[4] The specific name or epithet, reinhardtii, is dedicated to Danish herpetologist Johannes Theodor Reinhardt (1816–1882).

[5] Although Schlegel (1848) first assigned this taxon to the genus Eryx, most herpetologists have since regarded it as a python, which is still reflected in many of its common names.

Charina was used to group together C. bottae and C. trivirgata with C. reinhardtii to emphasize evidence for an historical connection between the New and Old Worlds, as well as for taxonomic efficiency.

[7][8] This species was long regarded as a member of the family Pythonidae, a fact still reflected in many of its common names.

No palatal teeth are present and, unlike other boids, the compact skull includes a prefrontal bone.

[3] Calabaria reinhardtii is fossorial but, unlike other burrowing boas such as Eryx, it tunnels in loose rainforest soil and leaf litter instead of sand.

When threatened, the tail is used as a decoy, being elevated and set in motion, while the head is pressed to the ground and covered with a section of the body.

Requirements include a thick layer of loose organic material for burrowing and a cage temperature of 25–29 °C (77–84 °F).

[11] Although C. reinhardtii is occasionally available through the exotic animal trade, captive reproduction of this species has only been accomplished by a few individual keepers.

In captivity a Calabar python will readily accept small mice and rats for food, as this fulfills its instinct to raid rodent nests.

Constriction is usually employed to kill its prey, but it may also use its body to press the young rodents against the walls of their nest.