Ball pythons are also known as royal pythons, they are one of the smallest species among the 40 varieties of python snakes.Ball pythons are known for their name as they shape like a ball when they curl up and become uneasy. But still, they are easy to handle among the other snakes.These snakes from the reptile family have a lifespan of about 10-15 years in the wild and nearly 30 years in captivity if good care is provided. Ball pythons grow up to three to four feet (91.44 - 121.92 cm) in length. The natural habitat that these python snakes are commonly found is in dry areas and grasslands, which is open to forests in the regions of Central Africa. Rodents and birds are the main foods that these ball pythons eat. Getting a snake as a pet might be something that is still a dangerous thought for some people. But ball pythons which are different from other snakes can pretty much be your pal as a pet. After reading all about these biting snakes, read about why do snakes eat themselves and why do snakes shed?Are ball pythons venomous/poisonous?Ball pythons do not have fangs. But they can bite people or any animals. They are not venomous, and for this reason, a ball python bite could be treated, and it will not lead to your death. As these ball python snakes have no fangs, their bite would not be poisonous or venomous. Their bite is not as severe as the bite of other venomous snakes. You just need to be cautious and seek medical attention immediately if you ever get bitten by any snakes. Their natural instinct is constraining. They squeeze and kill their prey until they die with their wrapping death.If we look at the reason why these ball pythons bite, we can see that it is because of their defensive reaction. Compared to other venomous snakes, these ball pythons’ bites are nothing. Ball pythons are not usually aggressive reptiles or animals. Therefore they do not initiate bites. But if these ball python pet snakes feel threatened, they hide and retreat in order to strike back, waiting for the perfect moment to attack an aggressor. After the strike they curl up like a ball, protecting their heads from an attack from the aggressor. Still, there are possibilities of them biting you. Even though their bites aren’t venomous, they still hurt. These ball pythons, even though they do not have sharp fangs, have sharp teeth, about 150 of them, that are nearly 1 cm (10 mm) long. With the shape of their mouths like a hook, they hold their prey and other rats or cats or anything they eat as food or hold their prey tightly in their mouth and kill it. Their constricting tendency makes us all scared and stressed out. All our life, we would be stressed out and scared of snakes biting us. Other animals like cats and dogs typically bite, and we go and take a tetanus bacteria shot, to get all the bacteria out from our bodies. But we all feel stressed when we come to the painful snake bite with their teeth and fangs, that really might not be that hurting. But still ball python bites can be dangerous, although not as much dangerous as compared to other python snake bites. Even if ball pythons are bred in captivity and are good to keep as pets, they still belong to the wild. The ball pythons that are bred in captivity should not be released back into nature or the wild as they might not be able to survive there, or hunt or hide. You need to wash your hands every time with soap, as snakes have a great sense of smell and can bite your hands if they get a smell of their prey on your hands. Even though they do not have fangs, they have sharp teeth. If you were ever bit by a ball python, you would know how much they hurt.Can ball pythons choke you?Ball pythons use their length to wrap themselves around their prey to crush them and attack them. They squeeze tightly to make their victim exhale and die. Through this tight suffocation, the prey dies with cardiac arrest within a few minutes. These ball pythons love to wound themself around their owners. Well if they are properly tamed, the ball pythons could be untangled back from their wrap-around body within seconds. But if you are not comfortable with your ball python pet, nor your snake is comfortable, their wrapping around your neck could choke you out.But for the question of if these ball pythons can choke you to death, the answer would be no. They are too simple and small and therefore incapable of killing a grown adult or humans through constriction. They don’t pose such great threats to people, except with the case of infants and babies. It is good if you don’t let your children or infant near your pet ball python snake.Ball pythons are considered to be fairly docile. But they can bite you for one or two reasons. Unless you are so weak and do not know how to handle a snake or ball python, it could strangle you. But still, with help, you can get out of the wound easily. There has never been a case that shows a ball python attacking and killing a human. It is very rare for snakes like ball pythons to attack and kill their owners. Only if the circumstances are