royal

Royal Python

.	Everyone seems to have Royal Pythons - a very commonly kept snake - but not really one for the beginner

The Royal Python is a snake that averages about 4 feet in length; occasionally a female can reach 6 feet, but it's rare. The largest royal I've personally seen was a five feet long male.

They are generally docile snakes by nature, and are head shy and easily frightened.

Ball - Royal - names can be confusing:

Called Royal Python because its markings look like crowns - common name in the UK

Called Ball Python because of its natural form of defense. When one feels threatened in some way it will coil into a tight ball until the threat is past - common name in the US

Because of the smaller size of the Royal Python compared to many other pythons, an ideal viv size for a happy snake is 4 ft long X 2 ft wide X 2 ft high. Give them something to hide in - a Royal will love to squash himself into nooks and crannies. But don't keep just one; Royals seem to love company. My first royal sulked, but when I added a second both fed. Odd, as in the wild they are solitary animals.

I now have twelve Royals spread among three tanks. Four female Royals in one tank, three problem feeder males in another, and five greedy lads in the third. It's also been my experience that Royals feed better in larger numbers and in smaller tanks. Again this doesn't really fit with what would happen in the wild.

Royals seem to like to climb - Beverley here is in his (!) climbing frame which was constructed from thick wooden dowels. A word of caution though - Royals are rubbish at climbing and fall out very easily. Don't let them climb too high or they may well hurt themselves.

Royal Pythons will require supplementary heating in all areas outside the tropics. The air temperature in the cage should be maintained at 77 to 88 degrees F during the day, (you ca reduce to around 68 degrees F at night) - Royals like it warmer than most snakes, but do not seem anywhere near as prone to colds as burmeses

A well fed Royal will shed its skin about once every 1 to 3 months. The most obvious sign that shedding is imminent is a general darkening and the clouding over of the eyes. At this point, all contact with the snake is best postponed till after shed is complete. The eyes will clear, and a few days later the skin will be removed. The shed is accomplished by rubbing on something until the skin on the nose comes loose. The skin is then pulled off like a sock. Check the python to ensure the shed was complete - look for any skin left stuck to the body. Unshed skin can be removed by soaking the snake in water and then gently pulling it off.

Some snakes seem to enjoy this, others put up a struggle. If the skin comes off in lots of small pieces, the books would have you believe that humidity is too low. I regularly have Royals shedding within days, if not hours of each other. One snake will shed completely without a problem and the other will have a really hard time and will need soaking & peeling, and this from snakes in the same viv. There must be a reason, but I don't know what it is.
Handling should be kept at a minimum during the shed period, as the new skin can be sensitive (or even damaged). Feeding should also be postponed for the same reasons, in fact, most will refuse food while shedding.

Snakes need water available at all times. When I very first started keeping royals I was warned not to let them have too large a water bowl or they would soak too long in the water.
Mine don't soak, and I don't see why they shouldn't soak. Any ideas why they shouldn't ?

Some words on "types" of royal python
There are various types of royal python, most of which look much the same to me.

Standard royal python (Scott). Did you know they are called Royals as the markings are supposed to look like crowns.
(They don't really, do they ?)

The "high yellow" phase - similar to the "typical" but much lighter in colour. Though what makes a snake "high yellow" and not just a bit pale is arguable.
This is "Lamby" - photo courtesy of Clint Gilders

The "striped" royal has a stripe down his back. This one is my own Derek.

The Albino Royal is rather rare, and very expensive, but in other ways is reported to be much the same as "normal" Royals in behavior.
I was given this piccy by my local herp shop

There's also "jungle" phase, but there's as many ideas of what this looks like as there are people trying to sell "jungle phase" Royals. All the ones I've seen look rather like normal Royals to me. There is also a "piebald" phase where large spaces of the snake's body are a pale white. They are very expensive and, to my mind, look horrible.

All things considered, THE python to keep - don't get huge like retics, don't have permanent colds like burmeses, don't bite me like carpets and children's, good natured, a manageable size - so here's the catch..

...

Feeding

Not my snake I'm afraid, but this photo must be the dream of every keeper of royal pythons. You see Royals can be little ***s when it comes to feeding. Generally they don't feed !
Really -more often than not they don't eat. Where my rosy boas will eat all day long every day, and a carpet python would make an ideal dustbin, royal pythons have been known to starve themselves to death.

