Striking while being held

[Psyr]

I just rescued a smaller Ball, about a foot and a half long. He (or she, don't know yet) was under-fed, cold, and just entirely neglected. It took a tiny fuzzy the first day I got it just fine, and I've been trying to hold him about 10 mins every or every other day (except 2-3 days after feeding). He gets quite jumpy while being held, if someone walks by 10 feet away he'll jerk back and coil a little bit, and twice now he's struck out. Once at my dog, a German Shepard that was about 5 feet away just laying on the floor, and once while around my wrist he struck at my other hand, which was most of an arms length away. This is the first experience I've ever had with a Ball, any suggestions or ideas?

His tank has a nice size water bowl, a hollow rock hiding place, pad heater on the bottom, and a make-shift heat lamp. He is still quite very thin, but other than that no signs of any issues.

[The Serpent Merchant]

Does the heating pad have a thermostat to regulate the temperature? Do you have any thermometers/hygrometers in the cage? What are the cage temperatures, room temperature, and cage humidity.

Check these threads out to make sure everything is in the normal ranges:

http://ball-pythons.net/forums/showt...ius)-Caresheet

http://ball-pythons.net/forums/showt...t-Thermometers

[Psyr]

It's just a standard heat pad, the tank is a bit colder than it should be as I'm still getting everything together for him. The ground temp is around mid 70's, under the heat lamp is around 80-85, and currently the only humid spot is inside of the hiding rock where he spends most of his time. I am unsure of the humidity inside of there, and am working on getting more heat and humidity into the tank (which came with him, but wasn't set up very well and is still in need of work).

[New guy]

He prolly was mistreated, even though my new baby yellow baby hissed at me for the first day or so. Just keep handling him and he'll get used to you.

[Psyr]

When I got him out tonight (when he struck at my other hand after being held for 10 mins or so), he felt around skin temp. The first couple days the tank wasn't heating up so well, which was one of the reasons I was trying to get him out often was to help warm him up.

I'm thinking he just didn't get much attention from people, and is scared or intimidated by being held and messed with, rather than just hiding in the tank all of the time. I'm hoping he grows out of it - Thanks for the reassurance

[The Serpent Merchant]

You need to get a thermostat for the heating pad. Without one it will get hot enough to burn and eventually even kill him (130+)

Here are 2 good thermostats, stay away from thermostats sold in pet stores they are overpriced junk.

Budget http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B000NZZG3S

High quality
http://spyderrobotics.com/home/products.html

Does the thermometer that you are using have a probe or is it just a stick on? Heating pads do not change the temperature of the air in the cage so you must have a probed thermometer like this one from Walmart ($12)



Also a fuzzy is probably too small, most BP's can eat hopper mice or rat pups right out of the egg. Do you know how much he weighs?

[Psyr]

Yeah, it's a probe. I've never seen the thermostat adapter for the heating pads, they seem quite nice to have, I've always just done some guess and check from the watts and size of the mats. Thanks for the links.

Yeah, the mouse was smaller than required, but I wasn't sure if he was eating well or anything, and it just seemed like a safe bet.

[angllady2]

It sounds to me like he is what you would expect. A small, neglected, terrified snake. He has no idea yet life is going to be better for him. He's scared silly at the changes he's been through moving in with you, and he's reacting the only way he knows how. By trying to convince you he is a tough, dangerous animal and should not be taken lightly.

Give him some time. He needs peace and quiet so he can de-stress and adjust to the new environment and feeding schedule. He is much too young to be marked as mean or unhandleable, he just needs some time to work all this out. Try and see thing from his point of view. If you know you are safe, warm, comfortable and well fed, what reason do you have to be crabby? If on the other hand you are scared, cold, nervous and hungry, of course you are going to be crabby!

You need to meet his needs in a consistent manner. Make sure his cage is warm enough and stays that way. The up and down temps only stress him out and weaken him. Once you have his temps stable, work on the food. it's going to take him a few weeks to get in the routine. Make sure he's in a quiet spot, not in the middle of traffic flow of the house. Be patient with him, he's going to do the strike thing for a while until he gets his new life figured out. Once he does, I can almost guarantee you he'll be a different snake.

Gale