Needing advice on a royal python

My royal has suddenly gotten very aggressive and I'm not sure why. He's only about 6 months old and I've had him about a month. He's never shown any aggression before and has always been great for handling. But he suddenly decided to strike for my hand while handling on Friday and since then he has been striking at his tank if I go anywhere near. He even went for my hand rather than the mouse on Sunday. Does anyone have any ideas as to what could be wrong

Sent from my GT-I9515 using Tapatalk

Going into shed probably

Sent from my HTC One M9 using Tapatalk

He doesn't seem to be and he shed just before I got him about 3 weeks ago

Sent from my GT-I9515 using Tapatalk

If not in shed it is either husbandry related or food related

How big is the BP, what size enclosure do you have him in, what type of hides are you providing, are they tight, what are your temps on both sides, how do you measure them (type of thermometer), what is your humidity, how often do you handle your BP, what type prey are you feeding (size), how often, etc?

Also when it comes to feeding if it went for your hand instead of the mouse it has to do with temperature, this is why you use tongs when feeding.

This type of behavior is not the norm for a ball python. Much more information would be required to guess at what is causing it. It could be hungry, shedding, afraid or just generally unhappy. Let us know what you are feeding, how often you are feeding, how big the prey is, and the conditions it is being kept under. A picture or two would not hurt. Help us help you.

He's about 150 and about 2 feet long. He's in a 1st by 2 ft house and has been since I got him. He's got a house just now that he can hide in because he's not in his proper tank yet. He's been fine in the tank up until the weekend, nothing has changed. The temp is around 28 and I have a basic thermometer and a digital one. He was handled almost every day and never had any issues. He was getting rat fluffs until Sunday when I changed him to a small mouse.

Sent from my GT-I9515 using Tapatalk

I can't really gat pics just now either cos I can't get anywhere near the tank just now :/

Sent from my GT-I9515 using Tapatalk

And I was using tongs when I was feeding him. He ignored the mouse though and tried to jump towards me

Sent from my GT-I9515 using Tapatalk

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by annettexmcc

He's about 150 and about 2 feet long. He's in a 1st by 2 ft house and has been since I got him. He's got a house just now that he can hide in because he's not in his proper tank yet. He's been fine in the tank up until the weekend, nothing has changed. The temp is around 28 and I have a basic thermometer and a digital one. He was handled almost every day and never had any issues. He was getting rat fluffs until Sunday when I changed him to a small mouse.

Sent from my GT-I9515 using Tapatalk

---

Stress is something that happens over time so frequent handling, plus other husbandry issue are likely what led to this issue, at this size it can also take something as big as an adult mouse so offering a small mouse is too small.

Looks like you have a few issues, provide a smaller setup, proper temps 24/26 on the cool side 30/32.5 on the hot side, feed the adequate size prey, stop handling every day and everything will get back to normal.

He might be pre-shed again. . .some little guys shed once a month, or even more often if they're growing fast.