Animalia > Chordata > Squamata > Pythonidae > Python > Python regius

Python regius (Ball Python, Royal Python)

Synonyms: Boa regia; Python bellii; Shireenhoserus regius

Wikipedia Abstract

The ball python (Python regius), also known as the royal python, is a python species found in sub-Saharan Africa. Like all other pythons, it is a non-venomous constrictor. This is the smallest of the African pythons and is popular in the pet trade, largely due to its small size and typically docile temperament. No subspecies are currently recognized. They can live quite long, with the oldest on record living more than 47 years. To achieve something near this age in captivity they require proper care (clean tank, clean water, etc.). The name "ball python" refers to the animal's tendency to curl into a ball when stressed or frightened. The name royal python (from the Latin regius) comes from the fact that rulers in Africa would wear the python as jewelry.
View Wikipedia Record: Python regius

Attributes

Adult Weight [1]  19.529 lbs (8.858 kg)
Birth Weight [1]  55 grams
Female Weight [1]  2.723 lbs (1.235 kg)
Diet [2]  Carnivore
Female Maturity [3]  5 years
Male Maturity [3]  5 years
Gestation [3]  77 days
Litter Size [3]  7
Litters / Year [1]  1
Maximum Longevity [3]  48 years
Nocturnal [2]  Yes

Ecoregions

Protected Areas

Name IUCN Category Area acres Location Species Website Climate Land Use
Omo Strict Natural Reserve Forest Reserve 328086 Nigeria  
Parc National de la Comoe National Park II 2902593 Côte d'Ivoire  
Parc National de Tai National Park II 1085310 Côte d'Ivoire  
Takamanda Forest Reserve National Park II 167041 Cameroon  

Biodiversity Hotspots

Name Location Endemic Species Website
Guinean Forests of West Africa Benin, Côte d'Ivoire, Equatorial Guinea, Ghana, Guinea, Liberia, Nigeria, São Tomé and Príncipe, Sierra Leone, Togo No

Range Map

External References

Citations

Attributes / relations provided by
1Nathan P. Myhrvold, Elita Baldridge, Benjamin Chan, Dhileep Sivam, Daniel L. Freeman, and S. K. Morgan Ernest. 2015. An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles. Ecology 96:3109
2Myers, P., R. Espinosa, C. S. Parr, T. Jones, G. S. Hammond, and T. A. Dewey. 2006. The Animal Diversity Web (online). Accessed February 01, 2010 at animaldiversity.org
3de Magalhaes, J. P., and Costa, J. (2009) A database of vertebrate longevity records and their relation to other life-history traits. Journal of Evolutionary Biology 22(8):1770-1774
Ecoregions provided by World Wide Fund For Nature (WWF). WildFinder: Online database of species distributions, ver. 01.06 Wildfinder Database
Biodiversity Hotspots provided by Critical Ecosystem Partnership Fund
Abstract provided by DBpedia licensed under a Creative Commons License
Species taxanomy provided by GBIF Secretariat (2022). GBIF Backbone Taxonomy. Checklist dataset https://doi.org/10.15468/39omei accessed via GBIF.org on 2023-06-13; License: CC BY 4.0