Recently, our library has gotten a new pet! This year, Mrs. Stiles has chosen a snake named Shatner to temporarily reside at our school. Shatner the snake, is a non-venomous ball python. You can visit him at the library and watch how he acts throughout the day, although he usually likes to rest on the floor of his cage.
A ball python is also known as the Royal Python, and its native home is in the savannas and rainforests of western Africa, and in Ghana, Togo, and Benin. For ball pythons, females are usually larger than males, reaching from three to five feet with the males only reaching two to three feet. These reptiles usually live for 20 to 30 years, and the oldest ball python ever recorded lived up to 48 years.
Shatner is from the Living Science Materials Center so he will only be here for two weeks. Be sure to check him out at the library before he goes back to his home!
