VIDEO: Emoji Ball Python

Snakes aren’t exactly the creatures most people want to spend time with. They’re not cuddly or fun-loving and most people see them as dangerous, killer creatures.

There’s one snake out there, though, that actually might be as cute and lovely as any other pet! Belonging to Justin Kobylka, the snake in question is a lavender albino piebald ball python. She is also known as a “dreamsicle” for her uncanny resemblance to the popular orange creamsicle ice cream. Oh, and she’s covered in smiley face emojis!

According to Wikipedia, the ball python is a python species found in sub-Saharan Africa. Like all other pythons, it is a non-venomous constrictor. This is the smallest of the African pythons and is popular in the pet trade, largely due to its small size and typically docile temperament. No subspecies are currently recognized. The name “ball python” refers to the animal’s tendency to curl into a ball when stressed or frightened. The name “royal python” comes from the fact that rulers in Africa would wear the python as jewelry.

The color pattern is typically black or dark brown with light brown or gold sides and dorsal blotches. The belly is a white or cream that may include scattered black markings. However, those in the pet industries have, through selective breeding, developed many morphs (genetic mutations) with altered colors and patterns.

They are found in west Africa from Senegal, Mali, Guinea-Bissau, Guinea, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Ivory Coast, Ghana, Benin, and Nigeria through Cameroon, Chad and the Central African Republic to Sudan and Uganda. No type locality was given in the original description.

The ball python bears a strong physical resemblance to the Burmese python whose adaptive abilities have caused it to become classified as an invasive species in places such as the Florida Everglades. The ball python, however, has not been known to reproduce in the wild outside of its native range and there are no known reproducing wild populations in Florida.

Ball pythons prefer grasslands, savannas, and sparsely wooded areas. Termite mounds and empty mammal burrows are important habitats for this species.

This terrestrial 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. In this state, it can literally be rolled around. Favored retreats include mammal burrows and other underground hiding places, where they also aestivate. In captivity, they are considered good pets, with their relatively small size and placid nature making them easy to handle.

In the wild, their diet consists mostly of small mammals, such as African soft-furred rats, shrews, and striped mice. Younger individuals have also been known to feed on birds.

Wild-caught specimens have greater difficulty adapting to a captive environment, which can result in refusal to feed, and they generally carry internal or external parasites. Specimens have survived for over 40 years in captivity, with the oldest recorded ball python being kept in captivity 47 years and 6 months until its death in 1992 at the Philadelphia Zoo.

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