take advantage of exterior heat sources to aid in digestion. It is important to give all animals a source of heat so they may thermoregulate but it is even more important to give these snakes belly heat to help target their digestive tract and ensure proper digestion. This can be done by providing temperature-regulated heat pads under the tank in an area covered by a hide. The snake will naturally seek out the dark hide and feel safe while it soaks up the warmth of the heated pad underneath them.