Just got bit

Hi,

New to the forum .
We have had our ball python for one week(3/12 feet), which we adopted from a family who owned it for 7 years with no problems. We were told that he had been fed about 10 days prior to bringing him home and has been feeding once a month. We left him the first day to get settled, then thought we would gently begin to introduce ourselves by gently touching him. Then the next day we got him out and after around 20 minutes of exploring quite happily he struck my son on the shoulder. All happened very quickly and left a minor wound. We returned him to his enclosure and left him for a day. A day later we brought him out and offered a bathas he has a little shed still left on his head, seemed happy and returned him around 20 minutes later. For two whole days he slept in the same spot, we increased the temp as it had been getting colder in the house. He became very active in the evening so we got him out and introduced him to a new hide box. He seemed to like it and explored a little. An hour later we tried to put him back in the enclosure for the night when he displayed a striking pose. We backed off and when we tried once more he struck my husband, latched onto the fleshy part of his hand and begun constricting up his arm. struggled to get the blighter off as he was constricting tight and rewrapping himself around his arm. We tried to encourage him to open his mouth by holding behind the jaw with no use and tapping his nose, hoping we can get some advice on what we may have done wrong or what we need to do. How can we check to see if he is injured in anyway? Should we think about feeding him earlier than one month? Also he is now hiding in his enclosure.

Would be grateful to anyone who can help.

Jasnik

From reading this, it seems that the snake needs to eat more often rather than being fed only once a month. The ideal feeding schedule for an adult at that age would probably be good on a 10-14 day schedule. Start out with the 14 day schedule, feeding him a small or medium rat (whichever is about the same size as the middle part of his body). If you feel that he still seems hungry and is striking still, try to feed more often, like every 10-12 days.

Thanks a lot for the quick response and helpful advice. We wondered if that may be the case. We will get some food and giv it a try. Should we wait a day or two for him to settle down after his experience?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Jasnik

Thanks a lot for the quick response and helpful advice. We wondered if that may be the case. We will get some food and giv it a try. Should we wait a day or two for him to settle down after his experience?

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Yeah just give him 1-2 days and don't bother him at all (not taking him out, the only reason to bother would be to clean the water dish) and he should be ready to eat once you give him the food.

If you are thawing the rat out, thaw it out in the same room your snake is in close to the tank/tub so your snake is ready to eat when you put the rat in the enclosure. Though, if you are feeding live, keep the rodent by the enclosure in the room for 30-60 minutes. Pre-scenting a room is the best to do so your snake knows it will be eating and is ready right when you put the rodent in the enclosure.

I would leave him alone for a little while, 4-5 days. You should give a new snake about a week to settle in before handling or feeding.
I'd say a 7 day schedule would be fine, if the snake refuses then move to a 10 day schedule.

The people who had him before have a seperate clear plastic box with a lid with air holes. They would place the snake in his box and then drop the live rat into the box and close the lid. They did this to seperate feeding time from handling time. He wasnt taking frozen or prekilled from them. Hopefully we can get him out of the enclosure without getting eaten.

Ok thanks Matt. Advice taken on board, I think we will see if and when he comes out of his hide area, as this will probably be agood indication that he is more relaxed. We are learning even if its the hard way.

dont hold your breath while you wait for it to come out of its hide, they will stay in there for days and most likely only come out in the middle of the night while you sleep and you wont see it come out. Its a ball python, thats what they do.

You really should leave them alone for the first week (except for changing water and other cage maintenance). They need the time to adjust. Even right after the first week you should not have them out for too long (15 min max). An hour is wayyy to long after only a few days. After the first week offer it food. The 10-14 day feeding schedule that Tiffany recommended is good. Also there is no need to feed them in a separate enclosure. A lot of newer snake owners think it will lead to cage aggression, but it doesn't.
FYI The best way to get the snake to release if it bites you is to spray it with mouthwash. You don't want to try to pull it off.

Good luck with everything and keep us posted :)

p.s. Welcome to the site!

Hmmm...give him a week to settle in youre handling too soon. As for feeding....he's 7 years old, maybe older, one appropriate meal every 10-14 days is more than enough.

Your first mistake was handling him only a few days after getting him. He was probably a bit freaked out by the move. He was probably even more freaked out if you kept changing his setup. Each change you make to a setup can cause stress for the snake.

The second mistake was not yours but of the previous owners. Ball pythons should eat more often than once a month. The strike + coil leads me to believe that he is underfed and is just really really hungry.

Try giving him a small rat in one week. For that week, do not handle him. Wait 2 days after feeding him (you should always practice this) before attempting to handle him. The best time to handle them is when they are hiding. That means they feel safe and secure. Roaming is generally either stress or hunger. Neither would be a good time to handle your snake.

Make sure he has two identical tight fitting hides. Not half logs.

