Aggression Concerns

I have had my BP since I got him as a rescue back in December of last year. This is his first complete shed. I call it complete because his last shed came off in pieces; even with the help of shed-ez. This shed was one piece, finally. It had been 13 days from his last meal and I guess he was hungry. I tried to place him in his feeding tank (been doing that since I got him) but he tried to bite at me so I went with feeding him inside his habitat just this once. He was fed two f/t medium rats and he seemed to be satisfied with that. My daughter walked past his habitat yesterday and my BP lunged at the glass which is very uncommon for him. Should I try feeding him again? Usually when it's feeding time, he sits out on his log and appears to be staring at me. If I move, he will adjust his position so that he is staring at me again. Right now he's relaxing on the cooler side of his habitat. I am reluctant to stick my hand in there just so it can be fodder for his mouth.

Current temp: Cold side: 70F, Warm side: 88F - He spends an equal amount of time between the warm and cold side.
Current habitat: Showcase cage - 36"L x 24"H x 24"D
Hygrometer broke so I am waiting on a new one being shipped. Hopefully it will get here today. My husband borrowed my first one and then dropped it. Not a happy camper on that.
Aspen shavings
Water changed daily
Two hidey huts on either side

Well first off, you don't need this "shed-ez" product. Just good old water will do just fine. Make sure you mist a few times a day when you notice your snake is in shed to keep the humidity up. Don't soak the snake or attempt to remove its shed skin unless it has already started coming off in pieces.

Second, no need to feed him in another enclosure. In fact, you yourself have just made a great example as to why you don't really need to do this. When they are hungry, they are hungry! Feed them where they feel safe. They are smart enough to not mistake your hand for food, but only when they are well fed and the scent of rodents is not in the air. I feed all of my 29 snakes in their home enclosures and I don't see any aggression outside of the normal defensive bite.

I would try feeding him again on your normal weekly schedule. Also, you can attempt to feed him while he is in shed. Some snakes will eat, some won't. The only way to find out is to offer.

Your cool side is a little low for my liking. I like to try and keep the cool side at least 75º. If you don't mind me asking, what kind of thermometers are you using? If you are misreading the temps, it is possible that the odd behavior is due to his temps being out of whack.

Also, what kind of hides do you have? Does your snake use them regularly? Are they tight fitting and dark?

Since I picked him up as a rescue, he has been okay with me moving him to a feeding tank. As a one time thing, I didn't because I didn't feel like being bit. There is a lot of, let's call them suggestions, on the internet of feeding in their habitat as opposed to not feeding in their habitat. He knows when it's feeding time when I put him in the tank, he is not stressed out and it works out great for us.

He has two hides that are made from the bottoms of kitten litter pans. The habitat is mostly dark and I have the entrances facing away from the glass doors. I would have to say they are about a medium size and he fits quite snugly in them. Snake is in his cool hide right now.

As for temp, when I raised the temp on the cool side to anything above 70, he didn't seem to like it very much and spent a lot more time pressed up against the cold glass doors than anywhere else. I consulted with a herp vet and she said to leave it at 70 if it works for him. Temp hasn't changed much since I moved him from an all glass enclosure to a plastic enclosure. Current thermometers are from Japan and I have an infrared handheld as a backup. Everything matches, temp wise. When he was shedding, I did spray the tank twice a day - once when I got up and then once before heading to bed. When I had him in the glass enclosure the temp was all over the place.

Lastly, I am aware of not removing the stuck skin as that sounds painful even for a human. I used the shed-ez because plain water didn't do the trick on the last shed.

--PD

No one is trying to be a blow hard, just sharing our experience...

Snakes bite for one of two reasons:

1. Fear: Not feeling secure or stressed out. Quick release strike.
2. Food: They are hungry. They latch on and coil or just don't let go.

Fear
If you want a pet-quality snake (one that tolerates handling) you'll need to work with it on a regular basis. When bringing a new snake home, whether rescue or youngin', normally we would get their enclosure set up before hand, introduce them to their new enclosure and leave them alone for a while and they have eaten a few times. During this time, make any adjustments needed and move onto handling sessions of 5-10 minutes daily except for feeding day/day after and shed cycle. My spider female was a prime example of a scared snake that overcame from this schedule. She would strike at the enclosure even if you looked at her! But after just a couple weeks she calmed down and is by far the BEST BP I have EVER owned (I have had more than a dozen over the years-fostered or owned) and trust her with my 8-year old son (supervised of course). We have to remember we ARE dealing with a wild animal. They do not train like a dog or cat. We need to work with them in a different way and once they feel secure in their habitat and realize we are no longer a threat, a mutual trust is formed and they "tolerate" us. Unfortunately they are snakes and once in a while...a bite will happen. No different than with a dog, cat, or parrot.

Feeding
Every one of my BPs have always been fed in their enclosures. I too was instructed back in the late '90s to feed in a separate container but soon realized that this was more stress on the snake which lead to many a hunger strike, a few more bites taking them out and putting them back in their enclosure, and wasted time having to sit there and watch every minute of their feeding. Since then, more than a decade now, every BP I have owned or fostered has been fed in their enclosure. I have NEVER had any type of cage aggression simply from feeding in their enclosure. Matter of fact, I have noticed far fewer feed strikes (not eating), and have not been bit feeding since.

Shedding
Even with the BEST husbandry practices, a bad shed will happen. Bumping up the humidity will usually allow them to get the bad shed off. We just need to be patient and TRY to let mother nature run its course. But, we may need to help. If the increase of humidity does not help after a few days, I will soak the BP in a low, long Tupperware container for 30 minutes with 1/2"-1" of warm water (85-90) and a wash cloth. If after 30 minutes the snake hasn't rubbed the remaining shed off, I replace the water with new warm water and soak another 30 minutes (max). If the shed still isn't off, I'll use the washcloth from inside the soak chamber and gently run it from top to bottom (being very careful around the eyes). This usually does the trick. Only once or twice have I had to soak a second or third time (1-day apart). If after a subsequent second or third soak doesn't help, wait until the next shed cycle...

Husbandry
I too am a little concerned with temps and the enclosure. BPs naturally bed-down in tightly-wedged termite mounds or confiscated burrows. Glass aquarium showcases are horrible and go against their natural habitat. Try covering the glass enclosure on three sides with black construction paper and make sure the tank isn't too large (or too tall) for the snake. BPs are native to Ghana, Africa. If you Google, "Ghana Temps" you'll get the following info: http://www.ghanaweb.com/GhanaHomePag...hy/climate.php. Low: 74 degrees. High: around 90 degrees. We need to try and mimic these temps the best we can. Humidity: 50%-60% average non-shed, 70%+ shed cycle.

Hope this helps. Patience and a willingness to work with them are key. NO one can simply give you a snake that can just be "expected" to be pet-quality. Rescue or new. The effort you put in is key to what your BP will give back.

I don't doubt that feeding in a separate enclosure works for you and your snake, but as you yourself have witnessed, sometimes it can be tricky to move a hungry snake without getting bit.

Now if the point of moving to a separate enclosure is to NOT get bit, how does that make any sense that you would put yourself in a situation where the snake will surely bite you?

When I was starting out, I fed in a separate enclosure until I realized that it doesn't make any sense logically. The snake either doesn't care that its being moved, or is very hungry and is likely to bite you on accident. I don't see how either of those situations are positive.

I'm not trying to say what you are doing is wrong, merely that you can save time and effort by just feeding in the home enclosure. It is just easier for everyone.