About Piebald Pythons

The piebald python is a rare color mutation of the ball python. The piebald python was first discovered in the wild during the 1960s, when African villagers killed a large male specimen. The mutation was not discovered again until the 1980s, when a reptile expert found two snakes that were subsequently sold to collectors. Since then, piebald pythons have been prized by private collectors.

  1. Description

    • A piebald pattern has black and white patches. Piebald python patterns may include large sections of the body being pure white with small black patches, and areas of natural color between large white areas. Such color variations are the main reason piebalds are prized by collectors. A ball python's natural coloration is mottled with dark and light brown blotches. Piebald pythons are 3 to 6 feet long and have thick bodies. Breeders now selectively breed for piebald patterns.

    Habitat and Range

    • Wild piebald pythons come from Ghana and Togo in Africa, but can be found elsewhere. Theoretically, piebalds should not survive in the wild because they lack the camouflage of normally-patterned ball snakes, but some do survive to breed. Ball pythons live in the grasslands and forests of western and central Africa. Ball python collecting during the 1990s in Ghana and Togo yielded a small number of piebalds.

    Diet and Predators

    • Wild piebalds are mainly ambush predators, but because their bold patterns stand out, hunting prey can prove difficult. In the wild, piebalds eat small to medium rodents such as rats and mice. Black cobras, large birds of prey and various African carnivores feed on ball pythons.

    Life Cycle

    • In the wild, female ball pythons lay between 1 and 11 eggs. They coil their bodies around the eggs to protect them during the 2-month hatching period. Baby ball pythons can be more than 12 inches long at birth. Once the babies hatch, the mother lets them fend for themselves. Females can produce a clutch every year and are able to breed from the age of 27 months old to around age 30. In the wild, ball pythons live for about 20 years, but those with piebald coloring generally don't live as long. Piebald pythons can live more than 40 years in captivity.