Quick question

[Step Johns]

I am new to red tails, got my first about two weeks ago. I have had ball pythons for the past three years though. So today i picked him up and he is acting a lot more active than usual and i try to pet him and he strikes at me. I thought that it might just be that he is hungry since tomorrow is his day to be fed, so i put him in the feeding cage and give him a large mouse and he wont even touch it. Which is weird because he ate last week perfectly fine. So i am very confused, only reason i could think of him being like that is stress but i dont see any reason why he would be stressed out. Basicaly i need some help

Thanks
Stephen

P.S. He is a columbian red tail, about a year and a half old and close to four feet. I hold him for about an hour everyday. He is housed in a v332 vision cage with a 150 watt heat lamp. I use coconut fiber bedding, have a large water dish that he can fit in with room to spare and a hide. His temp is constant at 85 and his humidity is always at 60-70 percent.

[Step Johns]

Sorry a little background on the snake. I got it from a guy who said he hardly ever held it and that basically just fed it and gave it fresh water. And he got it from a friend who didnt take care of it. So could this be apart of why he struck at me today?

[redstormlax12]

With having him for only 2 weeks you shouldnt be handling an hour a day. That is stressing your red tail out and is most likely the reason for his actions. He is in a brand new environment and you should give him AT LEAST a week to acclimate before doing some light handling, maybe 5-10 minutes. Then after about three to four weeks your red tail shoudl be fully acclimated and should be feeding regularly.

The hour handling ever day is excessive for a brand new red tail, especially one that has rarely, if ever, been handled. Leave him in his enclosure for a week without disturbing him at all. No food, no handling. Only cleaning and for water. Then once he is eating regularly you can start handling him.

[BuckeyeBalls]

Well i got my rtb a few weeks ago.

I let him rest for 1 week. Fed him his first meal.

I hold him 5 mins every other day.

I will hold him more later on but hes still new with us and a real small baby so i do short sessions

[Aeries]

The thing you have to remember about snakes is that they don't WANT to be handled, they just tolerate it. Handling is for your personal enjoyment only! So don't feel obligated to pay attention to him for specific amounts of time, as long as you take care of his needs of food, security, water, humidity and temperature, he doesn't care whether you interact with him. By the sounds of it, he's just a little stressed at all the attention you've been giving him. If you back off a bit, give him some time to adjust, then start short handling sessions, he'll probably be just fine!

[Step Johns]

Thank you guys for the input. I will definately cut way back on the amount of handeling

[BuckeyeBalls]

Thank you guys for the input. I will definately cut way back on the amount of handeling

Yea i would while hes still sorta new when he gets settled in and eats a few times i think u can up the handling