Are ball pythons even [I]slightly[/I] arboreal?

[Skiploder]

Bird eating and arboreality are not correlative events in snakes. In other words, just because ball pythons have been proven to eat birds, bush babies and squirrels in the wild does not mean that they are arboreal.

FWIW, out of 8 of the bird species that they have been proven to feed on, 6 nest in trees.

And no, not all of the birds and arboreal mammals ingested by ball pythons were nestlings who fell to the ground. It has been studied in published papers that male ball pythons are often seen climbing trees in search of prey.

So to answer the OPs question - I think they can be safely considered semi-arboreal when it comes to feeding patterns. If you had asked the question what do BPs eat in the wild, most people have no idea that birds and arboreal mammals make up a considerable part of their diet. The common misconception is that they are dedicated ground-dwelling snakes that eat mainly rodents.

However, that does not mean that you need to provide them with an arboreal set up in order to maintain proper husbandry. It does mean that if you wish to provide otherwise and do so properly, your snake will be just as happy.

[gardenfiend138]

Thank you for this information! I tried looking up ground dwelling birds of Africa, but my research was fruitless; where do you find these peer reviewed articles on bps? I've found a few general ones on google scholar, but any other tips would be appreciated!

[Anya]

So to answer the OPs question - I think they can be safely considered semi-arboreal when it comes to feeding patterns. If you had asked the question what do BPs eat in the wild, most people have no idea that birds and arboreal mammals make up a considerable part of their diet. The common misconception is that they are dedicated ground-dwelling snakes that eat mainly rodents.

However, that does not mean that you need to provide them with an arboreal set up in order to maintain proper husbandry. It does mean that if you wish to provide otherwise and do so properly, your snake will be just as happy.

Thanks so much!!! I've learned so much in the course of this thread...I really appreciate all the replies!

[Egapal]

Bird eating and arboreality are not correlative events in snakes. In other words, just because ball pythons have been proven to eat birds, bush babies and squirrels in the wild does not mean that they are arboreal.

FWIW, out of 8 of the bird species that they have been proven to feed on, 6 nest in trees.

And no, not all of the birds and arboreal mammals ingested by ball pythons were nestlings who fell to the ground. It has been studied in published papers that male ball pythons are often seen climbing trees in search of prey.

So to answer the OPs question - I think they can be safely considered semi-arboreal when it comes to feeding patterns. If you had asked the question what do BPs eat in the wild, most people have no idea that birds and arboreal mammals make up a considerable part of their diet. The common misconception is that they are dedicated ground-dwelling snakes that eat mainly rodents.

However, that does not mean that you need to provide them with an arboreal set up in order to maintain proper husbandry. It does mean that if you wish to provide otherwise and do so properly, your snake will be just as happy.

The older I get the more worried I get over how information will be received, incorporated into a person and then used. I would just add that its my understanding that in the wild juvenile BP and small males are more likely to climb trees. They are not particularly well suited for it. I have not seen any papers where a professional has called BP's semi-arboreal although I would love a citation to prove me wrong. Again I have to state that what happens in the wild is not necessarily something we want to replicate in the wild. In fact many things that a BP would encounter in the wild we fight hard to protect our snakes from, predators, parasites, wild temperature and humidity fluctuations, drought, and lack of food. I would argue that we should also try and protect our snakes from injuries from falling. Of course some properly treated drift wood can be a great addition to an enclosure but its not necessary or necessarily beneficial.

[Skiploder]

The older I get the more worried I get over how information will be received, incorporated into a person and then used. I would just add that its my understanding that in the wild juvenile BP and small males are more likely to climb trees. They are not particularly well suited for it. I have not seen any papers where a professional has called BP's semi-arboreal although I would love a citation to prove me wrong. Again I have to state that what happens in the wild is not necessarily something we want to replicate in the wild. In fact many things that a BP would encounter in the wild we fight hard to protect our snakes from, predators, parasites, wild temperature and humidity fluctuations, drought, and lack of food. I would argue that we should also try and protect our snakes from injuries from falling. Of course some properly treated drift wood can be a great addition to an enclosure but its not necessary or necessarily beneficial.

