Help! Moved BP from tank to rack, she's now extremely jumpy and hissing at me.

Hey everyone, first time poster here. I've had my female Paprika for about 6 months now and I had kept her in a 50 gal glass cage. A week ago I aquired another ball python (a male) and bought a rack to put them both in. The rack holds the CB70 size tubs. Paprika has always been a very gentle and calm animal and has never hissed before.

Ever since moving her she's been acting scared and jumpy. The day after moving them was feeding day and she refused, which I expected since she was adjusting to a new environment. But I can hear her hissing in her tub every once and a while, even if I'm not moving around in the room or bothering her. Almost every time I open the tub to check temps or bump up the humidity she hisses at me. I've had to take her out a couple times to adjust things and once I pick her up she's fine.

She's pretty big at 2500g so at first I didn't think she would need a hide. Once I noticed the hissing and jumpy behavior I cut a shoebox to the exact width of her tub, and she used it for a few hours, but after a while I heard her thrashing around in the tub and I opened it to discover she had gotten herself stuck in between the cardboard and plastic somehow, like REALLY stuck I could hardly get her out. So I took that hide out.

Basically what I'm wondering is, is she hissing because she's still not adjusted to the tub after a week? Is it because she can smell my new male? Does she need a hide? If she needs a hide, any suggestions on what to use so she won't hurt herself by getting stuck? The large reptile basics hide is too small for her but Jumbo won't fit in the tub.

I believe the hissing is simply cause of the new environment. I'd say in about a week or so, if the hissing hasn't stopped, you might need to take steps to fix it/help in some way. Hope I helped in the slightest.

How long was she in the glass tank? Some snakes adjust faster than others. Give her some time and don't disturb her for a week or so.

I have no doubt that she can smell the new male. Don't know if that's what's throwing her off or not. When you change multiple environmental factors at the same time, the trouble shooting gets a lot more complicated.

Probably a bit late now but if you just brought home the male BP, he and the female should have been kept in separate rooms for at least 90 days. Putting a new snake into the same rack with your current one(s) is a good way to spread diseases.

http://ball-pythons.net/forums/showt...antine-process

As for your female's behavior, it can take a month or more for them to adjust to a new environment. I would just let her be.

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Originally Posted by Slim

How long was she in the glass tank?

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Ever since I got her in January, so about 6 months.

Unfortunately I still live with my parents and I'm not allowed to keep my animals outside of my room, so I wasn't able to quarantine my new one before putting them in the same rack. :(

Should I still try to feed her on Sunday night? Luckily I'm leaving for a week long vacation on monday, so she won't be disturbed at all, haha.