Editing Ball python (section)

==Behavior and ecology==
Ball pythons are typically nocturnal or crepuscular, meaning that they are active during dusk, dawn, and/or nighttime.<ref name="Luiselli and Angelici 1998" /> This species is known for its defense strategy that involves coiling into a tight ball when threatened, with its head and neck tucked away in the middle. This defense behavior is typically employed in lieu of biting, which makes this species easy for humans to handle and has contributed to their popularity as a pet.<ref name="Meh87"/>

In the wild, ball pythons favor mammal burrows and other underground hiding places, where they also [[Aestivation|aestivate]].  Males tend to display more semi-arboreal behaviors, whilst females tend towards terrestrial behaviors.<ref name="Luiselli and Angelici 1998" />

===Diet===
The diet of the ball python in the wild consists mostly of small mammals and birds. Young ball pythons of less than {{cvt|70|cm}} prey foremost on small birds. Ball pythons longer than {{cvt|100|cm}} prey foremost on small mammals. Males prey more frequently on birds, and females more frequently on mammals.<ref name="Luiselli and Angelici 1998">{{cite journal |last1=Luiselli |first1=L. |last2=Angelici |first2=F. M. |name-list-style=amp |title=Sexual size dimorphism and natural history traits are correlated with intersexual dietary divergence in royal pythons (''Python regius'') from the rainforests of southeastern Nigeria |journal=Italian Journal of Zoology |date=1998 |volume=65 |issue=2 |pages=183–185 |doi=10.1080/11250009809386744}}</ref> Rodents make up a large percentage of the diet; [[Gambian pouched rat]]s, [[black rat]]s, [[Oenomys|rufous-nosed rat]]s, [[Dasymys|shaggy rat]]s, and [[Lemniscomys|striped grass mice]] are among the species consumed.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://animaldiversity.org/accounts/Python_regius/ |title=''Python regius'' (Ball Python, Royal Python)|website=[[Animal Diversity Web]] }}</ref>

===Reproduction===
[[File:Ball Python Eggs Incubating.jpg|thumb|Ball python eggs incubating]]
Females are [[oviparous]] and lay three to 11 rather large, leathery eggs.<ref name="Bar06"/> The eggs hatch after 55 to 60 days. Young male pythons reach sexual maturity at 11–18 months, and females at 20–36 months. Age is only one factor in determining sexual maturity and the ability to breed; weight is the second factor. Males breed at {{convert|600|g|abbr=on}} or more, but in captivity are often not bred until they are {{convert|800|g|abbr=on}}, although in captivity, some males have been known to begin breeding at {{convert|300-400|g|abbr=on}}. Females breed in the wild at weights as low as {{convert|800|g|abbr=on}} though {{convert|1200|g|abbr=on}} or more in weight is most common; in captivity, breeders generally wait until they are no less than {{convert|1500|g|abbr=on}}. Parental care of the eggs ends once they hatch, and the female leaves the offspring to fend for themselves.<ref name="McCurley" />

[[parthenogenesis|Parthenogenetic reproduction]] was demonstrated in a pet ball python.<ref name = DiIanni2023>{{cite journal |vauthors=Di Ianni F, Albarella S, Vetere A, Torcello M, Ablondi M, Pugliano M, Di Mauro S, Parma P, Ciotola F |title=Demonstration of Parthenogenetic Reproduction in a Pet Ball Python (Python regius) through Analysis of Early-Stage Embryos |journal=Genes (Basel) |volume=14 |issue=9 |date=August 2023 |page=1744 |pmid=37761884 |pmc=10531270 |doi=10.3390/genes14091744 |doi-access=free |url=}}</ref> A genetic comparison of a mother and her early-stage embryos demonstrated the parthenogenetic origin of the latter.<ref name = DiIanni2023/>