Reasons for a ball to become aggressive?

[pigfat]

I've had my het albino male for a while and he has been great, but over the past few weeks he has become overly aggressive. If he is in his hide, I can lift it off and pick him up, but within a couple minutes hes striking at my hand. Sometimes as soon as I start to pull his tub out, he comes out of his hide and starts crawling towards me ready to bite me...like he's saying "Come at me bro!" I cant even get close to him when he does that. He weighs 300 grams and my temps are: Hot Spot=91 Cool Side=79-81 Ambient temps of 79-80 and Humidity=55 no shed 70 in shed. I have two identical hides and a water bowl, which I change every other day. What are some reasons for this? And do you have any tips on how to handle him? I know not to set him down after he bites, because that will reinforce the idea that if he bites, he gets left alone....but is not handling him when he's coming at me doing the same thing?

[Annarose15]

How long is "for a while"?

What is his feeding schedule and prey size?

[pigfat]

Ive had him 4 months, I feed him every 5-6 days and I feed between 10-15% of his body weight each week.

[Annarose15]

Ive had him 4 months, I feed him every 5-6 days and I feed between 10-15% of his body weight each week.

Sounds like he's definitely had time to settle in and is eating properly (had to ask ). On one hand, this could be his actually personality and he's finally relaxed enough to show it. I have a rescue that didn't start snapping until I had him for about 6 weeks. On the other hand, he could just be "moody" from seasonal changes or indigestion. One more possibility is that his tub is too big, making him feel threatened when you open it - add some hides, crumpled up paper, etc., to make sure there is very little open space.

I would invest in a small snake hook to help you get him out if you're concerned about him snapping. You don't really teach snakes "bad behavior" by "giving them their way" when they bite - they aren't like dogs. If it is stress, though, then reducing handling will help him feel more secure. When you do handle him, stay pretty much in one place, like sitting on the couch, without a lot of activity going on around you.

[heathers*bps]

The only thing I could think of was he's hungry, but you are feeding him right. It's possible its just his personality. I have a few that are pissy.

[Adam Chandler]

Aggression = Fear

If he is well fed and still striking at you then he is afraid of you.

The best way I've found to show you are not a threat is consistant short handling sessions. Every couple days or so (unless sheding or if he just ate) just take him out for a little bit and then put him back. It will take time. It could be months, even years for some BP's, but eventually he will learn not to fear you.

[Slim]

Don't want to jinx you, but before I lost my collection, I had two (one Orange Ghost and one Cinny) that were just little punks. Especially the Orange Ghost, who spent his whole life thinking he was a blood python.

[pigfat]

I may just let him bite me a couple times...get it over with since I havent been bitten yet.

[Slim]

I may just let him bite me a couple times...get it over with since I havent been bitten yet.

This is gonna' sound weird, but it's not getting bit that really bugs me. It's the getting struck at part that makes me a little wonky.

[DooLittle]

He could be going into shed maybe? Have you looked him over real good, to make sure no RI, or mites? Also could be his personality. Out of the 5 we have, 4 are teddy bears, but one female that usually is just grumpy. I saw a video on world of ball pythons, where a guy packed (not forcefully enough to hurt it, gently) his aggressive snake into a ball. Thus taking it out of "fight" mode, and putting it in "flight" mode. Said only to do with very aggressive hatchlings. We tried this with a few times with our grumpy girl. What a difference it made. Now we don't have to worry about her striking all the time, she really chills out when you do it. Kinda like telling her you are the boss. May be harder to do with a bigger snake though. You might search the video on world of bp.