Royal Pythons?

Vinnie K

Hey,
Anybody have some info on these to offer? Have done a load of searchs and they seem to be fairly easy to keep and fairlu placid aswell, anyway i was just hoping that maybe someone on here owns one so i could get a bit of first hand info.
Thanks.

reptileguy16

hi. royal pythons aka ball pythons are fairly easy to keep but ONLY if there captive bred. they originate from africa so will need fairly high temperatures. they should have a basking spot and under tank heat pad on one end which will be the warm end. the temperature should be 28 degrees at day and 20 degrees at night.all light should be turned off at night. as they are noctural animals they do not require uvb light. the tank should be at least 3ftl x 2ft w x2ft h. they should have a sturdy branch under the basking spot and a hide at the cool end. they dont need a big water bowl as they rarely soak. please do not get a hatchling as your first royal as most are not good eaters. use newspaper as substrate and provid a moist box for shedding. unless your royal is already accustomed to eating dead mice. you will have to feed live or pre killed gerbils which are its natural diet. please note these snakes can go on long fasts for up to 20 months. if it stops eating for over 3 months bring it to the vet. good luck

Our man in Havana

If this is your first snake then I would say NO to a royal - they are funny eaters & if you get a wild caught one you will have heartache getting it to eat - I have 2 the male is a brilliant eater the female has eaten once for me in about 4 weeks - this breaks my heart I have tried all sorts of food but to no avail - she is still healthy & looks fine but I will have to attempt to force feed her soon - not easy as she is fairly strong & I do not want to hurt her.

Feeding live is not fun for the animal & us humans! Not sure if its illegial either I know its illegial in the UK.

Corn snakes are still my favourite & I own a variety including the royal, common boas, rainbow boa, king snakes & milks - my fav will always be the corns.

thecivvie

I agree with Bond-007, Royals are a lovely snake but they can go off their food for no reason and it almost breaks your heart to get them eating again. Saying that, they are a lovely snake and I hve no regrets with mine but get from a breeder or somewhere like Reptile Haven.

Other easy going snakes are corns and Hogg Island boas. But Corns are the easiest to keep and maintain

Vinnie K

Thanks for the advise guys, decided not to get one as i woudnt know what to do if he did stop eating like that. Think im gonna go for a corn after xmas though. Picking up my beardie tomorrow off Ben so happy days! Thank again.
Vinnie.

Jimkel

Vinnie K wrote: »

Thanks for the advise guys, decided not to get one as i woudnt know what to do if he did stop eating like that. Think im gonna go for a corn after xmas though. Picking up my beardie tomorrow off Ben so happy days! Thank again.
Vinnie.

Yup hes caught the reptile bug alright! Make sure the beardie cant see the snake, (Especially if its large) you dont want him living in terror do ya?

A snake can mean certain death for a beardie in the wild and they know it! even when mine saw the big Bosc monitor they were terrified, took me ages to bring them around as they were frozen with fear.

If they are in constant view of the snake it may effect there growth rate, the bigger, safer and tougher a beardie feels the more hormones it recieves and the bigger it grows. Just the opposite of a subordinate male staying smaller then the dominant male, If theres a big snake on view then the beardies growth rate may be adversly effected.

also the beardie may not show its best colours, not wanting to be seen by the snake it may stay a dull dark colour like mine did with the bosc (Did I mention they change colour with their mood? nothing extreme but they brighten and darken significantly). Just bare this in mind when positioning the vivariums.

alinoee

don't be afraid if snakes goes off food. its only natural and it might happened to corns as well. i have two corns - red and ghost. red stops eating around October and starts in February. its a happy time for ghost. he scoops some extra meals : ). remember though that they very shy and to much exitement as well as not enough water and wrong temps might cause that too.
i think http://cornsnakes.com/forums/ is one of the best places to learn and ask bout corns. have fun and welcome to the reptile world

SCI

I'd agree,even a captive bred royal python as a first snake
could be a nightmare.A cornsnake,king,milk or house snake
is probably a better first snake.