# Can anyone help my son identify a snake please?



## Clairedobbins (3 mo ago)

Hiya everyone! I have just joined the group to try and help my son identify a snake (he is a keen 7 year old who loves reptiles) please forgive me if I should have posted this in a different place!
Is it a Rock Python? Any help is appreciated, Thanks!


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## Swindinian (May 4, 2020)

Look up royal python / ball python
Python regius


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## ian14 (Jan 2, 2008)

That's a royal python


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## Malc (Oct 27, 2009)

Clairedobbins said:


> Hiya everyone! I have just joined the group to try and help my son identify a snake (he is a keen 7 year old who loves reptiles) please forgive me if I should have posted this in a different place!
> Is it a Rock Python? Any help is appreciated, Thanks!


As the others have already said, its not an Africa Rock, just a decent sized bog standard "normal" Royal Python


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## Clairedobbins (3 mo ago)

Thank you so much everyone!! I didn’t know what to look up to get him more information. This is really helpful, he can do some reading now 😀 
He met a few rescued snakes and this was his favourite! 
Thanks again! xx


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## ian14 (Jan 2, 2008)

Clairedobbins said:


> Thank you so much everyone!! I didn’t know what to look up to get him more information. This is really helpful, he can do some reading now 😀
> He met a few rescued snakes and this was his favourite!
> Thanks again! xx


Well he can't go wrong.
Just ensure that if you decide to get one for him that, above all, it is a reliable and consistent feeder on defrost rats.
This site can sometimes seem a little hostile to newcomers, that's down to awful questions!!
Research loads, viv type , heat source, substrate, everything.
If you have any questions at all just ask. We'll soon let you know if its a stupid one!
Ultimately we are all here to help. Royals are great, if they are feeding on unscented defrosted rodents.


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## Malc (Oct 27, 2009)

A while ago a lot of long standing forum members cobbled together a few basic care sheets /guides which the moderators turned into sticky posts at the top of the snake section. I wrote the basic care guide for Royals, which you may find useful. 

This forum seems to be targeted by bots or people posting single line post lacking any real questions, or containing the lack of content making it impossible to answer, which tends to make us a little hostile from time to time, often providing a sarcastic reply as we have little to go on.. So if you need any further help, detailing the size and type of enclosure, method of heating etc in the post saves us asking you those questions, and can speed up a reply. If you have a specific question, often including a clear image can explain things far better. 

As Ian has mentioned, we do try and help, and a lot of us have decades of experience with various species, Royals being the more common.


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## Westley S (4 mo ago)

ian14 said:


> That's a royal python


Ball python


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## ian14 (Jan 2, 2008)

Westley S said:


> Ball python


Yeeees. Properly known as a Royal Python, its scientific name being _Python regius_. Regius = royal.


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## Malc (Oct 27, 2009)

Westley S said:


> Ball python


FFS - The proper scientific name is _Python regius_.. Which means Python ROYAL.... it's scientific name is NOT _Python Sphera _(aka Python Ball.) The term Ball Python is an Americanism based on the snakes normal defence mechanism which is to protect its head by coiling into a tight ball.


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## spigotbush (Feb 8, 2019)

i dont see why this conversation is always such a big deal. its just a variant of a common name that everyone knows is just one of many differences between american and english terminology. no different than elevator and lift. we dont call corn snakes "spotted panther snake" which we should do if we were to only use direct latin translations. we use "corn snake" because of characteristics and because that is how they are introduced to us. which is no different to calling a python which is known for knotting itself into a ball a "ball" python.
i call them royal pythons myself but i dont feel the need to go off on one if people say ball python. provided people use the proper latin name (in latin, not translated) when dealing with matters that are important to be specific, its just another name. that is the whole point of using latin, to circumvent locality names when it important.


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## Malum Argenteum (5 mo ago)

Malc said:


> FFS - The proper scientific name is _Python regius_.. Which means Python ROYAL.... it's scientific name is NOT _Python Sphera _(aka Python Ball.)


It wouldn't be _P. Sphera. _First, the species name isn't capitalized. Second, the species name must agree in gender with that of the genus, which is masculine (and the Latin 'sphaera' [spelling] is a feminine noun). Rather than simply choosing a masculine Latin noun, though ('globus' would be an option), an adjective is what's typically used. The adjectival form of 'globus' is 'globosus' in the masculine, and that would work (it has been used as a species name before). So, _Python globosus_.

