Issues with adopted ball python

[BelleoftheBallPython]

Hello! This is my first post here, but I'm no stranger to the online reptile community! I always loved and adored snakes, and recently came into owning my first one within the past month! I adopted her from my friend's coworker, and was shocked at the conditions she was kept in. She is 13 years old and roughly 4 feet long (I need to get a scale to get her weight still, but I've been working on getting other things for her direct needs) and they were planning to use her as a breeder but never did. He was only feeding her one small mouse a month, no thermostat or thermometer and a very cold tank, no tracking of humidity, only one log hide, rare handling and packed into a way too tight 20 gallon tank with no room to move AND no clutter. Needless to say I was shocked by the conditions she was in, and when she was given to me she was in blue--her first shed with me was in pieces, but I'm hoping her next one will be much better with my improvements.

I moved her up to small rats and she's been taking them very eagerly in her enclosure, so now I'm thinking to move up to medium or possibly just straight to large rats. I added some plastic plants to her tank and have officially bought her new 40 gal tank and supplies today--complete with new hides, lots of clutter, etc. I am waiting for all of it to come in the mail and expect to have her moved into the new tank within the next week. In her current setup, I have a thermostat set up with a CHE and UTH, giving her a hot spot of 88-91, and the cool side is about 78-85. The humidity is staying at 55-65%. I have three sides of tank blacked out as well to help her feel more secure. Her current substrate is what she was brought to me in (retichip I believe) but I'm going to have a mix of eco earth, cypress mulch and spagnhum moss in the new tank. I fed her two days ago (two small rats because she was eager and just one was too small now that she's got quite the appetite) and am planning to feed her a medium or large rat after the move into her new tank.

Her spine is already showing much less and she is very eager to eat--perhaps a little too eager! The second week I had her, I was handling her after a soak to try and get her shed off, and she suddenly twisted around and latched and wrapped me. About a week later my partner was handling her while I was cleaning her tank and she did the same thing to him. I'm not sure what made her think we were food since she was already out and being handled, and is otherwise docile. After her last feeding she is now constantly in the striking position in her tank and follows us around when we move near her tank and even struck at the glass when I checked her temp last night. I don't think this is defensive behavior but a feeding response instead--especially since she previously latched and wrapped us. She's a pretty big girl so it did hurt a good bit, and I've definitely felt a little more anxious when handling her since this is my first reptile! I also purchased a snake hook and each time we've handled her since we're using the head tap/rub method and she's been okay in terms of behavior after that--I've limited to handling her for only about 15 or so minutes, but my handling of her has been a little bit more limited since she's shown more "aggressive" behavior, since I'm not sure what route to take and I feel a little anxiety on my end. Since her two latch and wraps we've made sure to wash our hands good bc of our cats and use hand sanitizer, along with feeding her using tongs. I haven't handled her since she's been in constant strike position since her last feeding, since she's been digesting anyways.

Anyways, I guess I'm just looking for tips and advice! She was much calmer when we got her, and now she's become a lot more like I previously mentioned. Any tips to help her handleability and avoid latch and wraps or bites in general? Or how to navigate my own anxiety? I assume this is feeding response and has something to due with her previous neglect and malnourishment, and I'm hoping getting her on the right prey size on a regular schedule and getting her in a better enclosure will improve things, but any tips and tricks are most welcome! I really love my sweet girl and my heart is broken knowing that she has been kept so terribly for so many years. I want to make her time with me as comfortable as possible, both in her enclosure and being handled. I want her homeostasis to be as stable and her life as enriched and wonderful as it can be for a noodle. I've done as much research as I possibly could, but I thought reaching out with her specific circumstances would really help!

[Bogertophis]

Sounds like she's feeling a lot better with you, so her hunger is kicking in too. Feeding bites aren't too nice- I hope she calms down soon, but if she was somewhat
neglected previously then maybe she wasn't handled very much either. Was she ever fed live rodents (or freshly killed)? You mention her spine showing, so I'd
suggest having a vet check her (fresh) stool sample for parasites, just in case...because if she's sharing her meals with intestinal worms, it's much harder to get her
weight back on her, not to mention the health risks. Very good of you to take in this snake to get her back to health.

And btw,

[Kodayin]

Congrats on the new family member! Sounds like she's in much better hands now

I would give her time to adjust to the travel and new space, once she's adjusted I'd pick her up for only 15 minutes at a time to get her accumulated to handling. Giving her time to adjust and after that only short handling sessions will (usually) keep the stress levels down.
Goodluck!

[sur3fir3]

So I was thinking of why the snake would have a feeding response while hold him, and the only thing I can think of is that the snake was fed outside of his enclosure, and he has associated being picked up with being fed. This is really the only real explanation I can think of besides he smelled something on you.

