New ball pythons, first time owner, one angry snake

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Originally Posted by 200xth

If you only reach in to feed them and for no other reason ever...maybe.

I open their tubs for all kinds of reasons. Water changes, cleanings, handling, food. I open the enclosure to change the water more than any other reason. Food is last on the list by count.

If anything, mine should expect fresh water when I open their tub.

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Speaking of water i change mine daily but i have only seen my snake once drinking from there, but I'm sure he drinks when I'm not around

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Originally Posted by ZacharyPoller

Why is consensus to feed in their tanks? i feed mine in a feeder tank and he does just fine he actually prefers it because the second i put him in to the feeder tank he goes into food mode he strikes the second i put the rat in, i say he prefers it because i assume he then knows food is coming

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I feed mine in their enclosures because moving an adult boa with a strong food response that lasts for hours after she eats from her regular enclosure to a feeding tank and back would end up with me bleeding from multiple puncture wounds.

Also some of my BP's are on f/t and it can take them quite a while to decide if they're going to eat or not. One male took 12 hours. I put the rat in just after I did the dinner dishes, and he laid in his tub with his head on the dead rat so I didn't disturb him. I finally caught him eating it when I woke up the next morning.

Since this thread got a little off topic, I'll just revert back to the main questions.

I have heard that younger snakes tend to be more defensive and nervous, simply becuase they don't have as much experience being around humans and being handled. It is odd to me that one snake bit the other, but I think if anything moved in front of it, including your hand, it would have been bitten. Just a nervous-Nelly in need of some quiet time.
Your enclosures sound good! I might turn down that hot side a tad to get it to around 90F instead of 95F; that little bit of extra heat can make a difference with the stress levels of your snake. Not sure how much with ball pythons, but I know other snakes like colubrids (I'm thinking corn snakes especially) can become very upset and defensive when their vives are just a little too warm.

Try not to be upset about that outburst from your smaller snake though; just the stress of moving and being at a show all day :)

Best of luck, and welcome to the addiciton!

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Originally Posted by ZacharyPoller

Speaking of water i change mine daily but i have only seen my snake once drinking from there, but I'm sure he drinks when I'm not around

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Every time I have my snakes out for playtime and I put them back, I place them in so their head purposely touches their water dish so they could take a sip and nine times out of 10 they usually do. I change all water dishes every day too, but I use jugged water instead of tap water. I live in South Florida and our tap water is wayyyy overly processed.


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Some snakes do fine with a feeding tub, but at least in my experience bps don't, their to touchy on feeding. With others, as has been mentioned, their "feed mode" is still on long enough to make itnan issue getting them back to their cage. Not to mention the fact that you should avoid handling after feeding. Hard to get a snake out of a feeding container without handling it some. If I feed them in their cage they can just curl up where they want to be when they finish.

A lot of great tips, advice and experience shared. I'll hang in there with the grumpy one. He only hissed at people. No striking. Biting the other snake that got close was what alarmed and surprised me.

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Originally Posted by Darkbird

Some snakes do fine with a feeding tub, but at least in my experience bps don't, their to touchy on feeding. With others, as has been mentioned, their "feed mode" is still on long enough to make itnan issue getting them back to their cage. Not to mention the fact that you should avoid handling after feeding. Hard to get a snake out of a feeding container without handling it some. If I feed them in their cage they can just curl up where they want to be when they finish.

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Darkbird, what I usually do is leave them for about 10-15 minutes after they've eaten so it gives their food a little time to get started 'settling' and then I gently move them to their vivs (which the vivs aren't far away), to avoid regurgitation. I gently place them in with their little heads near their water dish so they can get a drink. I've had two of my babies for almost 7 months and never had a problem. I guess there's always a first time for everything though, right? lol


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Originally Posted by Moneypit

A lot of great tips, advice and experience shared. I'll hang in there with the grumpy one. He only hissed at people. No striking. Biting the other snake that got close was what alarmed and surprised me.

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The little guy was probably just extremely stressed and freaked out. Pillow-case travel is not something snakes are initially used to. Depending on how long your drive back home was, and if he was only in a pillow case with nothing tight to press against, he would be pretty stressed out and ready to strike/hiss at anything, which he did.
Next time you buy a snake/transport one, try putting him in a pillow case and putting that in a cardboard box close to the size of the snake's hide. That'll help keep the stress down and prevent a tagging when you take them back out.


As for out-of-tank v. in-tank feeding, that's up to you. I feed mine out-of-tank so that way I can clean the enclosure when they're feeding.

All good suggestions. He was in the small cloth bag which was in a box sized for a couple lightbulbs and the ride home was about 20 minutes. He was side by side with the other BP we bought (separate bags, same box) with a heat pack and two box flaps separating the heat pack from the bags. If I had to guess, the box was 5"x3"x4" tall.

He did spend all day in a clear round plastic container stacked up with 30-50 others being constantly picked up, moved and having others stacked on top. I know I was doing the same thing looking at what was there.

Ill see see how he is in 7-10 days.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S7DQssbM0uk

i have actually had to use this a lot with a rescue i ended up with that was an adult malnourished and bitten up by rats.. she was a mean aggressive bp when i got her but this technique worked well.

youtube videos of very recent hatchings ... they snap a literally anything that moves. those instincts on top of that stress and being in an unfamiliar place. totally normal and will mellow out in a few days of being left alone in peace