Aggresive BP ....WOW

Ok this just happened to me for the first time and just happened about an hour ago. I got home from the pet store with 3 mice in a brown bag, put them on a table near the tanks for maybe 5 min. I open my bigger of the 3'S tank and lift up the half log (yes I know ALOT of people in here hate the half log , i kept it because my rack is on the way ) and right away I noticed a different behavior, she got into striking position so I then got my hook that I use to remove them from the plastic tub I feed them in so I dont have to handle them and they dont mistake my hand seconds. So i put the hook in and Bang one strike and she missed the hook and got herself , so i tried again another strike and then a third and well she won I put the mouse in the tank she ate right away. Now I have had this snake for 8 months now she is 3 1/2ft and she is always my easiest to handle just had her out 2 days ago I handle her about 3 or 4 times a week and never a strike. I havnt changed anything in the enclosure ....3 things I can think of are
A) I set the mice too close to her tank and she is hungry.
B) Its getting a little colder out but the tank temp is the same as usual
C)Maybe im not feeding her enough, I gave her one mouse, maybe its time to upgrade to a small rat.
I APOLOGIZE FOR SUCH A LONG POST BUT I AM WORRIED I DONT WANT AN AGGRESIVE SNAKE AND I AM WILLING TO DO ANYTHING TO GET HER TAME AGAIN. I ALREADY HAVE ONE SNIPPY FEMALE IN MY LIFE I DONT NEED ANOTHER LOL

Most likely the scent of mice outside beforehand.I have one which won't eat unless it smells the rats 10 minutes prior to eating!

IMO, I wouldn't worry about it. Maybe you can bump up her food size. Based on her length, she could probly easily take a rat. My BP is exactly 2 ft long and I'm about to switch her to small rats.

It was feeding day, she smelled her food and she wanted it. Yesterday I tried to get mine to go back into her hide cuz she smelled the mouse, and she wasn't budging. To me, that's saying "I'm hungry, I'm not moving just gimme the damn mouse already!"

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Originally Posted by PolishPython

Ok this just happened to me for the first time and just happened about an hour ago. I got home from the pet store with 3 mice in a brown bag, put them on a table near the tanks for maybe 5 min. I open my bigger of the 3'S tank and lift up the half log (yes I know ALOT of people in here hate the half log , i kept it because my rack is on the way ) and right away I noticed a different behavior, she got into striking position so I then got my hook that I use to remove them from the plastic tub I feed them in so I dont have to handle them and they dont mistake my hand seconds. So i put the hook in and Bang one strike and she missed the hook and got herself , so i tried again another strike and then a third and well she won I put the mouse in the tank she ate right away. Now I have had this snake for 8 months now she is 3 1/2ft and she is always my easiest to handle just had her out 2 days ago I handle her about 3 or 4 times a week and never a strike. I havnt changed anything in the enclosure ....3 things I can think of are
A) I set the mice too close to her tank and she is hungry.
B) Its getting a little colder out but the tank temp is the same as usual
C)Maybe im not feeding her enough, I gave her one mouse, maybe its time to upgrade to a small rat.
I APOLOGIZE FOR SUCH A LONG POST BUT I AM WORRIED I DONT WANT AN AGGRESIVE SNAKE AND I AM WILLING TO DO ANYTHING TO GET HER TAME AGAIN. I ALREADY HAVE ONE SNIPPY FEMALE IN MY LIFE I DONT NEED ANOTHER LOL

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if she really is 3 1/2' long then your surely underfeeding her!
you should be feeding something close to the size of her around.

Most likely she just got in a feeding response because the mice were close to the enclosure. I wouldn't worry about aggression, this would just be a normal feeding response.

My female is 3 feet long and I havebeen feeding her small rats for over a month now, so I'm sure your's can take small rats too.

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Originally Posted by cheesy feet

Most likely the scent of mice outside beforehand.I have one which won't eat unless it smells the rats 10 minutes prior to eating!

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:weirdface @ Cheesy Feet. They make sprays and powders for that, you know... :rofl:


PP, not only could they probably smell the mice, but if you didn't wash your hands before opening the tank, you may have had the scent on your hands. If you don't currently use them, you might try using tongs to put the mice in the tanks. At least it will keep your hands out of striking range...

Rob

I'd def up food size. Can't see your girl but mine is 1 year old and almost 3 feet. She's been on small rats since she was 2.5 ft long. One mouse for a 3 ft'er sounds small, but like I said I don't know what your girl visually looks like.

Well I think your "aggressive" behavior has been explained :) Just a hungry snake!

When you get your rack, do you plan on using any hides? Personally, I would have at least one proper hide. Some snakes will not eat unless they have a hide.

Also, there is no need to move your snake into a separate feeding container. There are no benefits that I am aware of.

I don't think there are any benefits to a sep. container that anyone knows of? I have yet to find any proof that its better.

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Originally Posted by PolishPython

she is 3 1/2ft
C)Maybe im not feeding her enough, I gave her one mouse, maybe its time to upgrade to a small rat.

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Mine is about 9 months old, around 30" (so about a foot shorter than yours), and has just hit 300g. I started feeding it 2 mice (total of 35-40g) a couple of weeks ago, which it takes eagerly. A few more of those feedings, and we'll move up to small rats by the end of this month.

So probably just a ravenous BP rather than an aggressive one. :)

And that behavior is exactly why I feed all of mine in their enclosures and not in separate feed tubs. Moving them when they are in feed mode is not something I'd want to do.

I was nailed by an adult female when I was on the hunt for a "smell" (a rat that one of mine killed but didn't eat) one day. I started going through the rack in the same order that I feed. She's so conditioned to that routine, she just "knew" that it was dinner time again. Stupid me didn't realize exactly what I was doing.

I'd move yours up to either 2 large adult mice each feeding or a small rat at that size.

For what it's worth, I've never fed in a separate feeding tub, and I've never been mistaken for food during routine cage maintenance and going in for handles on non-feeding days.

thanks alot everyone .... it was a scare for me I will def be moving up the feeding

I usually defrost my rats by the racks so the snakes have a strong feeding response when the rats are ready

It really depends on what the ball python will eat...

First you are probably going to have to scent the rats that you are going to try to feed, by putting them with mice for about five minutes before you feed them off.

Second, it will depend on what sixe the snake wants to eat...because I have an 09 spider that only is around 2 feet and he will take down medium rats...

Finally, she may have smelled the mice outside of her cage but I do not see that being the sign of agression....My guess is ultimately just hunger...

Hopefully my advice will help