No one is calling them semi-arboreal. Their feeding behavior clearly indicates that they are semi-arboreal in terms of hunting for prey. While that alone doesn't make them arboreal or even semi-arboreal, it does mean that they have successfully adapted to taking to the trees to hunt prey.

I think that in a 12" or 18" high enclosure, that a keeper (if they chose to) could safely provide for branches for them to perch on and noodle around with. A drop of less than 2' isn't going to do them a great deal of harm.

[Anya]

Believe me, semi-arboreal or not (Which, is up for much debate) I would never give my snake any situation where he could come to harm. I'm enjoying this discussion between intelligent people, and I would never use any information here as reason for doing something potentially dangerous for my bp.

Just, you know, for the record, lol.

[Jeremy Browning]

Arboreal or semi-arboreal are misused terms. My BP, Aurora will climb but is defiantly not arboreal. She does it when shes hungry and ir roaming her cage for food and its more of climbing and staying for like a minute, And then searching for food elsewhere until shes fed and then shell hide for a week or so only to come out again to eat.

[gardenfiend138]

Arboreal or semi-arboreal are misused terms.

I definitely agree with this... I think it's one of those things where some people would understand saying bps are semi-arboreal, but that technically speaking it is not an accurate descriptor. I don't know much about this, but are any snakes actually considered "semi-arboreal" technically speaking? It seems like arboreal is one of those black or white kind of subjects...please correct me if I'm wrong!

[kitedemon]

First I posted the quotes and do not take my word for it READ THEM YOURSELF that is why there are references. Agree with field studies or not your choice. I did not collect the data or interpret the data I just parroted what I read. In one case it was a translation, I can read a bit of Italian but no where near enough to read a scholarly paper.

There has been a number of other journal articles that reference the same articles so to me that means the scientific community accepts the results. So yes they can be found in trees, yes they can climb yes the will in the wild on occasion forage in trees and have been proven to take young birds. The authors in jest called sub adult semi arboreal as they were seen in trees on multiple occasions. That is from a single region in Nigeria where they conducted the study as for the rest of the range it is unlikely as there are not very many trees at all.

They don't live in trees, and to this point there is no evidence I have found that an adult has been found to have eaten birds. Only sub adults, that I can support in my own collection, the adults generally show no interest in climbing at all, but all of my sub adults do climb and are willing climbers, and that aligns with scholarly research.


Luiselli,L, and F. M Angelici 1989 Italian Journal of Herpetology, 65: 183-185

Luiselli,L, G C Akani, and D Capissi, 1989 Journal of Zoology, London 246: 125-133

Luiselli,L and G. C. Akani 2002. African Journal of Ecology 40: 220-227

Yes, for sure semi, arboreal is mis used.

"Ball Pythons do not climb trees in the wild " Is not backed up by any evidence at all. I can cite at least two accounts of them being found in trees, and have. At least in Northern Nigeria, Royal Pythons have been found climbing and foraging in trees not semi arboreal but as the OP stated slightly arboreal yes I think there is enough evidence from published scientific Journals to support a claim of slightly.

They whole argument is silly, the simple frequency of posts about Royal pythons climbing busts the argument wide open. If they climb in captivity I see no logical reason why they would not do so in the wild.

[kitedemon]

"Three royal pythons were found outside of burrows. They were all males. Number 22 was in a mango tree, 26 was in open grassland, and 98 was found in a trench. Two other males (numbers 32 and 75) vomited rodents after capture, indicating that some males are active and feeding during the dry season."


http://ec.europa.eu/environment/cite...thon_ghana.pdf

Page 11 Dr Stefan GORZULA Consultant, CITES Secretariat.