Does anybody know what the state of wild ball python populations is like?

[Ash]

I've been wondering for a while if there has ever been any research done on wild ball python populations. Are there any laws regarding how many can be exported every year? Although I do find gravid imports and captive hatching to be pretty fascinating stuff, every time I hear about it, I imagine how debilitating that must be to the wild population. This species reproduces EXTREMELY slowly even in captivity, so many things can go wrong, it must be so unlikely that a wild egg even grows up into adulthood, let alone becomes gravid, lays a clutch successfully, all while avoiding poachers and deportation.

What I would expect to happen as snakes are taken out of the wild is rodent populations go up. If rodent populations go up, they would damage farmer's crops and increase the likelihood that local people resort to eating 'bushmeat' (monkeys, wild pigs etc). This idea really concerns me and the more involved I get in this hobby the harder it becomes to ignore.

I would so love to hear about somebody trying to replenish the exported wild caught ball pythons with captive hatched ones from the states (or anywhere). It would be awful for them to go extinct in the wild. Anybody else ever wondered about this / have any information?

[guambomb832]

I think there might be some regulations that say they are only allowed to start exporting during the hatching season, or when the females turn gravid, but when you take a wc gravid female, you are destroying lots of generations. I don't recommend getting a wild-caught or captive-hatched ball python at all since there are so many breeders that work with ball pythons that you can get a captive-bred almost anywhere.

[TheOtherLeadingBrand]

From what I have read, which is limited, it sounds like wild Ball Pythons are thriving. Also, a lot of exporters in Africa breed mass numbers of them in pits and farms, and I think a lot of those are the ones being exported.

[Mike Cavanaugh]

I would so love to hear about somebody trying to replenish the exported wild caught ball pythons with captive hatched ones from the states (or anywhere). It would be awful for them to go extinct in the wild. Anybody else ever wondered about this / have any information?

No need to replenish! They are thriving in the wild.

Why are people always so quick to assume that just because some animals are taken from the wild, then the wild numbers must be at a critical level?

People do this same crap with fish. Locally we are having one of the best Snapper / Grouper fishing seasons in years. Still they are about to install a year long ban on fishing them to increase numbers. As an avid diver, someone who goes down there and sees things with my own eyes every weekend, I can tell you they are full of BS.

[Spaniard]

I recall reading from the Barker's book that ball pythons have little natural predators left in the area they inhabit; so they are thriving. They are mostly a nuisance to the locals, what is not exported here for the pet trade is exported to other areas of the world as a food source.

[Mike Cavanaugh]

Why are people always so quick to assume that just because some animals are taken from the wild, then the wild numbers must be at a critical level?

People do this same crap with fish. Locally we are having one of the best Snapper / Grouper fishing seasons in years. Still they are about to install a year long ban on fishing them to increase numbers. As an avid diver, someone who goes down there and sees things with my own eyes every weekend, I can tell you they are full of BS.

By the way OP, this rant was not directed towards you... Just sharing my thoughts on the subject. Obviously this subject is a "hot button" for me.

[Wh00h0069]

Importers will always tell you that the wild ball python population is thriving, because who would buy them if they said that they were destroying the population? I disagree with importing ball pythons. IMO, we have enough breeders in the states that we do not need to import balls anymore. I only buy captive bred animals, and do not deal with companies that import.

[Wh00h0069]

No need to replenish! They are thriving in the wild.

Do you have documentation on this? Has there been a study done?

[DutchHerp]

First of all, let me start off by saying I don't know much about Ball Pythons in the wild nor do I know much about their population.

What I do know, is that collecting/exporting doesn't necessarily have a big impact on the ecosystem, but it has an impact nonetheless. Plus, do you like the idea of your BPs being bred in pits and farms?

Later, Matt

[Ash]

I'm still not sure, though. As far as I can tell, there hasn't been any field work done on this (wouldn't that be a wicked fun job? Walk through the forest and count the ball pythons.) I was researching it a little bit yesterday and from what I found it seemed as though ball pythons are listed as 'not concerned' which means there's plenty of them, but that figure is based on how many are around in general, not how many are in the natural habitat. I read in two or three places that they're 'vulnerable' in the wild and that freaked me out a bit and lead me to posting here. I'll see if I can find the places that said they were vulnerable.