Study

Reproduction of the ball python, Python regius in captivity

  • Published source details van Mierop L.H.S. & Bessette E.L. (1981) Reproduction of the ball python, Python regius in captivity. Herpetological Review, 12, 20-22.

Actions

This study is summarised as evidence for the following.

Action Category

Breed reptiles in captivity: Snakes – Boas and pythons

Action Link
Reptile Conservation
  1. Breed reptiles in captivity: Snakes – Boas and pythons

    A study in 1978–1979 in a captive setting [location unknown] (van Mierop & Bessette 1981) found that ball pythons Python regius bred successfully in captivity. Two females produced a clutch of eggs each, and two of four and seven of seven eggs hatched successfully. The incubation period for the first clutch was 63 days. Gravid females were moved to an individual aquarium with a substrate of damp peat moss covered with sphagnum moss Sphagnum sp., and a piece of driftwood for shelter. Humidity was kept at over 90% and ambient temperatures were 26–30°C and 28–32°C. Eggs were left in the aquarium to be incubated within the female’s coils and average coil temperatures were 30.1–30.6°C. One egg that fell outside of the female’s coils and was removed and placed in a glass container with damp peat and sphagnum moss. This container was placed back in the aquarium. After two months, one clutch of eggs was removed and incubated at 30.5°C after they stopped adhering to one another and the female was unable to coil around them.

    (Summarised by: William Morgan)

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