created, these ball pythons attack.However, it is best that we do not put our ball pythons on our necks. Especially if you just got a new ball python as a pet. A fact about ball pythons’ choking tendencies tells that any snake that is over four feet in length is quite capable of squeezing your neck to the point of suffocation and hard to breathe. Also due to our fear of being strangled to death, we will never give a chance to our snakes to wrap around our necks and body. Researchers find a reason why ball pythons squeeze or wrap around you as a safe or comfortable feeling of them around you. They might also be clinging to you thinking as if they are falling down. Well, a ball python due to its small size would not be considered dangerous like the other variety and species of python snakes. Even though ball pythons are not seen as that dangerous or aggressive, there are many other cases of pythons strangling humans to death.Are ball pythons friendly pets?Ball pythons are super common animals in the pet trade. They are known to make such great pets. Even if you are a beginner or an experienced person with reptiles or with any general pets, ball pythons are actually easy to make as pets. The main reason why people choose ball pythons as their pets is because they are cheap to buy. You can get yourself a ball python pet starting from 20 dollars. Yellow-bellied ball python might be a little more costly, as they are a different type of snake variety. Also, the setup tanks and cages for these interesting pet snakes are also cheap to buy.Ball pythons are easy to handle animals, even if they have to be carried and to set up their tanks. They don’t get much bigger so they can take up any small space in your room in its tank or any specially created habitat. While selecting the best ball python as your pet, you might be confused with a lot of morphs. There are almost 7500 ball python morphs and breeders are always creating new ones. There are of tons of patterns, colors, and designs. And also a lot of variety. Ball pythons are very common and slow animals or reptiles. A ball python’s calm non-aggressive process makes them fun to handle and easy to control. You don’t have to worry about them getting away from you or being too heavy or too big to handle. And did you know that you just have to feed them once a week? Well, yes. At first, you might want to give them food for five days to see how much they eat and how big their food is. Well if you are feeding them big foods and rats (they mainly eat rats or see them as their prey), you might not feed them every single day. Also, this makes them as a once a week pooper. They might bite you as it is their defensive mechanism. These bitten areas might hurt as well. You just need to clean up their poop once a week, after feeding them once a week too. Talking about noise, ball pythons are one of the calm non-noisy animals, best for keeping as pets. Also if you clean their poop the day itself, you are not gonna get any weird smell from them. Like animals, they do not have any specific smell. Ball snakes are super friendly and pretty much fast get used to their owners. Once you are not scaring your ball snake, the python adjusts with you, slowly getting comfortable with you.Signs That A Ball Python Might BiteDue to the calm and docile behavior of ball python, they are typically chosen as pet snakes. But even the ball python bite gets aggressive. There are different reasons for their striking behavior it seems. The main reason why your ball python bites might be because they are hungry and not fed for weeks. It is not healthy to leave your pet snake starving. Not only snakes, every other pet that you have like dogs, cats, must be fed food on a regular basis. Another reason why your ball python bites may be due to the stress it might be going through. Introducing it to a new environment makes it feel uncomfortable and sometimes threatened as well. Ball pythons constrict showing their defensive tendency, before striking.Ball pythons are quite shy. Even though they like to get around your body, they very much prefer to be left alone without much disturbance in their cage or tank. Too much handling can make it uncomfortable. Do not start to handle it just after your first two weeks of feeding it. Give it some time to get comfortable. Only after that, slowly you should get your hands on them. Stress has a huge impact on your ball python snake pet. It can make them get aggressive as well as compromise their health. Providing them with no hides in their cage can make them feel unsafe in their cage. Also just like how they are, they like calm and undisturbing places and surroundings. Too much noise or handling can make them uncomfortable and aggressive. Also, it is important to feed them the right food in the right size. Feeding your ball python live rats and mice is difficult for them to eat. So it must be taken care that you feed them frozen or pre-killed rodents. Wrong caging or habitat, temperature, and humidity are other factors that make them go crazy. Just like