help! biting

[Doug13]

I had my ball python since 2004 and just recently he/she has been very aggressive. Everytime I or my girlfriend try to handle him he bites. This only started recently. Possable causes i suspect could be.. more handleing (not daily), my new 30 gallon fish tank (small room), the heat here has been in the 90's and thats about it. I never sexed he/she and was always handled through shedding and has stayed docile until now.. any thoughts?
could he/she be in heat? sheading? is it the temurature? new smells (my girlfriend, fishtank)?

[Kagez28]

ball pythons cannot be in heat...

it sounds to me like you just put him in a 30 gal tank, which is too large for them. ball pythons like tight areas, small spaces, and lots of privacy. so putting him/her in a larger enclosure could make him get defensive.

do you mind describing your set up. temps, humidity, how you are heating the tank, what kind of thermometers, substrate, ect? this might help determine why the change.

[Doug13]

if anything his tank is the perfect size he/she is almost 4 feet long, and 3 years old now. his substrae has always been repti-bark, his temp and humidity has stayed the same, only the outside temp has changed, he gets misted when nessisary and always has water, he uses a heating pad, and stays in his log most of the day as normal
temp: 94-96 degrees (it's been very hot here)
humidity: 70%

he/she is not a baby so he's not small.. he's had his cage since i got him/her

i also have past experiences owning snakes (not just balls) and none have acted like this before

[dr del]

Hi,


High temperatures with no way of escape might increase his stress level which could cause this change in temperament. But there are so many things that can cause stress that I'm not sure it's that simple really.

Is he due to go into a shed? any signs of an impending shed (pink belly etc)?

Is there any way you can get the ambient temps down to a more reasonable level of 80-84 at the cool end of his tank?

I would suggest cutting back on the handling anyway if it is causing him stress.

When he strikes what kind are they? Closed mouth headbutts, strike bite and releases or hang on and "chew like buggery" while constricting your arm?

Did this start suddenly or gradually - if suddenly can you think of anything that happened at the time?


dr del

[Doug13]

He/she should be going into shed soon but the biting started few weeks ago and has't been handled since he bit my girlfriend (about a week and a half) till tonight when he bit me.

i can't bring down the temp without some sort of cooler.. no airconditioning we all suffer the same heat
the bites are strikes.. he's distracted by movement and strikes at movement..
he/she just began striking more than once and remaining aggressive (staying by the bite.. grazing the area.. seeming very tense)

i've never seen this before.. i had wild snakes( black snake, garders) that where more docile during hot months like this

[dr del]

Hi,


Well there are a few things you could try to do to lower the temps, increase ventilation and spray more (the evaporating water should cool it a little and the extra ventialtion should stop the humidity getting too high), direct a fan onto the cold end of the tank etc.

But , If I'm reading this correctly, you only recently moved him into the tank as Kevin pointed out so maybe reviewing the setup might be of use.

Does he have enough hides and cover and does he use them?

A new tank can definately stress them out and was it just after the move he bit your girlfriend?

How is he eating?

Also when you say his temps are constant but the outside temp has changed how are you controling his heating element on the warm side?


dr del

[Doug13]

he/she had the tank since i brought him/her home from the petstore at about a foot long 3 years ago

he has a log and a peice of driftwood he spends the day in his log

he eats 3 full grown prekilled mice each week.. which he dosnt attack at all. he eats them slowly

he bit my girlfriend like he does his food, but he attacked me.. struck more than once

my snake "Blunts" has always been docile.. he hides from moving objects, he never bites and never tryes to escape.. this is why i dont know whats wrong with him/her

do any of you have fish tanks in the room with your snake cage?
my girlfriend's room frickin stinks from fish tanks and mine has taken on an oder.... could he be smelling the fish?

it's either that or the heat... what do u guys do in the summer to keep your temps down... i mist 3-4 times daily now that the temp has stayed in the 90's... and the heat sources have been off for the most part (except when it rains and goes into the 70's)

his undertank heating pad has stayed off.. i only had the heat lamp on yesterday for a short time.. for basking

[dr del]

Hey,


Did she drop him when he bit her? If he got frightened then it may take him time to settle dwn again.

So the new fish tank is actually full of fish? is it sitting near his tank in such a way the vibrations of the pump/filter/airpump could be disturbing him?

I would recomend getting two hides for his tank - we recomend 2 identical ones one on the hot side and one on the cool. The logs aren't the best as they seem to prefer being touched on all sides by their hides - do a search on this site to see some really good inexpensive things you could try without breaking the bank.

You didnt answer the heating question so could I ask that again and also how you measure the temperatures inside his tank - just in case it is actually much worse in his tank as extreme heat can kill reptiles very quickly and needs to be gaurded against.


dr del

[Doug13]

she did not drop him

the vibrations from the airpump on the fishtank are on the other side of the room yes fish inhabate the tank

fully adjustable heat sources... gauges on the inside of the tank indicate temp and humidity

[dr del]

Hi,


O.k. so when he bit her he didnt get scared by any reactions or anything and the fishtank is probably not a factor - I don't see the smell as that likely a factor but I may be proved wrong later.

O.k so lets see if we can narrow it down even further.

When you say gauges inside the tank please tell me its not those little stick on round things? - the temp one proved to be almost 2o dgrees F out for one of our members. We recomend the accurite digital in/out humidity weather station things that wallmart sell for around $14.

When you say fully adjustable heat sources do you mean thermostatically controlled? Or just a lamp dimmer or something similar?

My first instincts are to increase his feelings of security and try to lower the temps in his cage.

What type of tank is he kept in at the moment? Glass tank,wooden vivarium,
tub - or something else? I'm asking so I don't waste your time discussing irrelevant solutions etc.

Has he eaten since the first bite? or have you not offered yet?


dr del