Royal Python Care Sheet!
Hatchling normal Royal Python.
Royal pythons, also referred to as Ball pythons because when they get stressed, frightened or nervous they tend to ball up. Royal pythons are a medium bodied and generally docile member of the Pythonidae family. They originally come from Africa and like Corn snakes they have a variety of both colour and pattern mutations called morphs. A list of the available morphs can be found here.
Scientific Name: Python regius
Life Span: 20-30 years.
Adult Size: 3-5ft.
Male Royal pythons tend to be smaller than females. There has been records of females reaching over 6ft although this is rare.
Housing: Royal pythons are generally a shy species and feel a lot more secure with a lot of hiding places, for this reason hatchlings do best in 9ltr Really Useful Boxes with plenty of coverage after 6 months you can move your Royal in to its adult enclosure, which could either be a 70ltr, 84ltr, 145ltr R.U.B. or a 3ftx2ftx2ft vivarium.
Just remember to provide plenty of coverage, however depending on the individual some can be fine without lots of coverage. Also remember to keep the enclosure out of direct sunlight for the safety of your snake.
Temperature: Hot spot 33°C/92°F. Cool end 24°C/75°F.
Heating: When setting up your new Royal Python enclosure please remember that snakes need to thermo-regulate as they are cold-blooded, this means they will find an area that provides external heat. Snakes need an external heat source to digest their food properly and allow other body functions to work normally. In captivity we have to supply the enclosure with a heat source.
One way you can heat your enclosure is by using a Heat Mat. A heat mat is best used with Really Useful Box setups or Faunariums not vivariums in our opinion. The heat mat needs to be placed under one side of the Really Useful Box or Faunarium so that it covers around one third or at the most, half of the enclosure. The heat mat must be plugged into a mat thermostat or on/off thermostat this will control the temperature that the heat mat gets to but its always best to set and monitor the thermostat by a digital thermometer rather than the dial on the thermostat.
However, the downfall to using a heat mat is that it will mainly heat only the surface it is placed under.
Another way to heat your enclosure would be by using a Heat Bulb. These are used within vivariums and can be fixed to the left or right side vivarium ceiling with an average household bulb holder. Heat bulbs will increase the ambient temperature of the vivarium as well as provide a basking spot for your Royal python. You must have a bulb guard placed over your bulb in order to prevent your Royal python getting burnt. Your heat bulb must be controlled by a dimmer thermostat and again it is best to set and monitor the thermostat by a digital thermometer.
A potential problem with using heat bulbs as a heat source is that they also produce light, therefore, if you keep your Royal python where you sleep it could cause a disturbance for both the animal and yourself.
The final way that you could heat your enclosure is by using a Ceramic bulb. These bulbs do not produce light but can reach extreme temperatures, for this reason the ceramic bulb must be used with a ceramic bulb holder. Ceramic bulbs will also require a ceramic bulb guard, if your royal python made direct contact with the ceramic bulb it could receive a nasty burn. Ceramic bulbs require a pulse proportional thermostat which should be set and monitored by a digital thermometer.
The problem with ceramics is that they do not emit light and can get extremely hot.
We use these ceramic bulbs with all of our adult snake enclosures.
Heating: When setting up your new Royal Python enclosure please remember that snakes need to thermo-regulate as they are cold-blooded, this means they will find an area that provides external heat. Snakes need an external heat source to digest their food properly and allow other body functions to work normally. In captivity we have to supply the enclosure with a heat source.
One way you can heat your enclosure is by using a Heat Mat. A heat mat is best used with Really Useful Box setups or Faunariums not vivariums in our opinion. The heat mat needs to be placed under one side of the Really Useful Box or Faunarium so that it covers around one third or at the most, half of the enclosure. The heat mat must be plugged into a mat thermostat or on/off thermostat this will control the temperature that the heat mat gets to but its always best to set and monitor the thermostat by a digital thermometer rather than the dial on the thermostat.
However, the downfall to using a heat mat is that it will mainly heat only the surface it is placed under.
Another way to heat your enclosure would be by using a Heat Bulb. These are used within vivariums and can be fixed to the left or right side vivarium ceiling with an average household bulb holder. Heat bulbs will increase the ambient temperature of the vivarium as well as provide a basking spot for your Royal python. You must have a bulb guard placed over your bulb in order to prevent your Royal python getting burnt. Your heat bulb must be controlled by a dimmer thermostat and again it is best to set and monitor the thermostat by a digital thermometer.
A potential problem with using heat bulbs as a heat source is that they also produce light, therefore, if you keep your Royal python where you sleep it could cause a disturbance for both the animal and yourself.
The final way that you could heat your enclosure is by using a Ceramic bulb. These bulbs do not produce light but can reach extreme temperatures, for this reason the ceramic bulb must be used with a ceramic bulb holder. Ceramic bulbs will also require a ceramic bulb guard, if your royal python made direct contact with the ceramic bulb it could receive a nasty burn. Ceramic bulbs require a pulse proportional thermostat which should be set and monitored by a digital thermometer.
The problem with ceramics is that they do not emit light and can get extremely hot.
