I'm pretty disappointed with my BPs thus far

[Shenzi Sixaxis]

Tried feeding the male BP, Apotos and Daemon just now. Apotos was happy to much away on some rat legs (I have no small ones, and she doesn't seem to be growing or digesting mice well anymore), and Daemon seemed interested, but he just constricted everything he could. And then the BP. He wasn't interested, so I left the rat with him for about ten minutes then moved him back into his tub. I tried feeding the female, and she wasn't interested. Hmm. So I heated the rat a bit and tried offering it to the male again on my bed (rather than the box the female was periscoping in) and he wasn't interested.

I don't know what happened before this, but I went to place the rat back under the heat lamp and get it HOT, and the male struck at my hand that I wasn't moving. So I've got blood pouring out of wounds on three fingers, and I see he's so bite-happy he fell off the bed, three feet to the ground. Meh, landed on a pile a clothes, so that was okay, but then he's HISSING and in the S-curve and got 1/4 his body off the ground (having the head and neck off the ground is the S-curve strike pose, not just curved into an S). Well, I'm contemplating what to do, and the female decides she wants to explore, and as BPs aren't climbers, she falls off about a foot away from the male. He's more interested in me, so she rights herself and is on her way. So, I toss a shirt onto the male and put the female back in the box, then notice the male isn't calming with his head covered. Didn't have much choice but to grab right behind his head HARD so he didn't bite me while I put him away.

God... and BPs are lazy and non-bitey? I'm going to inquire about this on the BP.net forums. This doesn't feel right.

This is partially just a rant, but from what I've read, BPs are supposed to be lazy, and obviously not very bitey. The guy I got the pair and Daemon the rat snake from is apparently having some problems I knew not of before described as hoarding and having the inability to care for them, but he's not shipping/selling animals that aren't well enough for it. He's also had his internet shut off for an unknown time, so contacting him isn't likely to happen.

I've had the pair for about two weeks, and their husbandry is all right except for being in slightly smaller tubs than normal until I see a normal pattern in their behavior, feeding, ect. The female ate a small rat for me last week and a hopper mouse. Both showed some interest in the rat and hopper mice I was offering, but didn't strike or get very close. Both have been feeding on f/t rats and the female took f/t from me.

The female is also ridiculously jumpy with things around her head. If she's just been placed back in her tub, she'll be bumping into the sides and jerking her head back. I don't think that's normal.

Any ideas? I figure it's possible no one's hungry, but feeding isn't my only problem, considering it's been at least half an hour and my hand is still burning and throbbing.

[llovelace]

??? How long have you had them? How old are they? What is your set up?

[Shenzi Sixaxis]

Two weeks (with one week resting), 4 years, tubs and heat tape.


Another thing is the two tubes are right next to each other, so I'm wondering if the male could be smelling the female.

[Erratum]

Your story is a little hard to follow.

Regardless, I'll comment on how I interpret what you've explained.

They sound like they're not accustomed to their new home and should be left alone to calm down and settle in.

You should be feeding them in some sort of containment, not out in the open. If they're flying off your bed like you say, you don't have them in a proper feeding situation. You also sound like you have all the snakes out at once and are trying to feed them together. Keep them isolated and do one at a time to make it easier. Lastly, it sounds like you weren't using forceps to handle your rats. If you were, I'm not really sure how you managed to get your hand by it's face.

Ball pythons are very GENERALLY docile and won't bite. However, anything will bite if it's stressed enough.

My advice is to give the snakes more time to settle in and also be more careful with your feeding attempts. If your hands smell like rodent, or if you dangle your hand in front of the snake when the room smells like prey, I'm hard pressed to blame the snake.

[Shenzi Sixaxis]

All snakes get fed in two spare boxes, though I am tempted to try feeding the BPs in their tubs. Both are shoe box size (literally what you buy shoes in, not the plastic tubs). So with only two boxes, I only had the BPs out. I also don't feed more than one at a time unless someone's being slow (usually one of my corns).

