Be honest.....

I have had my female normal since April of 2009. For whatever reason when she strikes she startles me a bit. She is so quick when she strikes that I hardly see it when she does.

My male normal does not startle me at all when he eats (currently on a 7 week hunger strike).

Anyone else have a ball python that startles them a little come feeding day?

lol, yea i have one little girl i just sold that is one mean devil. actually will strike at her cage any time u walk by and even after being bit alot, it never fails for her to scare me.

Hehe, seems like you've got a lemon in your basket of oranges!

I have a few odd personalitys amongst my Balls, one that will strike if you give her the chance and two that thinks they are Puffadders. I just love it when they puff up and hiss like mad, and you just know that they wont do anything. Their bark is worse than their bite so to speak!

Usually my snakes do not scare me when they eat, but recently, my piebald female was on strike. Well, I went to feed her, and now I'm just in the grove of thinking she is not going to eat when "Bam!" she takes it right up.

Just my friends boa. That thing comes out of no where.

The ball pythons do a little wind up so I know its coming. The boa just flies at it without warning.

I feed everyone here f/t off tongs. Every one, every time startles me...lol

I have two females that strike almost the second I pull the tub out. I love it because I can count on them eating though. I feed F/T to all my BP's and I get that little mini-adrenaline rush after each feed. Its a good startle though, considering that means they are eating.

Both of mine startle me from time to time! I feed f/t off tongs, too. My younger snake ambush hunts and you don't think he's going to take it then BAM!!! I jump a little, he he!

My pastel doesn't strike anymore. I have to annoy him for about a minute and then he coils the rat like he actually struck it. It kinda weirds me out.

My cinny, god, she startles me EVERY time. The one time, I was doing the zombie rat dance, and she coiled around the tongs and my hand as well! Last time she was wagging her tail and doing sort of a "scope" and I wasn't paying attention and she ripped the tongs out of my hands.

My friends pinstripe scares me to heck anyways. When its feeding day, he knows. He hisses, he thrashes, he'll strike, and he even constricted my arm one day. When its not feeding day hes the sweetest thing ever, but come feeding day, your dealing with Satan.

Edit: Just adding, we feed f/t to all of our snakes. The odd time I'll get a live mouse or something for my pastel just to get him off of one of his little hunger strikes though.

I don't get startled by any of my ball pythons' movements, but I am continually amazed at how much power they have when they do strike and coil.

I feed F/T rats and was dangling a rat in my adult male's cage (he always strikes and eats quickly) by it's hind leg. He struck and wrapped two or three coils around it so fast that it ripped the leg right out if it's socket. I looked down and found a disgusting bloody rat foot/ankle left in the jaws of my tongs!

It's amazing that these docile animals that hardly ever hint of defensiveness can be so powerful when feeding.

I was feeding some bp's at a place where I volunteer, and they all startled me! But, eventually I got bit and then I was justified in being startled!

I have to agree with Kaorte on the boas. I fed one boa and he didn't give any signs he was going to strike, just took that mouse and slithered away with it!

my niece came over the other day and i was right in the middle of feeding. She wanted to watch and wanted to be close when it happened. So i said sure.. grab a chair and sit next to the tank. I got out my wild child normal that grabs extremely fast and wraps his whole body around the rat/mouse. She scooted up, i dropped in the mouse.. he was all balled up and she was laughin saying how sleepy he was. I was standing over so i could see his tongue going 90mph so i knew it was gonna happen soon. My niece was calm and relaxed.. just having a good time watching.. Then...the mouse slowly walked up next to the snake and out of nowhere his head popped over grabbed the mouse. she jumped back and fell off the chair lmao.. I nearly died laughing~!

I get startled every time my girl takes a rat off the tongs... :omfg: I can't believe how fast it happens!

My male is a little slower and doesn't seem to startle me as often.

The first snake I ever had. I didnt quite understand how hard they strike, so I did not know any better than to feet the f/t by holding it by the tail...with my hands...:oops:

Needless to say that memory sticks with me, and I still jump a little when I feed with tongs ( 18 inchers) I guess im lucky now that all I have to do for my only two snakes, boas, is drop the food in there and wait to hear the thud. No more f/t dances....

We feed using tongs and I jump each and every time our BP strikes at his food (f/t small rat). He's normally SO slow moving and docile that it startles me when he snatches the rat and then recoils...it's always down in mere minutes.

buy some tongs and feed with that. ;)

i used to never get startled by my male, he would never strike. he would just, kinda, nose up to it, inspect it, then start eating it. but after going off food for four months, he scared the crap outta me when he suddenly snatched it out of the tongs! it was such a rush that when i fed him a second, i couldn't stop shaking.

nope the one I have though when he goes into shed he hisses like a burm :O :)... but is all hiss no strike..... :D

the only snake i own that dont startle me is my spider ball because it does her wobble thing right before she strikes so i always know when its coming :rofl:

Regularly.

I liked to have my roomate feed my biggest girl, because he always jumped and squealed.

I now have 21 snakes, including pythons and colubrids, and they all have their own personalities... luckily most of them are nice, but I do have a few cranky ones. My het Albino girl (Rosalind) is a real you-know-what, but is all hiss and no bite - and then I have a little Miami Corn Snake who rattles her tail whenever I approach, and has tried to take a few chunks outta me. :oops: Just like any living creature, they have their unique quirks and attitudes! The more you handle them the calmer they usually get, but some snakes will always be jerks.