Animalia > Chordata > Squamata > Pythonidae > Python > Python regiusPython regius (Ball Python, Royal Python)Synonyms: Boa regia; Python bellii; Shireenhoserus regius 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. |
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 |
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Name |
Countries |
Ecozone |
Biome |
Species |
Report |
Climate |
Land Use |
Cross-Niger transition forests |
Nigeria |
Afrotropic |
Tropical and Subtropical Moist Broadleaf Forests |
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Cross-Sanaga-Bioko coastal forests |
Cameroon, Equatorial Guinea, Nigeria |
Afrotropic |
Tropical and Subtropical Moist Broadleaf Forests |
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East Sudanian savanna |
Chad, Central African Republic, Sudan, Ethiopia, Uganda |
Afrotropic |
Tropical and Subtropical Grasslands, Savannas, and Shrublands |
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Guinean forest-savanna mosaic |
Nigeria, Benin, Togo, Ghana, Côte d'Ivoire, Guinea, Sierra Leone, Guinea-Bissau, Gambia, Senegal |
Afrotropic |
Tropical and Subtropical Grasslands, Savannas, and Shrublands |
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Jos Plateau forest-grassland mosaic |
Nigeria |
Afrotropic |
Montane Grasslands and Shrublands |
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Northern Congolian forest-savanna mosaic |
Democratic Republic of the Congo, Sudan, Central African Republic, Cameroon |
Afrotropic |
Tropical and Subtropical Grasslands, Savannas, and Shrublands |
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Sahelian Acacia savanna |
Senegal, Mauritania, Mali, Burkina Faso, Niger, Nigeria, Cameroon, Chad, Sudan, Eritrea, Ethiopia |
Afrotropic |
Tropical and Subtropical Grasslands, Savannas, and Shrublands |
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West Sudanian savanna |
Senegal, Guinea, Mali, Côte d'Ivoire, Burkina Faso, Ghana, Togo, Benin, Niger, Nigeria |
Afrotropic |
Tropical and Subtropical Grasslands, Savannas, and Shrublands |
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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 |
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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 |
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
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