Cage aggressive ball

[Yh88]

hi guys , i just got a 3mth old ball python a few weeks back . it was quite ok about being handled before , but lately has been showing some aggression when i go to open his tub. i fed him live , as he would not take any dead , be it just pre killed or FT. This aggressive behavior only happened the past week or so .

He is kinda thin . i dont know his weight . but i fed him 3 small meals so far. one last week , and 2 this week. First week i managed to put him in another tub to feed. but this week , he was so aggressive , he struck me everytime i tried to get him out so i fed him in his tub.

Could this be due to having fed him in the same tub he lives in ? or is he just hungry? or scared? Any tips/methods to help tame him or reduce his fear is welcomed and needed =) Thank u .

[The Serpent Merchant]

No a BP will not get aggressive because you feed him in his cage. Nearly all of the Pro breeders and most of the experience members of this forum feed all of their snakes in their cages without any issue. It is much more likely that he is just very hungry or scared. You might want to try offering either a slightly larger rodent or a second rodent of the same size and see if that helps.

[Stewart_Reptiles]

Could this be due to having fed him in the same tub he lives in ?

No

Is he just hungry?

Could be

or scared?

Could be

Do you have more details about your animal

Size of your BP (weight)?
Enclosure Size?
Temps?
Humidity?
Do you provide hides that are secure enough (in other word snug)?
Handling frequency?
Prey size and frequency being fed?

[DooLittle]

All of this ^ There is more than likely another reason for the defensive behavior. Whether husbandry related, or due to the fact that he is a hatchling (is he?), or hunger, or just new environment and stress. I feed mine in their tubs, and they are not tub aggressive. Moving him to feed is just adding stress, and upping chances for a bite.

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[spankege]

Its a baby they tend to be more aggressive. Make sure everything is at the proper levels and you should be good. Most likely a defensive behavior.

[barbie.dragon]

I doubt your snake is being aggressive. The snake is more likely to be acting defensively. Your snake is probably hungry and stressed and moving her to a foreign envirinment with no escaoe routes during feeding is probably making it worse. I would just weigh her and feed her an APPROPRIATE size meal and let the kiddo rest up.

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[scooter11]

what size is the enclosure? alot of time a hatchling wont feel as safe in a bigger enclosure. if it is bigger pack that thing with hides. if its not, it could be any of the aformentioned husbandry issues. whichever reason it is, hes way more likely to acting defensively seeing as babies tend to be a little bit defensive.

[hypnotixdmp]

Yeah I feed live in tub, only time I ever take one out is if there are 2 in a tub (breeding) and its feed time lol


Ball Pythons
0.3 Normals (Coilette, Athena and Mary Jane)
1.0 Pastel (De Sol)
1.0 Spider (Zeus)
1.0 Mojave (Prometheus)

Boa Constrictors
0.1 Brazilian Rainbow Boa (Stella)
0.1 BCI (Kiyoko)
0.1 Dumerils Boa (Gloria)