Evil baby ball python?

Well say I left mine in its box for a week after it tagged me when I unboxed him. I think that would leave a very negative impression in his mind of me. He will then think of his new box as his old one and expect to never be held. And associate any opening of the tank as feeding (i feed mine in seperate). I know people infer that snakes are stupid and have no real recollection of things but I think they are intelligent creatures and remember an have some feeling of enjoyment. My other eagerly likes to get out of her enclosure and explore and be handled. She also immediately goes into feed mode when set in the feeding box even w/o a mouse in sight yet. I wouldnt call her dumb or solitary. I'm sure many ball owner would like to believe their pets enjoy them, as that is the point of having a pet. I hope my new ball can be the same as my other. And as for all this it's just my personal opinion. No need to hate if you disagree, just state your own if you'd like. I forgot to add thanks so much for all of the advice

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Originally Posted by Nuttybuttercup

Well say I left mine in its box for a week after it tagged me when I unboxed him. I think that would leave a very negative impression in his mind of me. He will then think of his new box as his old one and expect to never be held. And associate any opening of the tank as feeding (i feed mine in seperate). I know people infer that snakes are stupid and have no real recollection of things but I think they are intelligent creatures and remember an have some feeling of enjoyment. My other eagerly likes to get out of her enclosure and explore and be handled. She also immediately goes into feed mode when set in the feeding box even w/o a mouse in sight yet. I wouldnt call her dumb or solitary. I'm sure many ball owner would like to believe their pets enjoy them, as that is the point of having a pet. I hope my new ball can be the same as my other. And as for all this it's just my personal opinion. No need to hate if you disagree, just state your own if you'd like. I forgot to add thanks so much for all of the advice

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Good luck with that. Please let me know how it works out for you.

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Originally Posted by Slim

Baby Balls can be very sketchy and prone to defensive strikes. Usually once you get them up out of their tubs they chill out. Over time they will start to relax and tolerate handling much better.

Keep in mind that just because your Mojo may be 9th generation captive bred, he doesn't know that...all he knows is that he's small and near the bottom of the food chain right now.

Personally, I've only ever known one BP that stayed that nippy into adulthood, and I'm pretty sure that particular snake was possessed by something unholy :D

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I think I have her, she is in the 3rd tub up....lol :D. Most will mellow with age and handling. We have six. Two, total puppy dogs. One male, one female. One iffy male, one bipolar male, one she devil female, and one new female, leaning towards another puppy dog. They all have their own tempermants.

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Originally Posted by Nuttybuttercup

Well say I left mine in its box for a week after it tagged me when I unboxed him. I think that would leave a very negative impression in his mind of me. He will then think of his new box as his old one and expect to never be held. And associate any opening of the tank as feeding (i feed mine in seperate). I know people infer that snakes are stupid and have no real recollection of things but I think they are intelligent creatures and remember an have some feeling of enjoyment. My other eagerly likes to get out of her enclosure and explore and be handled. She also immediately goes into feed mode when set in the feeding box even w/o a mouse in sight yet. I wouldnt call her dumb or solitary. I'm sure many ball owner would like to believe their pets enjoy them, as that is the point of having a pet. I hope my new ball can be the same as my other. And as for all this it's just my personal opinion. No need to hate if you disagree, just state your own if you'd like. I forgot to add thanks so much for all of the advice

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Just curious - how do you know your snake enjoys the interaction? Did it tell you?

The others are not saying that snakes are not intelligent; we are all just trying to explain that snakes, in particular ball pythons, perceive things differently than you seem to understand them.

You are assuming your ball python is sitting there thinking about you. How does your ball python know that it should be thinking about you in the first place? For all it knows, you were a one time deal, and the next time a hand reaches in it could be anybody. What's to say a ball python even thinks that a hand is ever going to reach in to a cage again?

How do you even know your ball python is having thoughts in the same way that we have thoughts? What if a ball python is just a bundle of habitualized behaviors that initiate from instinct? How do you study that, how do you provide concrete, indisputable evidence that yes, this snake is thinking, and it is thinking you are terrible right now but maybe if you held it more it might change its mind?

