Ok, I was not going to post this until my girl settles in and calms down, but I really don't think she will. I have had ball pythons, boas, caimans, monitors, iguanas......you name it. I am very anal and I make sure my temps are good with the right food, humidity, and space for my snakes.

To start, I built a melamine rack (until I can afford a nicer rack...Animal Plastics, Freedom, etc.). I have Sterlite 41q tubs (34" x 18" x 6"). The sides; 34" are melamine so the tub provides plenty of closed space for security for my BP's. I have 3" Flexwatt going across the back, about 8" from the back and the very back is pegboard. I have a Helix regulating the temps and newspaper substrate. My hot side is right around 90-92 and my cool side is 80-81. I have the water bowl in the middle, a little more towards the cool side and humidity is 50-60%.

So, 10 days ago I received 3 normal 900 gram BP females. They were sent USPS overnight and when they arrived, I handled them for about 3 minutes making sure they were ok. I had to put them in glass tanks because my Helix got delayed while in transit to me via UPS. The breeder I bought them from said I should feed them because he had not fed them for 2-3 weeks since he knew he would be shipping them. I opened the tank to move a a hide box over (haven't even defrosted the rats yet) and bam, the largest female struck me. I didn't think anything of it, she had a rough trip being overnighted and was hungry. I fed her an hour later one small, 60g rat. She sat at the tank waiting for me to open it for 2 days straight so I gave her another 60g rat.....ate it no problem.

Two days after I got them, my Helix came in and I established good temps, humidity, etc. The breeder said NONE of his BP's ever struck and that was unlike her. So, I got them in the racks and all seemed fine. I bought 3 female pastels and 1 male bumble bee the next day and they settled in fine......my fiesty normal girl sat at the front of the tub in strike position for those 3 days. Then Tuesday, I fed them. My female normals struck the F/T rat the second I started putting it in the tub. She ate it no problem and sat waiting for more.......so, I gave her another small F/T rat. She ate it and went to the heat for two days, so I thought everything was fine and she was settling in. Well, Thursday morning, she came off the heat and is in strike position again......she's been there for 2 days. When I open the tub, she flys out very aggressively. She is always ready to jump out and is never in a ball. My pastels and bee hang out on the hot and cool side and come to the front every now and again. When I open the tubs, they sit there and watch me......change water or whatever. My normal girl won't even let me open the tub 3 inches before she is 6 inches out looking at me in strike position.

I love that she eats so great and she will be 1500 grams in 2-3 months at this rate. I just hate that she is so hard to check on, change water, change newspaper, etc. Why is she so aggressive? Should I get a hook so I can poke her nose to get her back in the cage when I check on her? I don't care about getting bit, a little blood never hurt anyone, but I would rather not get bit! Any advice? Thanks in advanced for anything you can tell me, this site is great and helping me take care of my BP's better each day.