My ball python stuck in feeding behavior?

[TheBallPython]

Hi guys! Long time no see!

I got my girl a little over a year ago now and have not had a single problem with her. From what I got from her previous owners, she is 6-7 years old and wasn't really handled at all until I got her. She adapted just fine and every few days I'd take her out for some handling. I mean, she'd be a little defensive at first, but in a matter of minutes she'd be unballed and slithering around no problem. They had her eating live and I switched her over to F/T just fine. Her care/feeding has remained consistent and has always been done inside her tank.

Well, about a month ago, something changed and I'm not sure what it could be. She was in her hide like she was a lot of the time when I went to feed her a rat. She ate it with no difficulties, as usual, but she never went back inside her hide to digest like she would normally do. She stayed out. The next day, she was still out. And she wasn't just out, she was constantly waiting for a meal. So, after 2 days of her still waiting, I figured she was still hungry and gave her another small rat. But nope, still in feeding mode, and now she wouldn't stop going after me! Every time I'd walk by the tank, the tongue started flicking and she's get into her striking pose. As I'm trying to remove the lid to her tank she's trying to get me. To change her water and clean up I have to cover her with a towel. This has been going on for a month or so now. She won't stop. I've still been feeding her as usual, but it's still never enough. What should I do? I can't even handle her anymore. I just walked by her tank about 20 minutes ago and she struck at me just walking by and smashed her face against the side of the tank in the process. I can't get near her and this is definitely a feeding type of response. A whole year and she never did anything like this. What could have changed? How do I go about fixing this?

Thanks guys for any advice!

[colton62]

How big is she? Maybe she needs a larger prey item.

[TheBallPython]

I'm not sure exactly how much she weighs, but she's about 4 ft long. I haven't heard anything larger than a small rat recommended for a ball? Now, her previous owners were feeding her large rats, but they looked incredibly too big for her and she seemed to have a lot of trouble with them.

[albinos_rule]

Try medium rats, my adult male is approximately 4 ft also, and I feed him a medium rat every 10 days. good luck

[J.P.]

a 4 ft ball should have no problem taking down an adult rat....heck, some of mine even take on culled males if i give them the opportunity.

[Reinz]

I agree with Colton.

My adult 4 Ft 12 yr old eats a Large adult rat every 2-4 wks. Depends upon her mood.


In fact, your latter story almost mirrors what just happened to me.

The pet store gave me a small rat instead of a large. An hour after eating, I went to check on my snake. She was hovering 6" off the ground in strike mode following me through the glass.

Needless to say, tomorrow I'm off to the pet store to buy another rat!

A small rat is just too small for a 4 footer.

[KMG]

Mine gets one to two medium rats per feeding.

Get a cheap scale from Amazon or Walmart so you can more accurately track your snakes progress and figure out feeder size.