Aggro BP

[Derrick13]

I am not a hundred percent sure if this belongs under husbandry, but it was my best guess.

So 3 weeks ago I moved my bp Apophis from my room to our spare room becuse my rooms gets much too cold during the winter. Before the move I could hold him for 30min before he showed signs of aggrevation, but now I can hardly open the top of the cage before he gets in a s shape and starts approaching the top of the cage in a aggressive manner. The temps are good, average temp is 84 while the cool side is 80 and the warm side is between 88 and 91. His cage is clean and always has fresh water and has never missed a feeding, actually he has a strong feeding response.

So any idea why hes gone terminator on me?

Thanks for your time and effort in reading my post.

[Reptile King]

Are you feeding the appropriate size prey? The rodent should be no bigger around than than the widest part of your snake.....or 10 to 15% of your snake's body weight. The only thing I can think of is the prey is too small. Do you have other pets like a hamster or gerbil that could have it's scent on you?

[Derrick13]

Nope, I dont keep rodents as pets and I'm feeding him large mice, which are just about as thick as he is. Maybe I should feed him twice in one day instead of twice in one week?

[Kryptonian]

No dont feed him twice a day that is way to much for a bp. You will just make him fat and unhealthy. Prob what has happened is he has learned to scare you away and that his antics work . So he does this, he has you trained. Just pick him up, use gloves if needed but a baby bp bite is nothing. He will get the hint that biting gets him nowhere.

[SquamishSerpents]

he could just be stressed from moving, believe it or not. could be slightly different temps, different ground vibrations, a higher/lower number of traffic going by his enclosure.

give him a bit to settle, then maybe try feeding 2 mice, one right after the other.

[SquamishSerpents]

No dont feed him twice a day that is way to much for a bp. You will just make him fat and unhealthy. Prob what has happened is he has learned to scare you away and that his antics work . So he does this, he has you trained. Just pick him up, use gloves if needed but a baby bp bite is nothing. He will get the hint that biting gets him nowhere.

is he a baby ball python? if so disregard my comment about feeding 2 mice in a row.

however if he's over a couple hundred grams, i would for sure be feeding him 2 mice at once, if not more. keep in mind mice aren't the only prey, with rats or hamsters you get much more versatility in size. i have a male BP whose 800 grams, and he eats a blackbear hamster about once every 3 weeks.

[Kaorte]

Could you describe his normal daily behavior? Does he use his hides during the day and/or during the night?

[Derrick13]

He usually stays in his hide most of the day and will come out every now and then to, what it seems to me, thermoregulate. During the night around 6 or so he will start prowling the cage, even if i fed him around 5. He will cruise till ten or sometimes 11 then go back into his hide, every now and then I will see him out around 2 or later.

I agree that two at once seems like too much but I was throwing the idea out there .

About him having me trained....its odd becuse if i sit and just watch him he will look at me for like 5 min then start cruising, if I try to open the cage however he will start coiling and get into strike position.

Furthermore with his new location he is on the ground to previousely being on a desk, so maybe the vibrations are too much. I will see if I can get him up onto something today.

I don't have a scale for him, I was saving up and then got laid off . So i use the width trick and these mice are about the same width he is. I know age doesnt mean too much for bps but he is a year and afew months old and roughly 3 feet with the width of a old school 50 cent piece.

[Derrick13]

is he a baby ball python? if so disregard my comment about feeding 2 mice in a row.

however if he's over a couple hundred grams, i would for sure be feeding him 2 mice at once, if not more. keep in mind mice aren't the only prey, with rats or hamsters you get much more versatility in size. i have a male BP whose 800 grams, and he eats a blackbear hamster about once every 3 weeks.

I feed frozen only and if you can get frozen hamsters I have yet to see them at my petsmart lol

[Kaorte]

If he is a year old I would definitely start feeding him 2 mice once a week at least. He is probably just starving.

For reference, both of my one year olds eat small rats.