New ball python bit me. Need a little help from experienced owners.

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Originally Posted by angllady2

All this advice is right on the money, but since you are new to owning snakes, I highly recommend reading through the caresheet on ball pythons here: http://ball-pythons.net/forums/showt...s%29-Caresheet

Just because your friend was doing it, doesn't make it right.

If this baby only has one of those open ended log hides, that's probably not helping anything. Ball pythons need really tight closed hides, or they get stressed. Since a major move is stressful enough, a major move combined with a feeling of insecurity is going to make for a cranky, snappish ball.

We look forward to helping you down the road with this marvelous addiction called ball pythons.

Gale

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I was trying to find a good hide but the most I could find were too small. I'm probably going to put something at the back of it so the only way you can see in is through the front for now.

And thanks a lot for that care sheet. It's a lot more detailed then the one I found.

Thanks a lot everyone. My boyfriend and I successfully took him out, fed him two mice and put him back in with no hassles.

In a couple days from now I'm looking forward to taking him out again to try to get use to him as well as getting him use to me. :)

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Originally Posted by xXNibiNoNekoXx

Thanks a lot everyone. My boyfriend and I successfully took him out, fed him two mice and put him back in with no hassles.

In a couple days from now I'm looking forward to taking him out again to try to get use to him as well as getting him use to me. :)

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why are you taking him out of his cage to feed him? Generally the most recent consensus I've seen is that feeding in a separate cage is more stressful for the snake?

That is totally up to the snakes owner and what that particular snake is use to. We generally advise against it. Especially if it's a baby and is stressed from the move to a new home. It can definitely cause a new BP to stop eating.

It really depends on what is being used for bedding. Some people are worried about wood chips getting stuck in the mouth. Some people always feed outside the enclosure. It isn't really needed though.

I feed in the cage about 95% of the time. I tried doing it routinely for a while with a biter and it didn't stop the biting. It merely gave her more biting opportunities. It took using a cage hook for a while to correct that behavior.

Now the only time I'll bother to feed outside of the cage is if I pull the tub out to feed and find an unexpected "gift." I'll toss the snake into another tub with it's dinner while I take the pooters out.

:weirdface It's the way my friend fed him and what I've read said it was okay. So that's why I took him out to feed. So far he doesn't seem too stressed out.

If next time I go to feed him and he doesn't want to eat I'll assume that he doesn't feel comfortable with me feeding him outside of his tank. And then I'll just feed him inside his tank.

Good call. Don't fix what isn't broken. If it stops working, then try plan B, you might even find plan A will work again after a while if you choose, ball pythons can be like that. If you're about to feed the snake and it's snapping at the cage door, I suggest feeding in the cage to avoid unwanted accidental constricting of somethign that isn't a rat if you know what I mean, safer in that sense. I would never have the chance to remove my female ball python, she would snap me up right quick, and has tried many times. As soon as I open the cage, wham! But if your guy will eat out of the cage just fine, then that's cool too, totally no risk of impaction which is nice. I'd say you're doing great, keep it up! ~Caylan.s.~