Kaorte summed it up really well. Don't handle him for a week, feed him, then two days after that try to handle him for about 10 mins. Each day for 10 mins til you feel more comfortable, then you can bump up the time.

Glad you came here and I'm glad he's in your care now, sounds like his previous owners weren't very educated about Ball Pythons.

Good advice all round there:gj:

On a separate note, what feedback is there from those that got bit? What do they say it feels like?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Jasnik

The people who had him before have a seperate clear plastic box with a lid with air holes. They would place the snake in his box and then drop the live rat into the box and close the lid. They did this to seperate feeding time from handling time. He wasnt taking frozen or prekilled from them. Hopefully we can get him out of the enclosure without getting eaten.

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you dont need to put him in a separate enclosure, you're more likely to get bitten that way. Feed him in his regular enclosure, the myth that feeding them in their cages causes aggression or misplaced feeding responses is just that -- a myth--.

Thanks for all the advice, we should have come on here sooner. This is actually the first time he has gone into hiding, the rest of the time he would curl up and sleep outside of it or explore at night. Also worth noting we adopted his enclosure too, so that is at least familiar to him. Feeding in the tank sounds easier thanks for that.

As for does it hurt, yes!! only because he would not let go and was cutting the circulation from the hand.

Will keep you posted.

Jasnik.

Here's a resource that I think you'll find very helpful.

http://ball-pythons.net/modules/Sect...warticle&id=59

Welcome to BP.net! :handshake

Well I think I have a break the rules ball python.
He came out of his hide at about 6 and been out ever since.
Fully stretched out . Now he is resting on his log .
Head keeps moving about.

My girl comes out about 7-8ish, so 6 I dont think is bad. She comes out when its night outside, so its dark in the room and she goes back about 8, when it starts to get light outside.

Also, I dont know if you read this anywhere, but most people say a log isn't that good because the snake doesn't actually feel thightly closed in. They sleep in burrows in the wild, very small ones closed in on all sides, so naturally they should feel better closed in on all sides.

On a side note, you should show us pictures :) Thats always welcome. And a picture of the setup might bring about some more helpful insight.

Welcome to the wonderful world of balls :rofl:

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Jasnik

Well I think I have a break the rules ball python.
He came out of his hide at about 6 and been out ever since.
Fully stretched out . Now he is resting on his log .
Head keeps moving about.

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He's probably ready for a meal... that's typical of a BP cruising for food, or he could just be "basking" which a few of mine do at night.

The others have given good advice already - definitely leave him alone for a week, increase feedings to every 7-14 days (I do weekly even with the 5-footer), make sure his habitat is proper (check the sticky threads), etc. And I don't think anyone mentioned this yet, so I'll also say that it's best NOT to use a separate feeding tub/container. Most people here feed their snakes in their enclosures, and it rarely causes a problem... some think it makes them mistake you for food on non-feeding days, but that's basically an old wive's tale. I have seven BPs who all eat in their tubs, and they've never mistaken me for food! I've only been bitten twice so far, and neither were feeding responses... once was because I bothered Delilah while opaque (she gets particularly cranky), and the other was when I startled my new baby Mojo & he was just being defensive. Both hurt less than a mosquito bite, LOL. :D

Anyway, welcome to the forum! You will find everything you need to know here, so it's definitely the right place to get acquainted with BP ownership... just be warned, they are more addictive than nicotine. :rofl:

Like everyone else is saying.. Leave a new snake to settle for a few days before handling to ease stress of the move. Make sure the temps and humidity are correct. Offer the poor guy some food. He is underfed and most likely very hungry. Try to get him on a 7 to 10 day feeding schedule and feed the correct size rat. You may want to start out one size smaller because he hasnt been on the correct feeding schedule for so long. To avoid shocking his body and the possibility of regurgitation.

Good luck with him. If you just follow the advice everyone is giving you, you will be able to get him settled, fattened up and tame in no time.

Hi,

I have a photo , how can I get it on here ?

Jasnik

If you use something like photobucket (free) and tinypic (free) they both will upload a picture for you and you just copy the [ img ] url for the picture. The [ img ] before and after must be included.

https://ball-pythons.net/gallery/fil...6/img_0864.jpg

Enclosure = 12 x 14 x 36

Definately going to need to change that therm or hygrometer you have. The digital ones are WAY more acurate...the Accurite from wal-mart is awesome. Measues but sides (it has a probe) and humidity and I got mine for 12 dollars.

sure , added to shopping list.

One Rat
One digital Thermometer.

Ok, so after listening to everyones advice we waited until tonight to feed our Ball. One live medium rat.

Wow!!!! Seriously, less than five seconds and he had the rat by the neck and 10 minutes later the rat was gone.

I'd say he was starving, will try him again in 2 weeks.

We noticed that he still had some shed on the top of his head and neck, this is now peeling off. We have a therm/hygometer will be fitting it in a couple of days when he has digested his meal.