History and background
Ball Pythons are mostly native to central and western Africa. They live in grasslands, on the edges of forests, and overgrown fields. They like to have shelter like small, dark hollows in logs and trees, and under rocks. They can live on the ground, but they also live in trees if there is no good spots on the ground. When keeping them as a pet, they will mostly stay in the hides you give them. They are only active during the night, and around dusk and dawn. Even when active they are not very energetic.
Ball pythons are formerly known as Royal pythons (Python regius). They got the nickname “ball” because they have a habit of curling up into a tight ball when hiding and when scared. Most Ball pythons, like a lot of pythons, are very docile, shy, and curious. However, if they are wild or aren’t handled enough they can get scared a lot. When they are scared they will instinctively curl into a ball, but if you don’t leave them alone, they will strike. When handling a Ball python, you should grab them by the largest part of their body, and they will do one of two things. The python will either stay curled into a tight ball, and they will feel very tense, or they will relax and slither up and poke around your arm with their “nose”.
People have bred captive and wild Ball Pythons, resulting in many morphs, or mutations. These mutations have to do with the pattern and color combination of the snakes. There are over 5,200 morphs already, and there are more being created everyday. Most of the morphs are spectacular combinations of already existing morphs, but the new morph couldn’t be more different from the original. Some examples of morphs are Albino, Axanthic, Banana, Pastel, Banded, Black ( mostly followed by another morph), Ivory, Lesser, Nebula, Piebald, Spider, and Clown. Many morphs will have names like Albino Lesser, Black Pastel, Axanthic Black Pastel, and Axanthic Clown, because they have the traits of multiple morphs from their parents.
Ball pythons are formerly known as Royal pythons (Python regius). They got the nickname “ball” because they have a habit of curling up into a tight ball when hiding and when scared. Most Ball pythons, like a lot of pythons, are very docile, shy, and curious. However, if they are wild or aren’t handled enough they can get scared a lot. When they are scared they will instinctively curl into a ball, but if you don’t leave them alone, they will strike. When handling a Ball python, you should grab them by the largest part of their body, and they will do one of two things. The python will either stay curled into a tight ball, and they will feel very tense, or they will relax and slither up and poke around your arm with their “nose”.
People have bred captive and wild Ball Pythons, resulting in many morphs, or mutations. These mutations have to do with the pattern and color combination of the snakes. There are over 5,200 morphs already, and there are more being created everyday. Most of the morphs are spectacular combinations of already existing morphs, but the new morph couldn’t be more different from the original. Some examples of morphs are Albino, Axanthic, Banana, Pastel, Banded, Black ( mostly followed by another morph), Ivory, Lesser, Nebula, Piebald, Spider, and Clown. Many morphs will have names like Albino Lesser, Black Pastel, Axanthic Black Pastel, and Axanthic Clown, because they have the traits of multiple morphs from their parents.
People and dates
Bob Clark - 1992: First breeder of albino Ball Pythons in captivity. Created best known albino morph. 1999: Created the Striped morph.
Jamie Hyneman: One of the people from the T.V. show Mythbusters. He owns a Ball Python named Gomez.
Markus Jayne: This breeder has over 300 different Ball Python morphs, and is one of the more famous breeders.
NBK Reptile: A breeder the specializes in the mutation of Ball Pythons
Jamie Hyneman: One of the people from the T.V. show Mythbusters. He owns a Ball Python named Gomez.
Markus Jayne: This breeder has over 300 different Ball Python morphs, and is one of the more famous breeders.
NBK Reptile: A breeder the specializes in the mutation of Ball Pythons
Further reading
That's expensssssive! Spectacular super black pastel piebald goes on sale for $16,000
Care Sheet for Ball Python - Python Regius
Do Ball Pythons Bite?
Care Sheet for Ball Python - Python Regius
Do Ball Pythons Bite?
Youtube videos
A ten year old girl shows you her collection of Ball Pythons.
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A worker at a breeding company shows how they set up their Ball Python enclosures.
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who to follow
@ballpython_mania - This page is run by Ball Python and WesternHognose breeders. They show off awesome pictures of their snakes.
@royal_ball_python_morphs - This page is also run by a Ball Python breeder. They show pictures and videos of the Ball Pythons they breed, mainly the newly hatched ones. They breed a lot of different morphs.
@ballpythons101 - This page shows a very large collection of Ball Python morphs. They include the full morph and who first bred the morph in the caption.
@royal_ball_python_morphs - This page is also run by a Ball Python breeder. They show pictures and videos of the Ball Pythons they breed, mainly the newly hatched ones. They breed a lot of different morphs.
@ballpythons101 - This page shows a very large collection of Ball Python morphs. They include the full morph and who first bred the morph in the caption.
Sources
http://www.anapsid.org/ball.html
http://ballpython.ca/
http://blogs.thatpetplace.com/thatreptileblog/2009/01/07/the-natural-history-of-the-ball-python-python-regius-ball-pythons-in-the-wild-part-1/
http://bobclark.com/articles/200602.html
http://www.clubfauna.com/articles/reptiles/do-ball-pythons-bite/
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2281624/The-16-000-Snake-Spectacular-super-black-pastel-piebald-bred-seven-years-goes-sale-incredible-sum.html
eol.org/pages/1055460/details
https://www.instagram.com/
http://nbkreptiles.com/
http://www.reptilesmagazine.com/Ball-Python-Morph-History/
https://www.sinisterserpents.com/Ball-Python-Facts-Information-Photos.php, http://www.worldofballpythons.com/morphs/?filter=1
http://www.worldofballpythons.com/python-regius/care-sheet/
https://www.youtube.com/
http://ballpython.ca/
http://blogs.thatpetplace.com/thatreptileblog/2009/01/07/the-natural-history-of-the-ball-python-python-regius-ball-pythons-in-the-wild-part-1/
http://bobclark.com/articles/200602.html
http://www.clubfauna.com/articles/reptiles/do-ball-pythons-bite/
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2281624/The-16-000-Snake-Spectacular-super-black-pastel-piebald-bred-seven-years-goes-sale-incredible-sum.html
eol.org/pages/1055460/details
https://www.instagram.com/
http://nbkreptiles.com/
http://www.reptilesmagazine.com/Ball-Python-Morph-History/
https://www.sinisterserpents.com/Ball-Python-Facts-Information-Photos.php, http://www.worldofballpythons.com/morphs/?filter=1
http://www.worldofballpythons.com/python-regius/care-sheet/
https://www.youtube.com/