[Craiga 01453]

Hello, welcome to the forum and the wonderful world of snake keeping!!

The first thing I picked up on was that you're talking about upsizing prey, which is a good idea, but...
A) you don't want to jump too quickly, let her body acclimate to smalls a few times before jumping to mediums.
B) she's a pretty small female (based on her age, I'd be questioning if she is in fact a female) and even larger females never need bigger than a medium rat. So no need to upsize to larges, they'll be way too big for her. As for now, even two small rats is too much. It's a lot for her system to handle, especially considering her previous feeding schedule.

As for the handling, hold off until she's eating regularly. That means no handling until she has eaten 3 consecutive meals without refusal. That means if she refuses, the clock starts over.

She's stressed and you can't blame her. Be patient with her and give her time to acclimate.

[Bogertophis]

So I was thinking of why the snake would have a feeding response while hold him, and the only thing I can think of is that the snake was fed outside of his enclosure, and he has associated being picked up with being fed. This is really the only real explanation I can think of besides he smelled something on you.

When a snake that has been deprived of adequate food for a while ("spine showing") finally gets a literal taste of what they've been missing, sometimes instincts
take over. And "when you're a hammer, everything looks like a nail..." I have seen under-fed rosy boas (kept by a museum) literally do the same thing...
bite & wrap the hands holding them, lol. Talk about "dreaming the impossible dream"...

[bcr229]

Stick to one small rat a week for a few months. You can't go throwing food quickly at an animal that was starved for so long; their systems just aren't set up to handle that volume of food. Also even my biggest female breeder ball pythons are on medium rats, a large would be too much food for them.

You can also get a food bite from a critter that has been fed in its enclosure all its life. Just smelling the feeders thawing or scenting the room with live ones for 30 minutes is enough to get some of my ball pythons to come flying out of their tubs when I open them up.

[BelleoftheBallPython]

Thank you guys so much for all the insight! <3

@Bogertophis Thank you for the sweet words and warm welcome! I really want to do all I can to get her to 100%. My friend had gotten the chance to ask him about her previous diet (which is the same for the male she adopted as well) and she used to be fed live but was switched to f/t at some point. We also think they're both very unused to handling--we figure him and his wife were keeping them more as "display" pets or at the bare minimum since they're reptiles. I was definitely considering taking her into a vet this coming month, but she's already putting more weight on and looking much better!

@Kodayin I figured I'd give her some more time before starting up more regular handling sessions! I've mostly just been sitting next to her tank and letting my scent get around her, let her get used to me, etc. I'll have all the supplies for her new enclosure in by the 4th, so I figured I'd give her a week and a meal to acclimate to the new environment since she's taken two meals excellently so far. After that, I'll start with more regular, short handling sessions! Thank you.

@sur3fir3 I don't think it'd be that, since the park my friend and my girl's previous owner works at has snakes in their nature center and they're all fed in the enclosure, I figured the guy might've followed that same process. I think she might've smelled our cats on us, been startled and went ham when she tasted blood... I'm not sure, but I want to do everything I can to prevent it again lol!

@Craiga Thank you so much, I'm very excited to be both her and to be involved in snake keeping! I know I would really like a western hognose someday and I'm going to scout them out at my local Repticon next month, haha. Thank you for the advice--I'll have her on smalls for the next few meals, should I also wait the full 14 days between feedings or switch to 10 since it's smaller meals? The 4 feet is definitely an estimation too (and I'm notoriously bad with numbers) but I'll check it when I'm able and ask the vet when I take her in for a checkup too! I'll absolutely be giving her more time to get adjusted to everything, especially after moving her to her new enclosure soon! I'm hoping to have everything in by the 4th so I'd like to show everyone a picture.

@bcr229 Thank you for the tip, I'll definitely keep her on smalls longer before moving her up to mediums. I guess I was just worried because she was still acting so hungry even three days after feeding! She's finally calmed down a bit tonight, and isnt' in striking position--now she's either curled up in her hide or exploring around her tank. And she definitely is ready to come flying out when we're thawing out her food--I heat it up a bit with a blow dryer before I give it to her and she gets super excited and eager! Something else I thought is that she might be extra hungry since she's a female and preparing for breeding, as I've read that in a few places. That combined with her previous undernourishment has gotta be a killer combo.

[Craiga 01453]

Sounds like you're off to a good start!!!

Don't be afraid to ask any questions you may have, we're happy to help.

[ballpythonsrock2]

Sounds like you're off to a good start!!!

Don't be afraid to ask any questions you may have, we're happy to help.

@Craiga Thank you so much....... should I also wait the full 14 days between feedings or switch to 10 since it's smaller meals?