But as mentioned any common name is acceptable so long as it is actually in common use, and I'll add that it doesn't have any unacceptable social/political baggage (common names are officially changed from time to time; recently the Entomological Society of America changed their official common name for a moth whose name was disparaging to the Roma, and presumably at some point the masses will catch up to the new name, 'spongy moth'). 

Common names and scientific names both often pick out some pretty tangential characteristics to hang a name on, and even in the case of scientific names this doesn't make them incorrect. The scientific name doesn't even have to be an accurate description of the species to be the valid name. For example, a distinctly black and yellow dart frog is for all of eternity named _Dendrobates leucomelas (_white, black) because the type specimen was described after soaking in preservative for some time and was discolored.

I like 'Royal' better too, but the other name isn't incorrect.


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## ian14 (Jan 2, 2008)

Christ alive!
I didn't post to cause a row!!
Simply because I identified it as a royal python and someone then replied to that by stating it was a ball python, suggesting I was wrong by calling it a royal, 
my reply to WestleyS was intended as tongue-in-cheek.
Honestly, calm down.
Royal/ball, same thing. 
Just proves the importance of using scientific names.
The hobby has enough problems, without arguing over common names.
Shall we all just cool it?


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## Malum Argenteum (5 mo ago)

I think you're misinterpreting, Ian. I sure didn't mean to post anything to suggest that I was anything other than calm. If you point out something I said that looks argumentative I'll know to avoid that next time.

I was trying to expand on what spigotbush wrote, and offer friendly and (I hope) informative comments for Malc (and I suppose to you as well, if you're up for it) about how species names work. Sincerely.  It doesn't look like a row to me. I actually took myself to be posting some pretty interesting stuff. Maybe I was wrong about that, but I find it interesting, and it seems relevant to the naming discussion. 

Sincerest apologies if I was out of line.


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## Swindinian (May 4, 2020)

I quite enjoy the deep dive into comments.
Some inclusive.
Some exclusive.
Some emotive.
Some objective.
Some repetitive.
Some progressive.
There’s a good melting pot of expressions in this thread 😉


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## Malc (Oct 27, 2009)

Malum Argenteum said:


> It wouldn't be _P. Sphera. _First, the species name isn't capitalized. Second, the species name must agree in gender with that of the genus, which is masculine (and the Latin 'sphaera' [spelling] is a feminine noun). Rather than simply choosing a masculine Latin noun, though ('globus' would be an option), an adjective is what's typically used. The adjectival form of 'globus' is 'globosus' in the masculine, and that would work (it has been used as a species name before). So, _Python globosus_.


There is obviously a difference between UK sense of humour and US... I was being sarcastic, tongue in cheek.... I was going to suggest _python ballus _ but thought that was taking it too far  

Certainly wasn't expecting to be given an English lesson 😉


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## ian14 (Jan 2, 2008)

Malum Argenteum said:


> I think you're misinterpreting, Ian. I sure didn't mean to post anything to suggest that I was anything other than calm. If you point out something I said that looks argumentative I'll know to avoid that next time.
> 
> I was trying to expand on what spigotbush wrote, and offer friendly and (I hope) informative comments for Malc (and I suppose to you as well, if you're up for it) about how species names work. Sincerely.  It doesn't look like a row to me. I actually took myself to be posting some pretty interesting stuff. Maybe I was wrong about that, but I find it interesting, and it seems relevant to the naming discussion.
> 
> Sincerest apologies if I was out of line.


No apology needed mate!! And you haven't been out of line at all, I enjoy reading your posts and learning from them.
It seemed to me that this discussion had spiralled out of all perspective and needed a little reality check 😊
We all know what a damned royal/ball python is.
I was just keen to avoid a simple "whats this snake" thread descend any further into who's common name is right or wrong.
_Python ballus_? 😅
Anyway, we all have the same interests at heart. Let's all get along!


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## spigotbush (Feb 8, 2019)

i wasnt being aggressive, i certainly didnt intend for it to sound that way. perhaps it came across as stroppy, in which case i apologise. maybe i have just come across it once too often recently and was inadvertently riled up.


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