Ball Python

Linnean Classification: Eukarya, Animalia, Chordata, Reptilia, Squamata, Pythonidae, Python, Python reticulatas

Conformer: The Ball Python is a conformer because as reptiles, they are cold-blooded organisms with the ability to adopt their body temperature to that of their environment.

Dormancy: The Ball Python begins to hibernate only after they become sexually matured. Their hibernation begins at the end of october or the beginning of November and continues until the end of March or the beginning of April.

Generalist: The Ball Python are generalists that inhabit dry areas. However, they are also adapted to live in grasslands, open forests, and agricultural land. They are found throughout Central and Western Africa, and are able to live both in trees and on land.

Consumer: The Ball Python is a consumer, as it cannot produce it’s own food but must consume other organisms to get the nutrients and energy its needs.

Carnivore: The Ball Python is a carnivore, as their diet consists mostly of mice, rats, or young chicken

Niche: The Ball Python inhabit most dry areas, glassland, open forest, and agricultural land. They are found both in trees and on the ground, in underground burrows. They are found throughout Africa, and are carnivores that eat small mice or rats due to their miniature size. Ball pythons are small resulting in them having various natural predators such as warthogs, leopards, and birds of prey.