I use these to handle rodents except for when I'm getting them out of the bag to thaw, but I'm anal about getting sick, so I know I washed my hands after that.

And that's what's odd. The first time the male bit me, I was lightly petting him to let him know I was there and going to pick him up, and when he turned around he was right against my finger. However, this time, I'm sure my hand was no closer than 6 inches. I couldn't smell any rat or mousey scent on either hands before I cleaned up, but even if there was a scent that the BP could smell, why would he go after my hand and not the rat? I did have the rodents out thawing for about 30 minutes before feeding, so that might have been it, but I'm not sure.

I'll give them some more settling time and see if that helps. I figured 7-10 days would be enough, but I guess not. This is just coming across as weird to me.

[rabernet]

All snakes get fed in two spare boxes, though I am tempted to try feeding the BPs in their tubs. Both are shoe box size (literally what you buy shoes in, not the plastic tubs). So with only two boxes, I only had the BPs out. I also don't feed more than one at a time unless someone's being slow (usually one of my corns).

I use these to handle rodents except for when I'm getting them out of the bag to thaw, but I'm anal about getting sick, so I know I washed my hands after that.

And that's what's odd. The first time the male bit me, I was lightly petting him to let him know I was there and going to pick him up, and when he turned around he was right against my finger. However, this time, I'm sure my hand was no closer than 6 inches. I couldn't smell any rat or mousey scent on either hands before I cleaned up, but even if there was a scent that the BP could smell, why would he go after my hand and not the rat? I did have the rodents out thawing for about 30 minutes before feeding, so that might have been it, but I'm not sure.

I'll give them some more settling time and see if that helps. I figured 7-10 days would be enough, but I guess not. This is just coming across as weird to me.

Because your hand was giving off the better heat signature, near enough to the rat, that it made perfect sense to your boy that you were more likely the warm intended meal, not the cold lump that smelled like a rat.

There's no need to feed them in separate enclosures from where they are housed. I only have one that I feed f/t to (all my others get live). All are fed in their enclosures, and I've never been mistaken for a rat or been bitten on days that weren't feeding day (ie, they are not cage aggressive as a result of feeding in their enclosure). The one boy that feeds f/t takes it off the tongs. I can tell if I don't have it properly heated, because I see him zoning in on my hand, well PAST where the rat is just in front of his face. So I will gently close up his tub and make sure I touch the nose of the rodent to a heat lamp to really get a good heat signature going on the rat.

It sounds like most of your issues are a result of your inexperience with ball pythons and some mistakes that you made (and we all make mistakes when we're first starting out - it's how we learn).

Don't bother to try to feed either one of them again until next week - no need to stress them or yourself out so soon after the last feeding adventure.

Wait a week and try feeding in their own home enclosures - they have the safety and security of their hides, and you don't have to move a prey driven snake still in feed mode.

[snakesRkewl]

How can they have good humidity in a cardboard shoe box?
I suggest plastic tubs, they cost about $2.00 each for locking sterilite

[rabernet]

How can they have good humidity in a cardboard shoe box?
I suggest plastic tubs, they cost about $2.00 each for locking sterilite

Pretty sure the cardboard was for feeding only.

Sent from my HTC Incredible using Tapatalk.

[WingedWolfPsion]

Everything you have described is normal. Really, the problem is just that you aren't used to these animals yet, and you haven't learned to read their body language or understand their behavior.

1) hatchling ball pythons are jumpy, snappy, flighty little things. They calm down after they are several months old, more or less. They'll have their 'adult personalties' when they're about 2 years old.

2) Ball pythons track prey by scent, heat signature, and movement. Their eyesight is bad.

3) Ball pythons are very shy animals, and tend not to want to eat if they do not feel fully secure. So, feeding inside the enclosure is recommended for this species.

4) They don't like to be 'petted', and most of them are pretty head-shy.

[snakesRkewl]

Pretty sure the cardboard was for feeding only.

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ty, should have finished my first cup of coffee before reading that