Taming aggressive BP

[Pyth0nParalyze]

So for the past couple of feedings (I would say from 6-7) my boyfriend has fed our BP in its tank, which I specifically told him NOT to do because if in the event one of us needs to clean the tank and get our hands in there to handle him, then he's going to strike at us. Well, guess what. Our BP is now slightly aggressive, and will typically strike at anything that happens to come on the other side of his tank or even near the front of the glass.

By saying this, is there any way to reverse this aggressiveness to make him calm and cool again? My relatives were telling me that feeding him frozen mice/rats instead of live in his tank should be able to make him more docile again, but will that work?

[waltah!]

I would leave him alone for a week or so. If the "aggressiveness" is due to stress that will help relieve it. Short handling sessions will help after the break.
I feel all of my bp's in their enclosure, and don't have an aggressive one in the bunch. That being said, you learn with time how to read your snakes. When one of my big girls seems like she would like to be left alone.....I usually leave her alone.

[knott00]

Well, I would like to start off by saying that I feed in my BP's enclosure and my BP has never shown any sign of aggression towards me or any other human. So, I have not personally seen any evidence that feeding in the enclosure causes aggression.

That being said, I must admit that I have an extreamly calm snake. She doesn't ball up when I pick her up, she lets me touch her head and neck. Even when I moved her enclosure to a new house and had her in a bag for 30 minutes, she still ate later that day.

Both frequent short handling sessions and feeding frozen/thawed food is said to help calm the aggression. I would try both of these. By short handling sessions, I mean like 10 minutes, once a day.

Edit* I also agree with Walt, you should give her a break from handling before you begin trying to tame her.

I hope you can calm your BPs temper. :-(

[piper]

So for the past couple of feedings (I would say from 6-7) my boyfriend has fed our BP in its tank, which I specifically told him NOT to do because if in the event one of us needs to clean the tank and get our hands in there to handle him, then he's going to strike at us. Well, guess what. Our BP is now slightly aggressive, and will typically strike at anything that happens to come on the other side of his tank or even near the front of the glass.

By saying this, is there any way to reverse this aggressiveness to make him calm and cool again? My relatives were telling me that feeding him frozen mice/rats instead of live in his tank should be able to make him more docile again, but will that work?

I know one of mine is really calm, she's only about 1000 grams but still wouldn't want to take a bite from her. She was cranky/aggressive for a bit until I realized she may be hungry. Upped the rodent size and voila! She's fine now and has been for about 8 months.

[luna13]

I would leave him alone for a week or so. If the "aggressiveness" is due to stress that will help relieve it. Short handling sessions will help after the break.
I feel all of my bp's in their enclosure, and don't have an aggressive one in the bunch. That being said, you learn with time how to read your snakes. When one of my big girls seems like she would like to be left alone.....I usually leave her alone.

perfectly said...

[HypoPita]

perfectly said...

Likewise. My big girl will bodybump me if she doesn't want me to pick her up. She's the only one of mine to ever do that. When I HAVE to take her out to clean and she's like that...Im like oh man...dontgetbitdontgetbitdontgetbit! lol

[adrenalinejunkie]

I feed mine in their enclosures and have never had a problem; although as previously mentioned if they look hungry they usually are. Up the rodent size and make sure you give him atleast 24hrs preferably 48hrs after feeding before you handle him.

My male went on a 7 week strike; then I offered him a weanling (which he was eating before) and ate it but didn't go back in his hide; instead he stayed out looking at me like " Is that all you're gonna give me?" So I gave him another one and he took it right away and then he went into his hide for a few days. Next week I moved up to smalls and he took it no problem and went straight back in his hide this time.

Snakes have their own way of communicating; it just takes time to figure out what each one is saying

[Pyth0nParalyze]

Wow, thanks for all the replies! It also makes me feel better to know that there are some BP owners who feed their BP in their enclosures, because one of my relatives said that it's an absolute no-no and that they can get pretty hostile because of it. The last thing I want is a hostile BP.

We feed our BP namely once a week. He shouldn't be hungry because we fed him a mouse yesterday, and the thing is we used to feed him two mice in a single sitting, but we've quit that since apparently feeding them mice back to back isn't good for the snake's healthy and longevity?

If it's a matter of being hungry, we're going to feed him more today and see what happens. I guess if its not feeding them within the enclosure, I'm not sure then what's making him so moody lately. Everything (humidity, heating pad, water, etc.) is all good and he's got a quiet, dark place to recoil in. Doesn't seem like there's any health related issues going on either.

