Ball python

The ball python (Python regius), also called the royal python, is a python species native to West and Central Africa, where it lives in grasslands, shrublands and open forests. This nonvenomous constrictor is the smallest of the African pythons, growing to a maximum length of 182 cm (72 in). The name "ball python" refers to its tendency to curl into a ball when stressed or frightened. The specific name regius is a Latin adjective meaning "royal". In 1735 Albertus Seba described a specimen of Python regius, brought from the coast of Mozambique, as Serpens Phyticus; Africanus, prodigiofus, ab indigenis divino honore cullus. Based on Seba's work, George Shaw proposed the scientific name Boa regia in 1802. The generic name Python was proposed by François Marie Daudin in 1803 for non-venomous flecked snakes. In 1844 André Marie Constant Duméril and Gabriel Bibron proposed the species' current scientific name, Python regius. The ball python is black, or albino and dark brown with light brown blotches on the back and sides. Its white or cream belly is scattered with black markings.