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Meet Monty Python!
Monty is an African Ball Python or Royal Python (no pun to his owner intended). They are known as Ball Pythons because when they are attacked or scared they curl up into a tight ball to defend themselves instead of striking out and biting like other snakes do. He is a boy and his species Python regius originally comes from Africa.
The colored part is where Ball Pythons are found in Africa.
Monty's kind is nocturnal or is active at night and sleeps during the day, so you may not see him move very much when it's light out. In the wild these snakes eat all sorts of things, amphibians, lizards, other snakes, small birds and mammals - but they do not eat mice naturally. Monty does eat mice, but ones that are already dead. The reason for this is because if Monty didn't eat the live mouse given to him (which happens, he doesn't eat all the time), the mouse would turn around and attack Monty and hurt him badly. Monty eats once every two weeks, but stops eating from November to March because he shifts into hibernation mode like his wild cousins and sleeps. He can do this because he is cold-blooded or exothermic and unlike us doesn't need to eat to keep him warm like we do. That's why
he has a heating pad in the back of his home because he does need something external to keep him warm. Snakes in the wild use the sun instead.
Monty has an interesting history, as we do not know how old he really is. You see, Monty was confiscated in a drug bust by the police and given to Soco Gardens Zoo in Maggie Valley, NC. In 2003 Ms. Royal worked as a zookeeper at Soco Gardens Zoo and worked with all the animals there including Monty. However, because the Zoo's owners were getting older, they decided to close the Zoo and Ms. Royal was lucky enough to be given Monty to keep as a pet. Thus, Monty has lived happily with Ms. Royal ever since and helps her teach science!
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