On average, they tend to max out at 3-5 feet in length with females generally being on the bigger side compared to males.

The following ball python care sheet was written by Daniel Riera: “Ball python care sheet“.

Generally you want to wait at least 2 days.  Handling your snake too soon after eating can lead to the snake regurgitating its food.

Determining the sex of your ball python can be done by either probing or popping.  Both methods can be harmful to the snake if not done properly so if you are not experiance, you should absolutely find a veterinarian or experienced person to help you out. Probing requires a specially designed metal probe that is inserted into the cloaca of the snake and based on how deep it goes will determine the sex.  Popping is when the hemipenes of the snake are forced out of the cloaca or just enough to see two dark purple/red dots.  Both methods have thier margins of error, but are relatively accurate for the most part.

There are a few ball python genes that we do not recommend crossing.  The details of why can be seen in this article written by Daniel Riera called: “Ball Python Genetic Anomalies“.

A good starter tank for a hatchling is a 10 gallon tank.  A young adult requires a 20 gallon tank and a full grown adult may require a 30 gallon tank.  When selecting a tank it is better to have more floor space in the tank rather than height.

When it comes to tubs that are typically used in a rack system I generally use tubs that are approximately 33.5″ x 17.5″.  There are several companies that make quality rack systems.  If you have further caging questions, please feel free to contact us.

It really depends on the female.  I have seen ball pythons lay one good egg accompanied with unfertilized eggs (Slugs).  I have also seen ball pythons lay 16 good eggs.  Average number of eggs laid is about 4-5 and many of the ball pythons that lay a large number of eggs are the sub-saharan / volta region ball pythons.  We currently have this line of ball pythons in our collection.

When it comes to determining if we should breed a female, we generally go by weight.  We use 1,500 grams as a minimum weight requirement for females and have found that it could take about 2 or 3 years before this weight is reached.  How fast they reach this weight depends on how regularly they eat.  Males have been known to breed at very young ages, but we found that male ball pythons generally do better when they are over 700 grams.

We feed our ball pythons a mix of F/T (frozen thawed) and live rats and mice. There are many people who purchase frozen rodents in bulk and thaw them out when it is time to feed them to their snake.  When feeding F/T, make sure that the rodent is warm.  If you’re feeding your snake live rodents, make sure to never leave them together unsupervised.  Mice and rats have been known to injure or kill ball pythons.

Ball pythons like many other snakes are escape artist.  They will find any weakness in their enclosure and before you know it they are exploring the environment outside their cage.  Most snakes can be found within a 20 foot radius of their enclosure and can squeeze into very tiny crevices.  Search everywhere to include warm areas where they are likely to be absorbing heat.  If your ball python has escaped once from your cage you can count on it escaping again so proper measures must be taken ensuring no future incidents.

Please refer to the following article written by Daniel Riera called, “Ball Python Feeding Issues.”  It contains very important steps that you can take in order to tackle the situation as best as possible.