But thanks for the help everyone! I'll keep to socializing with him daily to see if any changes come up!

[joshn6805]

Wow, thanks for all the replies! It also makes me feel better to know that there are some BP owners who feed their BP in their enclosures, because one of my relatives said that it's an absolute no-no and that they can get pretty hostile because of it. The last thing I want is a hostile BP.

We feed our BP namely once a week. He shouldn't be hungry because we fed him a mouse yesterday, and the thing is we used to feed him two mice in a single sitting, but we've quit that since apparently feeding them mice back to back isn't good for the snake's healthy and longevity?

If it's a matter of being hungry, we're going to feed him more today and see what happens. I guess if its not feeding them within the enclosure, I'm not sure then what's making him so moody lately. Everything (humidity, heating pad, water, etc.) is all good and he's got a quiet, dark place to recoil in. Doesn't seem like there's any health related issues going on either.

But thanks for the help everyone! I'll keep to socializing with him daily to see if any changes come up!

I feed all mine in there enclosure and I have never had a food aggression problem. this is very debated topic to which we will never really know the answer until there is scientific evidence provided stating otherwise, until than its just people and there opinions.
feeding 2 mice, as far as I know, has no negative effect on there health. Most people find it easier to switch to a larger prey item so they dont have to feed it twice in one sitting.
I'm sure hes just stressed out from something wrong with the husbandry or something you have done to his enclosure, just double, triple, and quadruple check all your husbandry. just give him a week and start holding him after that week, gradually increasing that time you hold him until he becomes comfortable with you.

[Kaorte]

Wow, thanks for all the replies! It also makes me feel better to know that there are some BP owners who feed their BP in their enclosures, because one of my relatives said that it's an absolute no-no and that they can get pretty hostile because of it. The last thing I want is a hostile BP.

I would almost say the complete oppostie. I will give you a little scenario from one of my previous posts:

Scenario time:
You are about to feed your ball python in its enclosure.
Step one: Prepare the food, pre-scent if it is live, thaw if it is F/T
Step two: Place feeder in tank with ball python. Use tongs or drop the live feeder in.
Step three: Watch ball python eat
Step four: Leave ball python alone for 2 days so it can digest.

Where in this process does it say "wave your hands around in front of the snake when the food is nearby". It doesn't. That is because your hand should have NOTHING to do with the feeding process. You are not a mouse, you do not smell or look like a mouse, so why would your ball python associate you with a mouse?

Now lets look at feeding OUTSIDE the home enclosure.
Step one: Pick up your ball python and place it in a separate container.
Step two: Prepare the food, pre-scent if it is live, thaw if it is F/T
Step three: Place feeder in the feeding enclosure with the snake. Use tongs or drop the live feeder in.
Step three: Watch ball python eat
Step four: Pick up ball python and move back to home enclosure
Step five: Leave ball python alone for 2 days so it can digest.

Now which one sounds more risky when it comes to "associating" feeding with your hands. The separate enclosure. Especially if you aren't feeding your snake enough. If you have handled a rodent and forget to wash your hands, you smell like a rodent. You go in there to move your ball python back to its home enclosure and WHAM, he thinks you are another mouse for him to eat for dinner.

We feed our BP namely once a week. He shouldn't be hungry because we fed him a mouse yesterday, and the thing is we used to feed him two mice in a single sitting, but we've quit that since apparently feeding them mice back to back isn't good for the snake's healthy and longevity?

Well, depending on the size of your bp, one mouse might not be enough. There is nothing wrong with feeding multiple prey items in one sitting. I do it every week. Do you know the weight of your snake? It could be time to move up to rats.

If it's a matter of being hungry, we're going to feed him more today and see what happens. I guess if its not feeding them within the enclosure, I'm not sure then what's making him so moody lately. Everything (humidity, heating pad, water, etc.) is all good and he's got a quiet, dark place to recoil in. Doesn't seem like there's any health related issues going on either.

I wouldn't recommend feeding the snake the day after, just wait until next week and try to feed him a little more.
You say your husbandry is all good, but can you describe it for us, or take a picture? What are his hides like? What kind of thermometers are you using?

But thanks for the help everyone! I'll keep to socializing with him daily to see if any changes come up!

Give him some time to cool down before you try handling him, he could just be having a bad day.


There are many other reasons for a snake to become aggressive. I do not believe feeding in the home enclosure is one of them though.