Now the experts would say something like "rats are a good food source for Royals over the size of 2 feet and before this mice should be used, their size in accordance with the python's size. Two mice a week should do. After the 2 foot mark, Royals will graduate to smaller rats or adult mice As the snake matures, larger rats should be used."

Ashley (pictured here) would agree

Ken (pictured here) will only occasionally eat.

So many Royals are fussy feeders. When Ken does eat, it will be a (dead) gerbil which was put into her (see my comments on sexing snakes elsewhere!) viv and left overnight, Another adult royal of mine, Beverley is much the same. Beverley will also go months between feeds with no apparent harm befalling him (!). It is not unknown for Royals to go over a year without eating.
Another of my Royals, Keith, will feed if his mouth is opened for him and the food item placed between his jaws. I don't have to force the food item down his throat or employ any other "force feeding" techniques - I just have to open his mouth and put it in for him !!

Many experts also advocate waving the food item in a pair of forceps to encourage feeding. Others say leave the food alone. A tip - whatever way you feed a python don't forget they have heat detection organs in their snouts. They can smell food, but they "see" your warm hand and will bite it. Wear gloves when feeding Royals !!

There are those Royals which will only eat gerbils, and some that will only eat certain colours of prey - the trick is to persevere until you find something they like. See also the "Got a Question" page and the "Feeding Time" page to deal with difficult feeders.

Breeding

I've never deliberately tried to breed Royals, but I have had them "doing naughties" on several occasions. Below is the closest I've come to a result. At the moment all my males & females are separated. Before I attempt any more matings I want the females to get a much better body weight.

One of my proudest moments was when my son woke the entire family to tell us "Ken" had laid eggs. According to the books pythons mate, then a month after mating the eggs are laid. They had been off mating for some time, and I had decided the matings were unsuccessful.

I had this idea to separate males and females for some months then try for matings later in the year. Some three months after separating the sexes, these eggs were laid. However despite my moving mother and eggs onto damp vermiculite, the eggs collapsed. I think the problem was lack of humidity. I shall leave her to feed up for a couple of years before mating her again.
Two months after this episode I came home from a day's picnic to see that one of the "males" had laid eggs (see my comments elsewhere on sexing). The mother snake was coiled around her eggs, and to keep up the humidity I popped a damp newspaper over her twice daily. I gave her a light sprinkling of athlete's foot powder to keep down any mould growth. Unfortunately the eggs lasted about a month then deflated. If there is a next time I shall try incubating them in an incubator made from an old laboratory water bath.

Some words on "types" of royal python There are various types of royal python, most of which look much the same to me.
	Standard royal python (Scott). Did you know they are called Royals as the markings are supposed to look like crowns. (They don't really, do they ?)

	The "high yellow" phase - similar to the "typical" but much lighter in colour. Though what makes a snake "high yellow" and not just a bit pale is arguable. This is "Lamby" - photo courtesy of Clint Gilders

	The "striped" royal has a stripe down his back. This one is my own Derek.

	The Albino Royal is rather rare, and very expensive, but in other ways is reported to be much the same as "normal" Royals in behavior. I was given this piccy by my local herp shop

There's also "jungle" phase, but there's as many ideas of what this looks like as there are people trying to sell "jungle phase" Royals. All the ones I've seen look rather like normal Royals to me. There is also a "piebald" phase where large spaces of the snake's body are a pale white. They are very expensive and, to my mind, look horrible.

Breeding
	I've never deliberately tried to breed Royals, but I have had them "doing naughties" on several occasions. Below is the closest I've come to a result. At the moment all my males & females are separated. Before I attempt any more matings I want the females to get a much better body weight.
One of my proudest moments was when my son woke the entire family to tell us "Ken" had laid eggs. According to the books pythons mate, then a month after mating the eggs are laid. They had been off mating for some time, and I had decided the matings were unsuccessful.
I had this idea to separate males and females for some months then try for matings later in the year. Some three months after separating the sexes, these eggs were laid. However despite my moving mother and eggs onto damp vermiculite, the eggs collapsed. I think the problem was lack of humidity. I shall leave her to feed up for a couple of years before mating her again. Two months after this episode I came home from a day's picnic to see that one of the "males" had laid eggs (see my comments elsewhere on sexing). The mother snake was coiled around her eggs, and to keep up the humidity I popped a damp newspaper over her twice daily. I gave her a light sprinkling of athlete's foot powder to keep down any mould growth. Unfortunately the eggs lasted about a month then deflated. If there is a next time I shall try incubating them in an incubator made from an old laboratory water bath.