Aggressiv behavior

Hello Everyone,

Son and I adopted a Ball Python on Thursday 08/18/2016. I found him just on a website people post their animals. A little back ground, When we finally said that we wanted to adopt him, They let me know that he hadn't eaten at all for the month. When we arrived to pick him up he literally just laid coiled up in the palm of our hands. We feed him two feeder mice, We waited 48hrs then tried to hold him. He wouldn't let us get close without him wanting to strike at us. So we fed him another two feed mice yesterday 08/20/2016. Let him sit then today I just went to take a look at see how he was doing, and before I could make it to the enclosure he striked the glass. I kinda thought that it was because they waited so long to feed him. However I am concerned, I havent had a snake in a while. We have all the works for him and in the process for building a larger enclosure. My son is only 4 and he just wants to hold him but it has been really limited. Please may I have suggestions on what you have tried?

Thank you
Sammy~

What is his husbandry like?
Also don't just pound food into him like that, you're going to do more bad than good. From here on out give properly sized meals (about as wide as his widest part) every 5 to 7 days.

Make sure his temps, and humidity are on point. Give adequite hides. Don't handle him you're just gonna stress him out more and make it worse.

Also don't build a larger enclosure if he is adequite where he is at. A bigger space is just gonna stress him out more. I'm fairly certain there is a basic care sheet stickied on this thread. Read it and do your absolute best to follow it.


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I have found the couple times my ball python has gone striking at me was right after a fast after he started eating regularly. Both times he's stopped within a couple weeks. Seems like your ball was just hungry and the increase in food has sparked a strong feeding response.

Just in case it's something else, double check husbandry, and just be ready to deal with a defensive snake that may need time to work with.

I also agree, space out his feedings, I personally don't go below 7 days for any snake eating rodents.

I want to point out large enclosures do not stress snakes out, big open spaces do. Once the snake is settled in, there's no harm in moving him to a larger enclosure so long as you offer enough hides and cover. I put my ball python in 4.5'x2.5'x3' roughly sized enclosure straight as a hatchling, he ate quite reliably and was really chubby (it wasn't until I made my first move in 2012 he started being a trouble child), and I've even kept him successfully in a 6'x2'x3' enclosure as an adult at 3.5' and 1,380 grams. Went in it in the middle of a fast, and started eating again within a month or two.

That said, I would not make any changes in his housing until he's settled in, so not for at least 3 months, he'll be fine in smaller set up temporarily.

Hello,

The BP We adopted is about 3' . The enclosure they used and also provided to me was 2 1/2'x1'x1'. That is the only reason I feel he needs a new enclosure. The feeding response definitely makes since, It wasn't that he wouldn't eat is was they couldn't afford to feed him. So they say :mad: I will continue to watch the tank temps and humidity , Appropriate the advise! :)

Oh, I didn't realize he was already so long. In that case I'd say I agree he might need some more space, just as long as he also has hides to stay in. When people talk about giving their snake more space, a lot of times they just put them in a bigger tank and don't give them more places to hide and then their snake feels stressed with all the open space around them.


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Quote:

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Originally Posted by skmthompson1992

Hello,

The BP We adopted is about 3' . The enclosure they used and also provided to me was 2 1/2'x1'x1'. That is the only reason I feel he needs a new enclosure. The feeding response definitely makes since, It wasn't that he wouldn't eat is was they couldn't afford to feed him. So they say :mad: I will continue to watch the tank temps and humidity , Appropriate the advise! :)

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(whoops wrong thread lol). 3' doesn't seem all that bad for a 2 year old. A bit small, maybe, but not by much really considering they average 3'-4', maybe 5' more nowadays. I'm thinking the snake probably has a year of good growth still ahead of him, so he can catch up if he needs to. My 3.5' bp is eating small rats, so two mice is a rather small meal. Try to offer the snake some rats ASAP, you don't want to try to switch him later down the road....It takes 5-6 regular-sized adult mice to fill mine up, and 2-3 jumbos.

Snakes often need time to adjust to new homes. New smells in a new unfamiliar place is stressful enough. The best thing is to check your husbandry and then leave him alone for a good week. Give him time to settle and adjust.

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Snakes and kids...

I have a "few" snakes in this bunch there are three my kids are not allowed to handle. Two have attitude problems and one is very skittish. I want my girls to enjoy the animals especially since they are the ones that drug me into the hobby in the first place. I do not want them to get bit. They are too young not to take it personally. Their handling skills are getting better all the time and I even trust them with some of my stronger breeding females now without constant supervision. My older daughter (7), even feeds f/t to a few of the easy feeders at this point. Thing is I let them learn their handling skills on dead calm animals. I have one very large female that would probably let the kids drag her around the house by her tail, she is that mellow. What I am getting at is let the child learn with an animal that is very mellow. The snake you have now will most likely calm down with a few good meals and a proper environment but I would not let a four year old anywhere near it until you can touch it everywhere without it protesting, waving your hand in front of it without it striking, not staying balled up when handled, and not breathing heavy.

We actually attempted to hold him today. When we approached the tank he was great, No striking or anything. We handled him for about 30 Minutes and when trying to put him back in the enclosure he kept trying to come back out. I assume that is a great sign! Now I am running into Riley is beginning to get really dry on his head. When we adopted him it was moderate. They would put Tropical Mist humidifying spray in his take and us Shed- Ease reptile bath every time they fed him. I worry that using chemicals on the snake like that isn't to great? The humidity level right now is 70-80 and temp on one side is 80-90.

Humidity is appropriate at 50-60%. You should have one side at a constant 90F. Are you using a thermostat ?