Nervous, biting little girl
Hello,
I am new to the reptile world and I purchased my first snake not to long ago. She is a beautiful 3 month old Lesser, and I purchased her from a reptile show last Saturday, Jan 5. She was looking pretty hungry, and it had been nearly 2 weeks since they last feed her, so I offered her a live mouse. That was on Monday, two days after I got her, and she readily ate it. My friend who has had snakes in the past was impressed by how quickly she ate it. Anyways I have held her a few times since then, and she has been perfectly fine. However, last night she started striking out of no where. There was no rodent scents in the air or anything food relate. This seems more like a nervous/fearful striking behaviour. I put her back into her tank and she was still trying to strike at anything that moved by. This morning she was acting the same way. However, if you continue to hold her she eventually stops and acts like nothing is wrong and starts climbing all over me. I have noticed that any "sudden" movement startles her back into a defensive position. By that I mean me moving my hand to react for something, even if my hand is several inches to a foot away from her head. From what I have read, and heard from friends, this is really odd behaviour.
Does anyone have any advice to curb this behaviour? Although she is just a baby and it doesn't hurt, I know she will grow to be a big girl. I don't want to keep handling her if that is making things worse, but I also don't want to leave her alone in the tank and have it amplify the problem.
Thanks
Re: Nervous, biting little girl
I have the temp spot on. It is staying in the mid 80s as an average. There is a hiding log and a water bowl big enough for her to soak in. I have eco-fiber (I think that's what it is called) as substrate. I have been keeping the tank on the more humid side too, but I don't know the specifics. I tried to post a pic, but I can't figure it out. I clicked on the add image and gave the link to where it is on my computer, but when I viewed the preview it wasn't there. I can offer her more food. I know they said she was eating fuzzy rats, but I can't get those live where I live. I would like to get her used to pre-killed food, but I hear it is a slow transition so I went backwards to the adult mice. I'll offer her some more food tomorrow. This time I'll get two mice.
Any advice on how to get a pic, and I'll gladly post a couple.
Re: Nervous, biting little girl
She might be that way for awhile, I got a female mojave last march and she is still feisty. She eats and sheds fine I think she is just a big chicken. I tried handling her as often as possible and she calmed down a little. She still strikes and hisses once in a while. Just keep trying
Re: Nervous, biting little girl
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Capray
Cover three sides of the tank with something dark, it'll make her feel safer.
+1 to this. Same thing goes for Bearded Dragons, especially babies. As prey items in the wild...covering 3 sides of their tank can suddenly make a non eating bearded dragon into a non stop eating machine.
Re: Nervous, biting little girl
when ball pythons first hatch they are easy to handle without any striking. then as they get a little bigger some go threw a stage where they will strike. if you handle them or you don't handle them much, most will out grow this in time.
