Mr. Crowley is acting incredibly aggressive!

So Crowley recently ate which didn't go well. I am converting to f/t and he isn't much interested in the dead rats so I'm a forced to dangle them with tongs. Its not a problem but give me some anxiety, he is the biggest snake I've had at 1300gs. I have been working extra hours at both jobs so I had not much time to feed him this week so I feed him in his enclosure, instead of the bin I have for feeding it has been 4 days and his aggressive behavior has not stopped. He leaves 3 feet of himself coiled in his hide and is out and at full strike pose without rest. He keys to any heat signature and tracks it's moves whilst in the room and then returns to attention at the same point. It is mating sEason from what I understand and that it can effect their behavior but he has never been an aggressive snake in the past so I'm wondering if it may be related to me feeding him in his tank? Anyone have any helpful words?http://i345.photobucket.com/albums/p...psxjdlprvl.jpg

I have always fed all my snakes in their cage. NEVER in another bin.

I don't like moving them to another bin for feeding. Usually they are in feeding mode for a while after eating and then you have to reach in and move that snake. Not to mention you shouldn't handle a "full" snake.

All that aside, many people feed snakes in their enclosure.

Looks to me like that snake is still hungry and never fully came out of feeding mode. Might be he still smells food on his substrate.

Mine are often in feeding mode in the evening. Sometimes even 3 days after feeding they are "hunting" again. If I were to open their bin while they are waiting, yes, I better be careful as they are "primed and ready".
Usually only in the evening, though. I tend to not mess with them in the evening. But if I WANT to take them out, or I NEED to clean a cage, I will open the bin and GENTLY touch them on the head with a soft, almost empty paper towel roll. Just enough to give a gentle push or touch. You don't smack them !!!!

It simply snaps them out of "hunt" mode and they usually turn away and I can pick them up. No problem. But mine are very used to this and they know what it means.

You could try feeding again. Might be hungry. Or handle him during the day. Does he do this all day, or only in the evening ?

If you are in the process of changing to FT I would not handle much right now until he is once again an established eater. If the whole "dancing" with forceps doesn't work well...leave a FT in front of his hide and walk away (evening/night) He might just eat it in privacy..without striking first. All mine will do that. They will strike and wrap, but they will also just slither up to a FT rat and simply eat it if its left in their bin.

How big of a food item are you giving him and how often ?

I too always have fed all my snakes in their cages and the only one I cant just reach in and pick up my snakes is my JCP but she is crazy to begin with lol. Your snake sounds like its being defensive. Recheck all your husbandry. All that condensation and what looks like completely soaked Eco Earth is not good for him for a long time. Plus all I see in his cage is one log hide which those log hides provide pretty much nothing for security as they are open in both ends. He probably doesn't feel secure. Even my crazy JCP will let me pick her up 50% of the time without getting bit lol.

Is he aggressively biting and snapping at everything that moves or is he just coiled up? Is he biting the rodents and letting go (aggression) or biting and then eating? I can't tell from what you wrote if he is really aggressive or if he just has a good feeding response. If he is snapping and biting rodents and then letting go, a true aggressive posture, I'd say it's your glass tank and hide. I had several snakes in setups like that and they really got mean. I switched to an ARS tub, grey tubs, not transparent, and they almost overnight became puppy dog tame. He probably feels exposed in that setup. He may be OK if it's feeding response instead of true aggression, really depends on the snake and how comfortable they feel, but I'm guessing if it's aggression it's your glass tank.

Feeding in a separate tank is an old wives tale, don't do it. You have to pull them out of feeding mode to move them, then move a snake that just ate, risking regurgitation. It's the craziest thing I've ever heard of.

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Originally Posted by Sauzo

I too always have fed all my snakes in their cages and the only one I cant just reach in and pick up my snakes is my JCP but she is crazy to begin with lol. Your snake sounds like its being defensive. Recheck all your husbandry. All that condensation and what looks like completely soaked Eco Earth is not good for him for a long time. Plus all I see in his cage is one log hide which those log hides provide pretty much nothing for security as they are open in both ends. He probably doesn't feel secure. Even my crazy JCP will let me pick her up 50% of the time without getting bit lol.

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It's not log it's fake rock and it closed on the back and is just a perfect little cave. Thr moisture was me spra ying gentle mist so he would retreat so I could attempt to remove the smelly substrate. He has been in his enclose for a long time and knows it well and is very a5 home. He has always been a calm mellow snake. He at a 40g medium rat and 2 18g mice. I got him to eat the rat by dangling but the mice he ate on his own when I wasn't around. The feed before this he at 2 40g rats ft that I left in his enclosure. Ive always feed in a separate tub because I feed live and o would leave him in there until he showed interest in leaving.

It's 3/4 wrapped with background and he's been in there for a long time . He has always been a baby my daughter loves his so much we got her a baby bp. I have boas in and corns in similar setups and all are baby dolls, except morticia ut she has been pissed since she left the egg.

He bit at his stick and the dirt in a part of the tank that never had mice on it will strike at the lid if I make too much noise taking the lid off

So did he eat a medium rat or a 40 gr. rat ?

I'm asking, because medium rats are anything between about 80 to 150 gr.

And 18 gr. mice are mice weanlings. Tiny.

Your snake should at least eat a medium rat..something about 150 gr or so. I would think.

He might actually be hungry still ?

Can you tell on this chart which kind of rodent he ate ?

http://photos.imageevent.com/morgens...huge/cache.jpg

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Originally Posted by zina10

So did he eat a medium rat or a 40 gr. rat ?

I'm asking, because medium rats are anything between about 80 to 150 gr.

And 18 gr. mice are mice weanlings. Tiny.

Your snake should at least eat a medium rat..something about 150 gr or so. I would think.

He might actually be hungry still ?

Can you tell on this chart which kind of rodent he ate ?

http://photos.imageevent.com/morgens...huge/cache.jpg

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Sorry I wasn't hime I was remembering grams of protein yes the medium rat I have are within that weight range

Or maybe I'm not these bags don't have enough information on them. But based on thr chart it seams he might be a tad bit under feed but that was why I made the move to frozen, I can't get live rats consistently in this small town. I was going to pick up some more packages tomorrow they have a size lager and it sounds lit it might be better suited for him. I had planned on getting a small live mouse to see if killing some thing would make him feel better since that is what he is used too. At first I thought it was me changing the way I heat the tank. I had been using bulbs but couldn't keep humidity because om in a tank duh but with a uth Temps and humidity are perfect. But with the odd behavior I put his bulb back on and no change.