We don't know, and we can't know, until we discover an effective way to if not communicate with, at least understand the reptile brain in a more advanced way.

And until then, the advice to stop messing with your snake so much, it's probably just stressed out, is likely the best advice. :)

Best of luck to you!

-Jen

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Originally Posted by The Serpent Merchant

This isn't the case, they are solitary creatures and many (but not all) will have feeding issues if you don't let them settle in. As was stated previously in this thread balls that come from breeders have been in a tub with little to no interaction, and they don't have any issues warming up to their new owners... in fact most people would say that they have a better disposition. I rarely handle every one of my snakes every week and none of them have any "unsocialization" issues. They prefer to be on their own and will tolerate it when I handle them.

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The two we have ordered online from breeders, are the two that seem to be the most well adjusted. One was from a small breeder, one from a huge breeder. The ones we got from Craigslist, and local herp store, are the ones with more "issues".

Pretzel was a baby when I got her and had tendencies to be quite aggressive. She eventually got used to (not too) regular handling and used to me (I think).

Just before Xmas she used to do that thing with sticking her body out of her hide in strike position, and it worried me to start off with. She struck out when I'd stick my hand in there, but as it turns out the food she was on was slightly too small and since being up a food size she's been great :)

I'd love to think Pretzel and Pringle love me and know me, but it's really just wishful thinking. They're not dogs. I might talk to them, tickle their chins and watch films with them but...they really don't care what I did all day haha :P They aren't stupid but they also don't come out of their hide with the look of "mummy mummy you're home!" :)

I agree with you Cherry, i dont expect my balls to act like dogs and be veryyyy affectionate and i dont expect them to think about me all day. Lol. I think they do have the capacity of of having feelings and learning though. When humans are babies - same as puppies or any other young animal - you have instincts and you have what you are taught. The snake has the instinct to be fearful of people and it will be unless you can teach it/prove it that you are not harmful. Sooner the better. But yea i also do think that my older ball enjoys being handled, not "tolerates" it. Words are not the only way to express feelings, so my snake didnt "tell" me anything. The same way you can tell if a dog or cat likes being pet or played with you can tell if the snake is rejecting your touch. Besides, its cooped up in a box all day, anyone/thing would want to be able to stretch out and move once in a while.

Update on the new one- he hasn't struck out at all since :)

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Originally Posted by Nuttybuttercup

I agree with you Cherry, i dont expect my balls to act like dogs and be veryyyy affectionate and i dont expect them to think about me all day. Lol. I think they do have the capacity of of having feelings and learning though. When humans are babies - same as puppies or any other young animal - you have instincts and you have what you are taught. The snake has the instinct to be fearful of people and it will be unless you can teach it/prove it that you are not harmful. Sooner the better. But yea i also do think that my older ball enjoys being handled, not "tolerates" it. Words are not the only way to express feelings, so my snake didnt "tell" me anything. The same way you can tell if a dog or cat likes being pet or played with you can tell if the snake is rejecting your touch. Besides, its cooped up in a box all day, anyone/thing would want to be able to stretch out and move once in a while.

Update on the new one- he hasn't struck out at all since :)

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Ahh well, I don't know if anybody will ever know what an animal is really thinking. You can learn what your snake does and doesn't like, depending on how long and how often you handle them I guess. When I first got Pretzel I got told she was head shy and that combined with having her recoil whenever my fingers went near her head made me cautious about that. But then with more handling and patience she lets you touch her head and tickle her chin after about five minutes. Whereas Pringle "nuzzles" and doesn't mind me touching his head at all from the get go. They both have different reactions to different actions, whether or not they like it? I dunno. I think some reactions can be confused with like, affection and/aggression. I know a couple of people who are like "Oh look shes hugging your wrist!" or "Oh my god she's trying to constrict you and eat you!" when realistically, she's probably trying to steal my body heat! It's funny to say when she's in my pocket and sticking her head in and out, it does make me laugh and say to Grant "look, she's playing hide and seek with yooooou..." :P But really, shes curling up in my warm pocket because it's warm haha :) I think she probably recognises my smell, and associates me with feeding and security but not sure what else :)