Do your ball pythons ever actually ball up?

My little guy never really balls up, just flinches.

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Originally Posted by snakeluvr#3

Oh forgot to tell mine did do a short hiss at me but quickly stopped. I am now nervous about him biting me he is still new and still settling in but I had to move over a bit to adjust thermometer probe ill tell ya I was really nervous heart pounding this is my first ball I'm use to my lil corns but I just tried to calm down and have confidence idk if he knew or not how nervous unwashed after hearing him hiss at me earlier but this time when I went to move him no hiss and Thnk god no strike he actually just was moving along my hand

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Awe, no need to be nervous, they really can't hurt you. Finding that confidence with snakes can be difficult when you are unfamiliar with the species. I way pretty much in your boat the first few weeks I had my girl. I had caught gopher snakes and king snakes as a kid, but ball pythons were new to me. I think they can definitely tell when you are nervous. Just be firm, but gentle. Don't put your hand near them and hesitate, that just gives them a reason to feel threatened and bite. If you just reach in and grab them, they learn you won't hurt them. Snakes aren't affectionate creatures, they are instinctual, which means everything in their environment is evaluated in terms of survival: Can I eat it? Can it eat me? Can I hide under it?

Sheldon never balls up, he might move his head back for a second then he goes back to trying to figure out what he can do to get himself into trouble! He only really hides during the day but if anyone walks in he always sticks his little head out. At night or during handling sessions he is extremely curious. But he never tries to threaten anyone.

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Originally Posted by emily hubbard

can i eat it? Can it eat me? Can i hide under it?

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:p

Pretzel's so chilled out all the time it's ridiculous! She's balled once, in the entire time I've had her (a year and two months), and that was when she was in the bath. She hated it so I went to get her out. She got startled when my Gran burst into the bathroom, went for me and then balled up. I just sat with her in a warm towel until she was ready to come out and she was fine!

She hasn't balled since that, and that was about a year ago. Whenever I get her out she just looks at me like "Really? You want cuddles NOW?! Meh. Fine." Then sort've just...uses me as a climbing frame, gets in my pocket or err...goes back to sleep. She doesn't really flinch, just twitches when I first touch her :)

:D

My female never balls up. But my male is a different story. He balls up every time I take him out of his cage. I then unravel him and his tongue starts going an then he relaxes and starts climbing all over me. He's just a big(little) scaredy snake. :P He also occasionally hides from his food if it moves too much. Lol. Poor baby. I know the food isn't too big either. He's two years old and only eats mice. :/ Booger. But I adore him. I just have to baby him a bit more than the others until he calms down. :rolleyes:

Many of the WC snakes I've seen are quick to ball up and will continue to exibit that behavior even after several years in captivity. Of course these WC were in breeding collections and did not get handled on a regular basis like a pet would. I've never owned a WC, so I'm not sure if they would abandon the 'ball up' behavior with regular handling.

I don't think I've ever owned one that would ball up after they reached 300 grams or so. I'm not sure if that's due to them reaching a certain size, or if by the time they got that big they'd been around long enough to know I wasn't going to eat them.

My BP's never ball up when I hold them. They coil up kind of like a ball when in the tub, but I think that is how they retain heat the best. But as for as balling up when scared, they grow out it quick.

Quetzal never balls for me anymore, have had him almost two months now. He did for the first days after his first feeding with me, so I guess days 6-10, after that he seemed to realize I was much too concerned that I would hurt him to think he was a tasty snack :P He's tagged me once, came home from taking my sister's dogs for a walk and must have still smelled a little too much like dog as he was not having any of it until I rescrubbed my hands up to my elbows and changed my shirt. Otherwise when I startle him or if he's not interested in coming out, he'll push a single coil over his head and pout. I got him at 5mos so I don't know how he was as a littling, but he's been rather laidback the entire time I've had him.

My big male normal does indeed ball up when it comes time to pull him out of his tub for a full cleaning or when handling. My other snakes do not do this but they do jerk their heads back when I have to pull them out of their tubs for whatever reason.