Is this something that happens to anyone else.

[Zombies Cry 2]

My ball python is 7 months old and I've owned him about 2 1/2 months now. He is a great eater and normally very docile. He is only handled once or twice a week.
I feed him live in his enclosure with no problems so far. I do my daily cleaning and he does not even stick his head out of his hide to see what's going on. All in all a happy little guy.
However when I return him to his enclosure he gets a little attitude and goes into the S position. He only does this when he's returned to his home. after 10 or 15 minutes hell go to his favorite spot. So yesterday was a full cleaning day new substrate and all. My hot side is 91 degrees and my cool side is 86 degrees with humidity at 56%. So this is what I find weird I return Ziggy to his home and before getting by his tank he sparks up and his tongue starts flickering a lot, I put him in his cage and S mode right away. After locking the lid and walking away 1 minutes pass and I see him give a air strike with nothing even close to his enclosure. Why is he getting defensive only after been put into his home. This happens every time I put him away.
There is no problem when picking him up or during handling. Yesterday he was out of his home for a total of 20 minutes . Please advise. I'm just chalking it up to its his thing to do.

[bcr229]

I would try to get his cool side down to 80-82*F. The warm side is fine.

As for him being a great eater, how much does he weigh and what size feeder is he getting? Sometimes when mine are growing they need to go up a feeder size and I don't notice immediately.

[Zombies Cry 2]

When I got him he was very thin weighing 225grams at 5 months old. They were feeding 2 F/T mouse fuzzy once a week. He has just completed his second shed with me and I weighed him yesterday at 366 grams. I started feeding him 1 live mouse once a week. Now I am feeding a live weaned rat once a week.( Only started the rats 2 feedings ago)

[Zombies Cry 2]

this is ziggy chilling yesterday

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[Zombies Cry 2]

in his tub while I cleaned his enclosure

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[Albert Clark]

Try to get your cool side temp down first. Limit handling and move up to small rats. He is at a size where he can handle small rats.

[Zombies Cry 2]

Thanks for the info. I've removed some foil I had on the top of the tank that I was using to adjust humidity. This has brought he cool side down to 82 degrees and the hot side down to 90 Degrees, Humidity dropped a little but still above 50%. I will make the switch to small rats this Tuesday when I feed him. Do you think that the cool side temp is making him jumpy after putting him back in his enclosure?

[Zombies Cry 2]

this was his enclosure before the current cleaning. Same stuff just rearranged minus the skull.

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[PitOnTheProwl]

Try to get your cool side temp down first. Limit handling and move up to small rats. He is at a size where he can handle small rats.

Just weighed Ziggy he is now 366 grams getting bigger

Pups and weaned would be good. I would push a small on one under 400g.