every animal, younger ball pythons are much harder to tame. As they get older, it is much easier to tame them and give them proper care. During the process of skin shedding, ball pythons get stressed due to the pain. At this time of the process, your ball python snake pet will be in a defensive mood as their sense of vision and sense of smell get reduced. It would like anybody to touch it during the time and would probably come to bite if we go near these python snakes during their process of skin shedding or near to the time. Doctors’ records have proved that ball python regius biting can be dangerous.Best Way To Prevent BitingBall python bite could be prevented by getting it away from you. It wouldn’t be a good feeling for you to get a bite from your ball python pet. Well, the good news is they do not pose much harm or danger like other venomous snake bites. It is more like a panic inducer when your snake bites you. Well if you get a bite from your ball python, you should not panic and take the required steps immediately. Most common symptoms and side effects that you see if your ball python bites you are severe pain in the affected area, puncture marks at wounded sites, swelling, redness, and inflammations. Also, you may encounter the feeling of nausea, vomiting, and heavy breathing due to the tension and strain.Well, the main cause for them to bite is probably due to the uneasy feelings around them. Normally, ball pythons are not that aggressive. But certain circumstances make them behave like one and bite people. During their skin shedding time, they would be more aggressive. They love to be left alone and not disturbed. They should not be forced to get out of their coil or comfortable spot. Also, it might be probably hungry and agitated while coming to bite you. So you should never leave your ball python to starve. Proper food which is of their need and capacity should be provided to them at least once a week. Special care and soft behavior should always be given to them. The main reasons why these ball pythons bite is for defence and to kill their prey. Sometimes the smell of the prey which you have recently fed to your snake in your hands can initiate a bite from the ball python. So it is important that you wash your hands well with soap and water before and after touching or feeding your pet snake. Ball pythons bite can be dangerous. It might hurt you quite well. Ball pythons constrict as a striking defensive mechanism.What to do if you’re bitten by a pet ball python? When to see a doctor?We get a ball python as a pet because of their docile existence. But still getting these wild animals as your pets might cause the stress of getting bitten. Well, these ball python bites are not as painful as you think. It is more our mental shock of getting bitten by a snake than the actual bite. The best thing you can do after getting a bite from your ball python is to stay calm and not panic. Slight pressure and squeeze in the area of the bit would be felt. It is due to the fact that the grip of the python is quite strong and powerful. During a snake bite, try to stay calm.Even though a ball python bite is not poisonous, it might get infectious. In such cases, stay calm and consult a doctor for treatment. Mainly do not panic. Being anxious, frantic, and scared can only make matters worse. Animals like snakes can pick up on people’s emotions. Your hectic expressions can just make things worse. This might make them more stressed and act more aggressive. If your pet snake bites you, do not yank it off from you. This might cause their teeth to get stuck on your skin. Also yanking it away can only make things worse. You may feel more pain with the bite sticking their teeth on your skin. All python snakes are seen to latch on whenever they bite on the skin. As they do not have fangs and are non-poisonous, they constrict to kill prey and bite on them. In order to latch your ball python from you, you first need to give the snake a minute to calm down and get away from your skin. You may also pour cold water over the area the snake has latched. Vodka, whiskey, or any alcohol can also be an effective way to remove the ball python from the bitten area. After removing the snake from you, it is advised to wash the area with soap and water immediately. Then you should treat the area with an antiseptic. Other chemicals like Neosporin, alcohols, or hydrogen peroxide can do the work of antiseptic. Once the wound is washed and treated, you can have the area bandaged, if the wound is severe. Actually ball python bites are not anything that serious to worry about. With proper treatment and care, you can get it all treated without much trouble.Here at Kidadl, we have carefully created lots of interesting family-friendly facts for everyone to enjoy! If you liked our suggestions for are ball pythons dangerous then why not take a look at when do snakes hibernate, or ball python facts.
Ball pythons are also known as royal pythons, they are one of the smallest species among the 40 varieties of python snakes.