We use these ceramic bulbs with all of our adult snake enclosures.
Enclosure decoration: There is a number of ways you can decorate your Royal pythons enclosure, whether it be a R.U.B. or vivarium. The simple way to decorate your enclosure is to use tissue or newspaper as substrate, this is easy to clean. If you are looking to give your enclosure a bit more of a naturalistic look to it then you can add a mixture of exclavator clay, coir and exo terra red desert sand. As well as the substrate you can also add some fake reptile safe plants, branches and cork bark. Royal pythons are a shy species generally, so it is important you use hides on both sides of the enclosure.
A water bowl is required on the cool end of the enclosure, this should allow the snake to curl inside in order to bathe. The water bowl will also provide the enclosure with humidity which for Royal pythons should be around 50-60% and can be checked by a hydrometer. If your Royal python begins to experience stuck/retained sheds it may mean that your humidity is too low, so a little spray of water within the enclosure when your snake starts to come up for a shed will help.
A water bowl is required on the cool end of the enclosure, this should allow the snake to curl inside in order to bathe. The water bowl will also provide the enclosure with humidity which for Royal pythons should be around 50-60% and can be checked by a hydrometer. If your Royal python begins to experience stuck/retained sheds it may mean that your humidity is too low, so a little spray of water within the enclosure when your snake starts to come up for a shed will help.
Feeding: When feeding your Royal python the general rule that people follow is that the prey item should be a little bit bigger than the widest part of its body, this would leave the snake with a slight lump once it has ate.
We will feed hatchlings every seven days until the snake moves onto a larger prey item. We then move feeding to every 8-10 days. Once they reach adulthood, we will then offer prey items every two weeks. Adult females that have recently laid a clutch of eggs will be fed slightly more often until they are back to their previous condition before laying, these meals will be smaller but more frequent.
Personally we prefer to feed our Royal pythons on Multimammate mice because they would be a part of their natural diet in the wild and they also can get non-feeding Royals feeding once again. However, we do start hatchlings on rat pups because they tend to be easier to get a hold of.
Royal pythons can go off feeding for months at a time, especially males during breeding season. Multimammate mice can be a great way to get them feeding again but as long as your snake isn't losing weight and is still behaving normally there isn't much to worry about, however we are always happy to offer advice to get them feeding again just get in touch with us via the contact page through email or on Reptile Forums or you can ask on Reptile forums (the link to the forums can be found on the links page).
All our snakes are fed on frozen-thawed rodents.
Royal python hatchlings will start on Fuzzies (Multimammates with fur just growing) or rat pups and slowly move up to Small multimammates/rats and then eventually medium multis/rats, large multis/rats and ex-breeder multis.
Its advised to wait at least 24-48 hours after your Royal has ate before handling.
We will feed hatchlings every seven days until the snake moves onto a larger prey item. We then move feeding to every 8-10 days. Once they reach adulthood, we will then offer prey items every two weeks. Adult females that have recently laid a clutch of eggs will be fed slightly more often until they are back to their previous condition before laying, these meals will be smaller but more frequent.
Personally we prefer to feed our Royal pythons on Multimammate mice because they would be a part of their natural diet in the wild and they also can get non-feeding Royals feeding once again. However, we do start hatchlings on rat pups because they tend to be easier to get a hold of.
Royal pythons can go off feeding for months at a time, especially males during breeding season. Multimammate mice can be a great way to get them feeding again but as long as your snake isn't losing weight and is still behaving normally there isn't much to worry about, however we are always happy to offer advice to get them feeding again just get in touch with us via the contact page through email or on Reptile Forums or you can ask on Reptile forums (the link to the forums can be found on the links page).
All our snakes are fed on frozen-thawed rodents.
Royal python hatchlings will start on Fuzzies (Multimammates with fur just growing) or rat pups and slowly move up to Small multimammates/rats and then eventually medium multis/rats, large multis/rats and ex-breeder multis.
Its advised to wait at least 24-48 hours after your Royal has ate before handling.
Shedding: When your Royal Python is a hatchling it will enter a shed cycle every 1-2 months, until it reaches adulthood where it will healthily shed around 4-6 times a year. The first indication that your royal python has gone into a shed cycle will be that its colours will begin to dull, and it may refuse any food offered.
The next stage is normally more noticeable with the eyes, as the old eye caps separate from the new, the snakes eyes will turn a blue/cloudy colour. Once this is done the Royal pythons eyes go back to being clear, 3-7 days later you should expect to see your royal has shed.
The next stage is normally more noticeable with the eyes, as the old eye caps separate from the new, the snakes eyes will turn a blue/cloudy colour. Once this is done the Royal pythons eyes go back to being clear, 3-7 days later you should expect to see your royal has shed.
Enigma Reptiles thoughts on keeping Royal Pythons: Royal pythons can be a great species to keep, they are easy to handle and generally docile. Although in general they aren't as active as other snakes and they can be a little troublesome if they stop feeding but if the enclosure conditions are correct and there are no underlying health issues, they normally get feeding again. So overall a great species to keep and they can provide a great learning experience with troublesome feeding.