He Hissed!!

So, this is kind of an update on the seperation of my 5-year old BP's, and an inquiry as well...
I kept my female in the 55 gallon they were both in, and she seems really comfortable!! She stretches out a lot, which she never did before. I couldn't get her to eat a P/K, but she ate her normal meal of mice.

Now my male, I put in a 30 gallon tank, and he just seems really uncomfortable, and always on guard. Everytime someone goes by the cage or goes into it, he gets this look and jerks his head quickly, exactly like when its food time and he spots a mouse. He has 2 hides, both appropriate in size, and the temps/humidity is good. He's just freaking out, and I think he even hissed at me today!! I've never heard one hiss, but i'm pretty sure it was a hiss.

I changes them probably 2 weeks or so ago. Should I just give this some time? I don't want him to be unhappy....

Did you give him some settling in time? How is he eatting in his new home (if he was eating before)?

He is very quick to eat. He even ate p/k when all he usually eats is live, and he ate good both weeks.
Like I said, it's only been about 2-3 weeks....so maybe it's just not enough time?

I'm certainly no expert... but what I would guess is he feels much more secure in his own home and is hissing because you're intruding into his new secluded home which I'm sure he likes very much and appreciates you seperating him. :) He should relax in time when he figures out you're not going to eat him.

Interesting. One of my previous rescues behaved in the same fashion. She used to be kept in a 20 gallon with 3 other large bp's before I took her in :omfg: Once she got her own enclosure, she went all "Eastern diamond back" on me. I can think of two factors which could contribute to this behavior. One, the dominating factor by the other 3 snakes was removed; Two, the chance of survial went up with the increased food supply. I'm not a bp behaviorist and do not know how these changes translate to a particular output in the reptilian brain. I do however, know that her "attitude" toned down in the following months and she became a total sweetheart :D

We adopted an adult female ball python for a local pet store. Brannagh came with extreme aggression related to her enclosure. She was a handful out of her enclosure but much worse in it. Very willing to go out of her way to try to bite you if you didn't keep a close eye on her. We will never know why Brannagh was like this at first, we have no information on her previous owners or their husbandry of her.

Having said that, a number of months later (actually very few in the greater scheme of things) Miss B is doing beautifully. Has calmed down to the point that she's even safe around children, shows no tub aggression and is an absolutely stunning female.

Just keep working with your male, find a routine that works for you and him and stick to it like it's gospel, don't let his aggression control you, put on gloves if you need to and just keep trucking along. As long as you don't push him too fast too far he'll respond eventually I bet.

Great things can happen! :)


~~Jo~~

I have found that alot of the time, BPs are aggressive wneh you put your hand into the cage/remove them, but they calm down and stop trying to bite you once you have them out of the cage. I would get a dry washcloth and put it over your snake before lifting him out of the cage, then gradually let him slither out and onto your hand. This worked for The B, a VERY aggressive female we used to have!

something which comes to my mind is... how about the newspaper trick? wouldn't that make him feel more secure in his viv?