ReviewAnimals : an open access journal from MDPI2020
Blind Trading: A Literature Review of Research Addressing the Welfare of Ball Pythons in the Exotic Pet Trade.
Review in Animals : an open access journal from MDPI, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 9 papers.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
9 citing papers in PubMed, 20 citations in OpenAlex.
- Composition and Legal Aspects of Reptiles and Amphibians Displayed at an Exotic Pet Fair in Warsaw (Poland).Animals : an open access journal from MDPI · 2026Article
- Antibacterial Activity of Some Essential Oils/Herbal Extracts Against Bacteria Isolated from Ball Pythons (Antibiotics (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Article
- Chains of Commerce: A Comprehensive Review of Animal Welfare Impacts in the International Wildlife Trade.Animals : an open access journal from MDPI · 2025Review
- Laying the groundwork for reptile welfare assessment in zoos and private keeping: A literature-based proposal.Animal welfare (South Mimms, England) · 2025Review
- Assessment of Animal Welfare at an Exotic Animal Fair in Poland: A Focus on the Quality of Exhibition Containers for Reptiles and Amphibians.Animals : an open access journal from MDPI · 2024Article
- Oral Abscess Caused byAntibiotics (Basel, Switzerland) · 2021Article
- Zoonotic potential and prevalence ofInfection ecology & epidemiology · 2021Review
- On the Record: An Analysis of Exotic Pet Licences in the UK.Animals : an open access journal from MDPI · 2020Article
- Dropping the Ball? The Welfare of Ball Pythons Traded in the EU and North America.Animals : an open access journal from MDPI · 2020Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
10 authors at 4 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Extensive numbers of Ball pythons are caught, bred, traded and subsequently kept in captivity across the world as part of the exotic pet industry. Despite their widespread availability as pets, relatively little is known about the potential welfare challenges affecting them. We reviewed the literature for research focused on the health and welfare of Ball pythons in the international pet trade. From a total of 88 articles returned from the search criteria, our analysis showed that very few actually focused on trade (10%) or animal welfare (17%). Instead, the majority (64%) of articles focused on veterinary science. There was a considerable bias towards physical health, with most studies neglecting the four other domains of animal welfare (behaviour, nutrition, environment and mental health). Furthermore, very few studies considered Ball pythons prior to resulting pet ownership, during wild capture and transportation or captive breeding operations. Our review demonstrates that our current understanding of welfare for Ball pythons traded as exotic pets is limited. We recommend that future research should focus on aspects of the industry that are currently overlooked, including the potential consequences of genetic selection during captive-breeding and the conditions provided for snakes prior to and during international transportation.
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What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.