Ball python that's afraid of everything.

[goceres]

So after having my ball python for about 6 months now he's grown and eaten great (about 600g give or take). The first two times I handled him he met the stereotype of the "pet rock" where he didn't really do much, but shortly after those two times he has always been the most active snake I have in terms of movement. He used to hiss sometimes when I'd try and take him out but after awhile he gave up his defensive behavior and has always been extremely flighty. None of my other snakes move nearly as much as him, even my corn, in terms of behavior he always attempts to hide from me when handling trying to make his getaway. He never slows down either I could handle him for 30 minutes and for those thirty minutes he will move as fast he can to get away. I know that this is because he's afraid of me and sees me as a potential predator, but I've handled him since I got him. His behavior makes me think hes terrified of everything he always jerks or flinches when I handle him regardless of if I'm anywhere near his head and not only that he scares himself if he accidentally hits his head with his tail he flips out and if he gets close to the walls of his pvc enclosure he will too. In terms of tongue flicks he flicks very quickly if that helps any, which I assume is a sign of nervousness. It seems that while his defensive disposition has faded he has got to be the flightiest snake I've ever had. When I handle ball pythons that are much smaller or younger they all seem much more inquisitive and move very slowly. So my question is will he always be like this or is there some hope that he can calm down anymore as he ages?

[dr del]

Hi,

I have a female that simply does not like to be handled - but most adapt fairly easily as long as they feel secure.

Can I ask what type and number of hides you have in his enclosure? Are you moving when handling him or are you staying still?

[goceres]

He's got the same two standard black plastic medium hides from reptile basics. When I handle him I sit still and treadmill him since he's always on the go.

[goceres]

Also like I said he eats just fine his husbandry is typical 80 degrees cool 90 degrees hot side 60%+ humidity. He's never had a shedding or feeding problem he eats like a champ never passes up a meal on f/t rats.

[Sandi1961]

Not sure how great a BP's eyesight is but he is reacting like he is blind...

[wolfy-hound]

Some BPs are just high strung.

[Coluber42]

If your snake is terrified every time he's out of the enclosure, he's only going to associate being out with a scary experience. Snakes don't think, "Well, I didn't get eaten, so it must be OK"; they just associate an experience with the visceral fear response. Even people are like that, much as we don't want to admit it.
So to break the cycle, you have to stop reinforcing the association of handling with being scared, and try to create positive experiences outside the cage instead.
Some things you can try:
When you take the snake out, keep the lights low, stay calm and quiet, and don't make sudden moves. Keep an eye out for things that seem to be particularly scary, and avoid them. For example, if my bp is going someplace I don't want him to go, he's fine with me gently sliding my hand under him and redirecting him. If I just grab him and wrap my hand all the way around his whole body, he freaks and tries to escape. So I don't do that if I can possibly help it.
Wait until your snake is already awake and moving around the cage, then just open the cage and let him decide whether he wants to come out or not. If he doesn't, let him stay in and just sit there quietly for awhile with the door open without bothering him. If he's out and starting to get freaked out, hold him near the open cage and let him climb back in on his own if he wants to.

And be patient. When an animal has learned to fear something, it may take many repetitions before it becomes less scary. Again, that's true of people too. Think of a person who is afraid of flying. They go on a flight where there is some turbulence, followed by an engine problem and the plane has to make an unscheduled landing. The next flight they go on also has turbulence, which is now a terrifying experience. You can tell that person until you are blue in the face that turbulence doesn't mean the plane is going to crash, but they're terrified every time it happens anyway. It takes a lot of flights where there is turbulence and nothing bad happens before that visceral fear subsides, even if the person knows perfectly well that they are more likely to die in a car crash on the highway than on an airplane. For some people, maybe the fear never goes away completely. A snake does not even have the benefit of understanding intellectually that you aren't going to hurt it. All it knows is that the last time this happened was a scary experience, and that terror can easily reinforce itself every time unless you work hard at breaking the cycle.

[Crowfingers]

I agree with Sandi and also Coluber. If he is scared when things touch his face unexpected (like cage walls and his tail) he may have some visual deficit. I know that they have cones (so can see some color) and rods that are better than human vision at night, but I have heard that some morphs seem to have weak vision. On the other hand, you may just have a very nervous snake. They each have their own personality, maybe something happened to this one very early on that set it's flight response into over drive and he/she will always be more nervous.

I know mammals are different, but my cat was thrown out of a car window on the highway when she was ~4 weeks old. I saw it happen. Despite being immediately rescued and living in the lap of luxury since, she is terrified of literally everything. She has to be on medication for her to even come out of hiding, thunderstorms are a no-go, I've had her for 5 years and my dad has only seen her in pictures because strangers are too much to handle. My other cat was found in a box on Halloween Night as a 8 week old kitten that someone had tried to set on fire...she is perfectly normal. Strangers and noise don't phase her a bit. So both had traumatic events but their personalities are completely opposite.

We can only guess what events will have psychological effects on animals, hopefully repeated handling without anything 'bad' occurring will eventually help him/her calm down. I know desensitization works in mammals and birds, so I can only assume that it may work in reptiles too.

[Coluber42]

Actually, I wouldn't think a snake recoiling at things touching its face indicates visual impairment. Their vision is adapted for detecting motion at a distance; I doubt their eyes can focus on objects less than a few inches away, and if you look at the way their eyes are positioned on their heads, I seriously doubt that they can see stationary objects at the tip of their noses very well if at all. Horses are like that too - their eyes give them a wide field of view to spot predators while they're grazing, but they can't see stuff at the end of their nose. Humans can barely even see the ends of our noses and most of us can't focus that close either, and our eyes are mostly pointing the right direction.
If you watch snakes poking around and exploring their enclosures, they'll periscope to look around at stuff that's farther away, but they sort of feel their way with their snout to navigate objects up close. They probably also get a fair amount of information about the geometry of their environment by sensing the difference in scents on each fork of their tongue, which is hard for us to imagine because we don't have that ability.

Basically, I don't think your snake is blind; just a scaredy cat.

[goceres]

Wish it was easy to find him roaming about his cage, but I haven't seen him do that in a long time I'm sure he does it but at like 2 A.M. most likely so I think I have to wake him up. He's been a lot better since I introduced my snake hook he used to be so defensive (hissing and biting doesn't really do it now) but now he's just flighty and yeah I figured that he was just a scaredy cat.