New ball python striking a lot

I bought a new lemon blast ball python a couple of weeks ago at the reptile show I always go to. My son and I both held her and she seemed good tempered. The only thing they said was that she was shy. I let her settle into her environment for about a week. But, when I got her out she started striking and bit my 12 year old. I called the previous owner to ask what he thought. He said she could be hungry as it was getting close to time to feed her. We put her back and then fed her in a separate enclosure. She ate good and I put her back. We left her alone for 48 hours. I also did research on snappy snakes. So I'm the one that is working with her. I have gotten her out each day and handled her but if anything is in front of her she is striking at it. I've held several different pythons and have never seen one that strikes like her. The other day I was leaning over the screen to check the temp and humidity and she struck right at my face. I'm leaning towards returning her for a different snake if she doesn't improve. My other ball python was very calm and seemed to like being handled. Thoughts?

I'm not an expert but knowing that she is shy and you've only had her for a few weeks, she probably just isn't used to you and her new situation... especially if she's only a hatchling. Ball pythons (especially nervous little ones) are not known to 'like' being handled at all and in fact some simply tolerate it better. A couple of weeks with you is also a tiny amount of time for her to get used to her new environment.

I think it's admirable that you want to try working with her and I think she will also grow out of it. It is a hatchling (baby) behavior that is not uncommon. Justin Kobylka addresses the aggressive baby ball python on his you tube channel. His technique is very effective and will help you as you go forward. Remember too that these guys have their own personalities and I think you should immediately slow down on the daily handling and begin to feed her in her enclosure. I would work with the little snake and have her gradually grow out of it. I will look for a link to Justin's video of how to tame a aggressive hatchling and post it for you.

I know this isn't the end all answer, but I think it would help if you post some pictures of your setup for her, and if you have a heat gun to measure exact temps? I remember your last thread being about a severe burn, and I hope the other one's recovering well!

Ball pythons, especially young ones, need hides and a lot of "cover" to make them feel completely hidden and secure (varies upon individual snake), otherwise it leads to stress and defensive behavior. It may be that the setup is not quite right for this baby, and that she was shy and defensive to begin with, making it worse.

There might be something about lemonblasts that makes them snappy lol (im joking, i know morphs have nothing to do with personality) but i bought a female lemonblast (3 months) and a male yellow belly (older and bigger than the female but not by much) and the lemonblast bit me like 4 times, and she was trying to strike at me through the glass and she would hiss all the time. Now she has actually gotten around me and she only hisses from time to time and the biting seems to be gone at least for now, although she is still a little shy when it comes to pick her up and handling
PS: i would love to see your lemonblast :)
Another PS: I saw someone saying one of your bp was burned, how is she/he doing? Poor thing

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Originally Posted by Albert Clark

I think it's admirable that you want to try working with her and I think she will also grow out of it. It is a hatchling (baby) behavior that is not uncommon. Justin Kobylka addresses the aggressive baby ball python on his you tube channel. His technique is very effective and will help you as you go forward. Remember too that these guys have their own personalities and I think you should immediately slow down on the daily handling and begin to feed her in her enclosure. I would work with the little snake and have her gradually grow out of it. I will look for a link to Justin's video of how to tame a aggressive hatchling and post it for you.

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Here's the link:
https://youtu.be/S7DQssbM0uk

Hope it helps [emoji846]

My BP was really calm and very tame in the shop and when I got him home he turned really aggressive hissing and striking at any chance he got he managed to bite me once I used the technique in the video link above and this worked great for me after 5 days he started calming down after a full week he was back tame again I tried other methods before this video with no success I would highly recommend sticking to the video provided mine still hisses when it's close to feeding but soon as he's picked up he's fine keep us all updated on how you get on

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Currently using this video on my male and he is a lot better now a month later. But of course I only get him out once maybe twice a week so results may vary


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Originally Posted by BBotteron

Currently using this video on my male and he is a lot better now a month later. But of course I only get him out once maybe twice a week so results may vary


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He will come round as time goes on the more you handle him the better he will get its trial and error as some can get stressed from over handling

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I can definitely tell a difference but I only handle about once-twice a week so he doesn't get stressed. I figured it be a good ratio of handling:getting used to me lll


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