Are you interested in purchasing or breeding a Woma Ball Python?
Or maybe you’ve just heard about this snake and want to find out what a Woma Ball Python is?
In this article, we look at where Woma Ball Pythons come from, what they look like, some of their common characteristics, and much more.
Woma Ball Pythons are a black and light-brown patterned Ball Python morph, meaning due to breeding, they look slightly different than regular ball pythons, but are still within the Ball Python breed.
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Where Do Woma Ball Pythons Come From?
Like other Ball Pythons, Woma Ball Pythons originated in the west and central Africa and, due to their popularity as pets, were imported from Africa to the United States.
While the Woma Ball Python morph may occur naturally in the wild, it is much more likely the result of selective breeding in captivity.
What is a Woma Ball Python?
The Woma Ball Python (not to be confused with Woma Pythons from Australia), is a Ball python morph.
What does this mean?
A morph is simply a genetic mutation of a regular breed (in this case, a regular Ball Python), altering its appearance from the standard breed, but remaining within the breed.
In other words, Woma Ball Pythons are the result of a genetic mutation when breeding Ball Pythons (different than a birth defect), causing them to look slightly different than regular Ball Pythons.
Despite slight external differences (in color and patterning), the Woma Ball Python is still part of the Ball Python breed and contains the same basic characteristics of regular ball pythons.
Ball Python morphs sometimes occur naturally in the wild but are more commonly the result of careful and selective breeding.
As Ball Pythons have become more and more popular in the pet trade today (thanks to their docility, easy care requirements, and wide range of morph possibilities), more and more breeders are carefully breeding Ball Pythons to create colorful and vibrantly patterned morphs, like the Woma Ball Python.
What Does a Woma Ball Python Look Like?
The Woma Ball Python’s pattern mutation produces a beautiful snake with bands of black patterning against a tan or light brown background base.
Its belly is typically clean white or light tan, and sometimes the light-colored belly will extend up the sides of the snake, although this is rare.
Other traits of the Woma Ball Python include yellow upper lips and faded head markings.
Woma Ball Pythons range in color from reddish and yellowish to grey and olive-brown.
Though most Woma Ball Pythons have highly banded patterns running down the length of its body, others’ banding is faint and even mottled at times.
Woma Ball Pythons have very narrow, pointed tails.
They use their tails like a lure, wiggling and moving it to attract their prey.
Like other Ball Pythons, the Woma Ball Python coils around its prey to choke it to death or presses it against the walls of its burrow to suffocate it.
Characteristics of the Woma Ball Python
Woma Ball Pythons, like other Ball Pythons, grow to be about 3′ – 5′ feet long and reach sexual maturity around 2-3 years of age.
Once they reach sexual maturity, Woma Ball Pythons start breeding around January and typically lay eggs in September or October.
The female Woma Ball Python incubates the eggs in a burrow for around two months before they hatch out.
Woma Ball Pythons are nocturnal creatures, meaning they are active at night, searching and hunting for prey.
They primarily eat small rodents like mice and rats but have been known to eat other small mammals and birds.
Like other Ball Pythons, Woma Ball Pythons are characteristically docile, friendly snakes.
This makes them popular as pets.
As a dominant gene morph, Woma Ball Pythons are often bred with other morphs to create beautiful mutations with striking colors and patterns, like variations of pastel and bumblebee ball pythons.
Do Woma Ball Pythons Wobble?
Woma Ball Pythons are very similar to Spider Ball Pythons (named for their spider-web like banding patterns), containing many of the same genes.
One common characteristic of the Spider Ball Python is a head wobble.
This wobble, known as “wobble syndrome,” is a neurological condition causing snakes to have difficulty controlling their head.
Snakes with wobble syndrome often involuntarily move their head from side to side, hold their head at a 45-degree tilt, have trouble striking at prey, occasionally flip their head backward and upside down, and even appear to have difficulty determining between up and down.
Some snakes have such a pronounced wobble they can barely feed, while others’ wobble is hard to detect and doesn’t affect their life very much.
What causes wobble syndrome?
Snake morphs go through various genetic changes as they are selectively bred.
Some of these genetic changes, unfortunately, result in more than just color and pattern variations.
Certain morphs display characteristics like bulging eyes, spinal deformities, duckbill-like mouths, and of course, wobble syndrome.
Since wobble syndrome is the result of genetic mutations, there is no cure or medication for it.
However, most snakes with a wobble can lead happy, healthy lives just like other snakes.
While most Woma Ball Pythons do not experience head wobble syndrome, some do.
So, it’s important to be aware of the possibility of wobble syndrome if you’re interested in purchasing or breeding a Woma Ball Python.
Conclusion
If you’ve been wondering what a Woma Ball Python is, we hope this article answered your question.
Woma Ball Pythons are Ball Python morphs, displaying striking patterns of black bands etched against a tan or light brown base.
Their bellies are typically clean white, or very pale yellow. Woma Ball Pythons are similar looking to Spider Ball Pythons.
Since they share similar genes, Woma BPs can sometimes inherit head wobble syndrome, so if you’re planning on purchasing a Woma BP, be aware of this possible condition.
Woma Ball Pythons are generally friendly, docile snakes and make great pets.
