Biting Ball Python

He just needs time to adjust and to be fattened up. One or two feedings will help but it wont make up for a month of no feeding especially if this was a normal thing for him from his previous owner. The joy of these snakes is that you don't need to handle them everyday for them to become docile. You just need to get him on a routine and learn his habits.

I would give him a few more feedings <perhaps 1 rat per week for a couple more weeks>make sure your husbandry is correct and temps are good then just watch him. He's putting on weight finally having been fed by you so he will also go into a much needed shed as well. Very grumpy snake time.

I agree, give him a rat a week for a couple of weeks and let him settle in and he should stop doing this. Don't wave things in front of his face - ball pythons do not like that much more than other snakes. Do you wash your hands and forearms before handling? Do you own any rodent pets? Does he have hides in his cage? You mentioned him going into the corner. If he doesn't have sufficient places to hide he will always be on edge and this would be a huge contributor to him striking.

Can we see a picture of the snake and enclosure?

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Originally Posted by MrLang

I agree, give him a rat a week for a couple of weeks and let him settle in and he should stop doing this. Don't wave things in front of his face - ball pythons do not like that much more than other snakes. Do you wash your hands and forearms before handling? Do you own any rodent pets? Does he have hides in his cage? You mentioned him going into the corner. If he doesn't have sufficient places to hide he will always be on edge and this would be a huge contributor to him striking.

Can we see a picture of the snake and enclosure?

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We wash our hands before handling him and I do not wave the rodent in his face. I have a 55 gallon habitat and he was at one corner and I wave the food at the other corner. He has a hide over his heater and it seems maybe I should add one on the cool side where his water is located. I will try and post a picture this evening when I get home from work.

We do not own any rodent pets and the past two feedings have been F/T small rats. Prior to the f/t rats he was fed live from the previous owner once per month.

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Originally Posted by texasvet

We wash our hands before handling him and I do not wave the rodent in his face. I have a 55 gallon habitat and he was at one corner and I wave the food at the other corner. He has a hide over his heater and it seems maybe I should add one on the cool side where his water is located. I will try and post a picture this evening when I get home from work.

We do not own any rodent pets and the past two feedings have been F/T small rats. Prior to the f/t rats he was fed live from the previous owner once per month.

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You definitely should add a hide <identical to the other> on his cool side. That is a very large enclosure for him... Might want to clutter it up. Vines, leaves, rocks etc. that will help him feel more secure as a hiding bp is a happy one. If the back and sides aren't blacked out, you might want to do that as well. I'm not sure if you mentioned... Do you have his heating pad on a thermostat so you can regulate the heat? Those things can get to 130+ degrees which will burn him badly even in a short period of time.

As for his hunger... He's definitely making up for inadequate feeding. Once a month is not enough. How big is he? Weigh that is.... If we knew that, we could give you a better idea of the prey size he needs to be all fat and happy after a feeding. The fact that he went for a f/t prey so quickly after only being fed live tells me a lot. That boy is HUNGRY!!!

Here is the pic of my BP and his habitat. http://img.tapatalk.com/d/13/07/31/te8yqave.jpg

Those open logs really aren't good for a BP hide. They are open on both ends which doesn't make them feel secure. They like hides that only have one small opening so they can really "hide" in it. He also definitely needs two hides. One on the hot side and one on the cool side.

As previously stated he's making up on feeding if he was only being fed once a month. I feed mine every 5-7 days. He might also just need some time to settle in. He's in a new place with new people handling him and he's probably pretty stressed out. I would get him some new hides and start feeding him more regularly,Then give him some time to settle in before you handle him a lot.

He's definitely feeling a bit skittish in this habitat and I'm sure it is contributing heavily to defensive behavior. He is also definitely hungry if he's coiling after striking and it's tough to see, but if his spine is raised up where his body is making more of a triangle shape and the previous owner fed once a month, the snake is definitely needing to eat quite a bit to get up to a healthy weight. I think you should proceed like this:

1. Get a background for the tank that covers at least 1 side but preferably the back and sides. You can use something like black poster board or get one of the jungley backgrounds from the pet store.

2. Get him some proper hides that he can feel safe inside by keeping most of his body pressed against the wall. If you want something natural looking, get 2 of these and put them on opposite ends:
https://encrypted-tbn2.gstatic.com/i...ih4tO_dNaFZ0K4
You want the hide to have only 1 opening and be able to fit the whole snake nice and snug inside of it so it can 'defend' the door with its head.

3. Feed a small to medium F/T rat once a week in the enclosure until the snake is nice and round like a sausage.


Try to handle minimally until you've got those 3 taken care of and he has eaten a few times, then come back to us and tell us if he is still behaving this way. It is very unlike a ball python to behave as you described so we have to assume the previous things will make all the difference.

GL!

Glad to see the snake is in a hew home and with an owner who cares enough to do all the work you're doing to give him proper care! Keep it up OP in no time I'm sure you'll find yourself with a very pleased, well fed, and all around stress free snake:gj:. Take the advice of folks on here. A quick way to black out the enclosure is to tape paper on the OUTSIDE of it. Notebook paper will work for now... and to clutter the viv, you can cut strips of lots of old news paper to give ur boy something to slither under while traversing the length of the cage. Some tips on how to make ur renovations inexpensive :). Of course the strips of news paper would have to be checked frequently for cleanliness. Good luck, I look forward to seeing what changes take place :)

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Originally Posted by texasvet

Here is the pic of my BP and his habitat. http://img.tapatalk.com/d/13/07/31/te8yqave.jpg

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That doesn't look like a 55g tank... Maybe a 40 breeder. In that case, it's not nearly as long and therefore a little better for the snake feeling secure.

They don't like open spaces.


0.1.0 Normal Ball Python
0.1.0 Columbian B.C.I. 2013
1.0.0 EBV Red Group Pastel Hypo Jungle B.C.I. 2013

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Originally Posted by texasvet

Here is the pic of my BP and his habitat. http://img.tapatalk.com/d/13/07/31/te8yqave.jpg

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Very pretty boy but yes, his tank is in need of some tlc. Being in Fort Worth, you are likely going to have some humidity issues... I would address this while making all sorts of changes now. My suggestions would mirror others but let me add a few things to allow for future humidity probs.

1- Substrate.... eco earth or repti bark both hold in humidity better. I use a combo of both.
2- The water bowl is a pretty decent size, placed partially over the hot side will held evaporate water faster.
3- Use Foil and tape to cover about 75% of the top.

Now..... no thermometer? Definitely need one. The accurite with probe can be purchase at Wal Mart for $12. Gives you 2 temp readings and humidity %.
Do you have a UHT hooked up to a thermostat???? This is critical as an unregulated UTH can reach temps of 130 degrees. Bad burns in no time.

Once all of these are managed, leave him be for a week. Give him a big fat med size rat and let him go to town. Once he's settled and digested I'll bet he's a happier camper.