marlene echeverria, a healthy reptile

By Marlene Echeverria

Royal Pythons are called ball pythons because they curl up into a ball with their head tucked in the middle as a defense mechanism when their stressed or feel threatened.

Handling your royal python is easy. You just got to let it get used to you. And for it to get use to you means that you have to play with it for about an hour a day.

They don’t always like being trapped away in their homes, so they won’t have a problem with you grabbing them.

Royal Pythons are nice pets, they are harmless, they have no venom and they are unique.

Royal Pythons grow to be about 4 to 5 feet, so they need a lot of room to move around in.

Aquariums work well, there roomy and they let your snake stretch out.

A low top fifty-five gallon tank will house a ball python comfortably.

Provide a fresh bowl of water daily for your snake.

Its necessary to give fresh water daily because they drink the water, soak in it and sometimes poop in it.

Soaking in their water is good before a shedding.

Newspaper is the cheapest and easiest substrate with regards to cleaning and disinfecting.

Also Cypress Mulch or Reptile Bark are great for controlling humidity.

Never use substrate containing cedar, for it is deadly to reptiles.

Be sure to have a thermostat in your snakes enclosure.

Snakes are nocturnal, so there cold-blooded.

What ever the temperature is in the enclosure, is the temperature of the snake.

Something that will make your snake happy is a hide box.

They enjoy darkness and they are very secretive so they spend most of their time in their hide box.

They also enjoy climbing so you can put some climbing branches in the enclosure.

Spot clean your snakes enclosure as necessary.

When feces, urates or left over prey are present, remove them as soon as possible.

Clean and disinfect there water bowl on a weekly basis.

When cleaning the whole enclosure, remove all the substrate and cage furniture.

A clean enclosure leaves you with a healthy reptile.

7 to 10 days before a Ball python sheds, it will appear dull and grey.

Also, its eyes will become glazed, but they clear over a few days before it actually sheds.

You shouldn’t handle your python during its shedding period, because it increases your chance at being bitten

Royal pythons soak in their water bowls for a while, for it helps with the shedding.

When they shed, their skin should come off in one piece from its nose to the end of its tail.

Snakes shed because they grow, but as they grow, their skins don’t.

Royal Pythons reach sexual maturity from the age of 18 months to 4 years of age.

Your snake has to be in good condition before trying to mate it.

When snakes mate, the snakes will wrap their tails together and the male will put one of his two penises inside of the females vent.

From there on, the male will try to impregnate the female snake.

Royal Pythons feed on mostly mice and rats.

First, they strike their prey, strangle it, then swallow it whole, head first.

You can feed your python on a weekly basis.

The younger the python, the more they need to eat.

Adult pythons can go along amount of time without eating.

The more your python eats the more it grows

Royal Pythons can get parasites, which can transfer to humans and other reptiles.

If you leave the parasites untreated, it can be deadly for your reptiles.

Take your reptile to the vet for check-ups.

Ball pythons can also get mites. Mites are tiny reddish brown dots no bigger then the period at the end of this sentence.

Mites are harmless to humans, but are harmful for snakes.

If your snake gets mites, then that’s a sign of poor environmental conditions.

I chose to do my project on Royal Pythons because I really like snakes and I have pretty good knowledge about them.

I have experience with royal pythons because I owned one for about 2 years, so I have to know a lot about her to keep her in good health.

One day I want to have a career as a vet. I like animals and I want to be able to work with them, help them and save their lives.

Any Questions?!?