Aggression Problem

A few weeks back I got my second ball python after having my first for nearly three years. He is a beautiful bumblebee boy, I couldn't resist! My intention was to eventually start breeding as a hobby. Problem being, I don't think he was treated very well in his previous home. He didn't have any hides at all and was described as being "really skittish". Despite my best efforts with him, he is more than just skittish but quite aggressive and is prone to hissing and striking at me whenever I try to handle him to help him get used to me. This obviously won't fly when it comes to breeding season- I wouldn't want him hurting my girl! Does anybody have any tricks I could try to help get him out of these tendencies?

From what I've seen, aggressive ball pythons don't really attack other ball pythons unless they somehow mistake them for food. You should be fine with breeding him in my opinion. Breeders have skittish snakes all the time and they do perfectly fine from what I've seen. Aggression usually goes away with time if you are lucky but it takes a really long time.

you've only had him for a few weeks. sounds like he didn't have proper husbandry/care prior to that. You need to let him settle in to a proper environment. he has a lifetime of stress to release.

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Originally Posted by DennisM

you've only had him for a few weeks. sounds like he didn't have proper husbandry/care prior to that. You need to let him settle in to a proper environment. he has a lifetime of stress to release.

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This. Also if he wasn't handled much by his former owner then he hasn't learned that people are not great big Godzilla predators that will gobble him up.

I would let him settle in for several more weeks, get him onto a feeding schedule, and introduce handling slowly.

Once you do go to handle him, a trick to getting him out of his enclosure is to cover him with a lightweight small towel and then gently pick him up. Keep handling sessions brief and only put him away if he's not striking. A session under a minute where he is calm is better than a longer one where he takes a swipe at you.

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Originally Posted by bcr229

This. Also if he wasn't handled much by his former owner then he hasn't learned that people are not great big Godzilla predators that will gobble him up.

I would let him settle in for several more weeks, get him onto a feeding schedule, and introduce handling slowly.

Once you do go to handle him, a trick to getting him out of his enclosure is to cover him with a lightweight small towel and then gently pick him up. Keep handling sessions brief and only put him away if he's not striking. A session under a minute where he is calm is better than a longer one where he takes a swipe at you.

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Thanks for the advice! Hopefully he'll be right as rain eventually. It breaks my heart to see the little guy so stressed.

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What are you keeping him in? I've had a couple of skittish BPs and both became much more calm after being moved to small tubs with hides inside. That way nothing was stressing them except for my occasional hand coming in to scoop them up. After doing that for several weeks, they got used to it and no longer posture or strike.

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Originally Posted by treaux

What are you keeping him in? I've had a couple of skittish BPs and both became much more calm after being moved to small tubs with hides inside. That way nothing was stressing them except for my occasional hand coming in to scoop them up. After doing that for several weeks, they got used to it and no longer posture or strike.

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His tank is probably about 20G with two hides, water dish, and plenty of fake foliage for some coverage. However I definitely have the option to move him into a smaller tub soon, as I have a rack more or less ready to go minus heating.

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