Its natural habitat in the wild consists of savannah and light wooded areas and it appears to be primarily nocturnal in habits. The common name is derived from its habit of coiling its body into a tight ball as a defensive measure. Colouration is generally a pattern of yellowish blotches on a brown ground colour. Housing requirements for this species need not be elaborate. A cage, roughly the size of a 20 gallon aquarium, will provide ample space pfor the average sized specimen.
Newspaper is a good substrate and a hidebox is essential.
Wild caught ball pythons in particular are very shy. Fresh water should always be available. A day time temperature of 27-30 C is suitable. At night the temperature should be allowed to do drop to 22-25 C. Hot rocks are not recommended for ball pythons. Too low a humidity level causes skin shedding problems.