My Ball Python wants to eat me. T_T

[Solstice]

So, I got a Ball Python a couple months ago. When I got her she was very sweet. The previous owner had her for several years, and she had never bit anyone. Recently though, she has been acting rather strange. Twice she has tried to bite me when I was cleaning her tank, and one time she was successful. When she did bite me, she held on and wouldn't let go. I'd think that if it was because she was aggravated or afraid it would have been a quick bite and release. At the moment she has been quickly moving towards my hand, and when I try to hold her with gloves on, she wraps around my hand very tightly and bolts around. She just shed a couple weeks ago, so I don't think it has anything to do with that. I also fed her a medium sized adult rat a couple days ago. I feed her one medium sized rat about her width every week, so I don't think she is hungry. Also, I don't have a thermometer in her tank, but the temperature of the room she is in is 88 degrees at the moment....


I have also been having problems with her during feeding. She was fine when I first got her, but one day I ended up getting the scent of rat on my hand when I was putting her in her feeding tank, and she bit me. Ever since then whenever I try to put her in or take her out of her feeding tank she tries to bite me. Because of this I always have to wear gloves when I feed her.

Any idea what could be wrong? I really like her a lot, and hate having to worry about her going omnomnom on my hand when I hold her.

[Daybreaker]

What are her hot and cold side temps?

Have you tried not taking her out of her tank to feed and just feed her inside her tank?

Is her tank wide open where a lot of traffic walks through? Does she have a hot and a cold side hide?

[angllady2]

What you are describing sounds like hunting behavior. It does seem odd, since she eats every week. However, I have found that even younger females can become voracious this time of year as they gear up for breeding season in a few months. If on the other hand, she's a bigger girl, you may not be feeding her enough. We tend to be a little timid about prey, believing our snake cannot possibly eat something "that" big.

Does she have two tight, secure hides? If she has a heat pad or lamp, you need a thermostat for it, and a thermometer to measure your temps. Incorrect temps can result in a very cranky snake, trust me on this one.

I personally don't move my snakes for feeding. Contrary to the myth that feeding them in their enclosure will make them aggressive, if anything moving a hungry snake in hunt mode is a LOT more likely to get you bitten.

Provide us with as much information on her day to day life, and we'll try to puzzle this out for you.

Gale

[Solstice]

Like I said, I don't have a thermometer in the tank, but the room's temperature is 88 degrees, and the temperature in her tank is about the same except for where the heat lamp is, which is kept on the side opposite of her hide. I know I'm supposed to keep a thermometer in it, have a hot and warm side, two hides and all that, but I don't have the money to buy it all. She is better off than she was before though, the previous owners never tried to keep the tank humid, and her only heat source was a very tiny heat rock. :\

I haven't tried feeding her in her normal tank because I'm afraid it will just make her start biting me anytime I put my hand in it. Her tank is currently kept in the room with the least activity.

[liv]

When you first got her, she was probably calm and 'tame' because she was freezing cold. Since you've warmed her up slightly, she's active enough to be pissed off that her temperatures and house are not comfortable for her.

It really doesn't cost much to set her up properly. A cheap thermostat runs you at about $30 (http://www.amazon.com/Hydrofarm-MTPR...pr_product_top), two hides made from plastic planters with a hole cut in the side will be maximum $4, depending on what size you get (http://www.homedepot.com/Outdoors-Ga...&storeId=10051), and you can find UTH's on Craigstlist for around $10. Even brand new from pet stores, they're only $20.

I'm sure you can scrounge up $50 or so for your girl

[Solstice]

This about everything about her and her tanks:
Her normal tank 36 inches long, 18 inches wide and 18 inches tall. On one side she has a half log hide, and on the other side she has a large water bowl and a heat lamp with a 75 wat bulb. I usually move the heat lamp to the side with the hide if it is cold in the room, or turn it off if it is hot in the room.
her substrate is about 2 inches of Petland's Jungle Mix, which is made from fir bark and peat moss. I mist the tank a couple times a day.

Her feeding tank is twenty gallons and is kept in our garage. It has about an inch of Reptibark for substrate. I feed her a live, adult, medium sized rat every Saturday in the tank. I put the rat in first, wash my hands, and then put the snake in. After she kills and swallows the rat, I give her a few minutes before I gently pick her up and put her back in her normal tank. I always wait 24 hours to handle her after she is fed.

She is about four feet long and 3 inches wide at the thickest part of her body. When she isn't trying to bite me, I like to hold her for an hour or two while I play games on the computer.

[Solstice]

Craaaaap. Never meant to post anything. I got a bit confused with the edit post thing. D:
Can a mod delete this post?

[liv]

I think the major reason she's cranky is husbandry. Temperatures really shouldn't be a guessing game, no matter how much worse her situation was before. I feel your pain that everything feels so expensive, especially starting out, but believe me when I say that the piece of mind it gives is worth whatever the price tag is.

Are you measuring humidity at all? Jungle mix and multiple daily mistings might leave you with really high humidity.

Lastly, I highly recommend feeding her in her enclosure. A BP will not mistake your hand for food, as long as it doesn't smell like her food. She already sounds stressed, so moving her around before and after feeding probably isn't helping her to relax.

And where are the pictures, no thread is complete without pics!

[Daybreaker]

I agree with the temps: they really need to be exact. She needs a gradient: warm side 90-92 degrees and a cold side, not a constant 88 degrees ambient through the whole tank. She should also have two exact hides, again one on the hot and one on the cold.

How often do you handle her? Sometimes prolonged handling or constant handling will make BPs stressed out and possibly act defensive (or "aggressive").

[lefty]

room is 88 plus a 75 watt bulb? shes probably waaaaay too hot!