BP striking at the light from a flashlight?

I am currently away at college and my parents are taking care of my ball python. They do a pretty good job as far as feeding him, cleaning his cage, making sure humidity is right, clean water...etc. But my dad said that the other day he heard a lot of racket and went to my room and looked around w a flashlight. He then shined it on my bp and the bp struck at the light. Which concerns me considering I have never seen my bp strike at anything other than a rat. Did my dad just spook him really bad? Or is the lack of handling as often sorta making him more aggressive. I just don't understand why he struck the light instead of balling up or hiding...

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Originally Posted by Generationshell

I just don't understand why he struck the light instead of balling up or hiding...

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Thats how they defend themselves, he obviously felt threatened. he didn't have time to hide, so he did what he had to do.

thats a little of both he is not being handled often so he feels treatned so you need to have him handied more and he'll grow out of it

Hmmm I wish I could have been there. I used to handle him twice a week and now its only once every 3 weeks. Idk if that could have any effect on him. Well my dad said that the racket he heard was from my bp bumping his hide against the side of the tank. So maybe the snake was scaring himself with the noice of the glass hitting the hide and then the flashlight on him made him just snap. lol poor thing. Needs a bigger hide.

I have a Stimson's python who strikes at the camera flash, but never strikes at me otherwise... so I guess some snakes are light-sensitive, and it makes them nervous enough to lash out. I wouldn't worry about it, unless there's a complete behavioral change overall. How's your setup?

Agreed with first post,

Though the snake didn't strike because it hasn't been handled often, the snake is just fine without being handled. Snakes prefer not being handled anyways, so most likely he got spooked since the light flashed on him while he was cruising around at night.:gj:

Great as far as I know. 30 gallon tank. Blacked out on three of the walls. Paper towels as substrate. Heating pad set on 105. Have a probe on heating pad. Humidity consistantly 70-80% Temps stays around 88-90% Got a lot of things to climb on and about 4 hides. So to me hes living the good life haha

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Originally Posted by Generationshell

Great as far as I know. 30 gallon tank. Blacked out on three of the walls. Paper towels as substrate. Heating pad set on 105. Have a probe on heating pad. Humidity consistantly 70-80% Temps stays around 88-90% Got a lot of things to climb on and about 4 hides. So to me hes living the good life haha

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105F is too warm, should be set between 88F-94F. How are you reading 88F-90F for the temps if the heating pad is 105F with paper towels as the substrate?

Regrettably I do know 105 is too warm however that is the lowest I could get it on. And I make sure he isnt getting burned regularly so for the time being it will have to do. I use an accurate thermometer/hydrogenate. Actually i really messed up on the 88-90. Thats not right at all. Its usally varies from 78-84. Sorry I could barely remember the name of the thermometer. its been a long day.

If any way possible, try purchasing or get your parents to purchase a ReptiTemp 500R. It's the cheapest thermostat and it will control your temps pretty well and get them where they need to be by switching the dial. http://www.reptilesupply.com/product.php?products_id=75 :gj:

The snake could overheat or burn at any time being on the area where the UTH is, and if the UTH is not controlled by a thermostat, temps can easily reach over 120F. It's happened to me a couple times before, but gladly I caught it in time so none of my snakes were overheated or burned. 78-84 for ambient and cool end temps is just fine, but that hot spot needs to get lower as soon as possible so the snake doesn't get overheated or burned.

Ill be sure it get that as soon as I can. thanks! I have some zoomed product. That has the high, medium, low settings. And Even on the low setting its 105. I was dissapointed but I will get it soon.

No problem! If whose ever gonna set it up (you or your parents) need help or directions on setting it up, you can send me a PM. I have two ReptiTemps so I could help you out. I'll take pictures too.

Is it a rheostat you're talking about? They always have temp spikes. I returned mine after I ordered my ReptiTemp because my results were the exact same as yours.

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Originally Posted by Generationshell

Ill be sure it get that as soon as I can. thanks! I have some zoomed product. That has the high, medium, low settings. And Even on the low setting its 105. I was dissapointed but I will get it soon.

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Thank you so much! Yea Im pretty sure that was it. I don't even know why they sale those anymore. They arent good at all. At least my heating pad isnt 130 like it used to be!

You're welcome:). Yeah I hear ya, it's kind of like how they keep selling heat rocks but those obviously can severely burn, overheat, and kill your snake.

And yeah you got that right! It's scary to walk in the room and see the digital thermometers saying 124F. My heart literally dropped.:O

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Originally Posted by Generationshell

Thank you so much! Yea Im pretty sure that was it. I don't even know why they sale those anymore. They arent good at all. At least my heating pad isnt 130 like it used to be!

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I know! It really scares me that they heat rocks are still on the market. Wouldn't you think they would have tons of lawsuits against them by now? I guess not... Its really disheartening. I don't understand why they even make the heat mats capable to get to 130+ degrees. Why not cap it at a more reasonable level?

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Originally Posted by Generationshell

I am currently away at college and my parents are taking care of my ball python. They do a pretty good job as far as feeding him, cleaning his cage, making sure humidity is right, clean water...etc. But my dad said that the other day he heard a lot of racket and went to my room and looked around w a flashlight. He then shined it on my bp and the bp struck at the light. Which concerns me considering I have never seen my bp strike at anything other than a rat. Did my dad just spook him really bad? Or is the lack of handling as often sorta making him more aggressive. I just don't understand why he struck the light instead of balling up or hiding...

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Hmmm, you think it might be possible that the flashlight is a HEAT SOURCE, and since ball pythons have HEAT SENSING PITS, they're hard wired to strike out at a HEAT SOURCE when they're hungry? :rolleyes:

Lmao at MarkS!

Not handling as often won't effect the snake too much. I used to handle mine a couple times a week, now they're lucky if it's a couple times a month. They're still just as docile though.

People still buy them too like it's actually needed for their animal sadly, I think they should be more educated on them though,

And yeah I hear you there, the heat mat thing is crazy. It's probably made like that for reptiles that like a lot more higher heating levels, although I wouldn't really know because most of those reptiles like to bask under heat lamps anyways. Probably sometime in the future there will be more reasonable products for reptiles that are safer.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Generationshell

I know! It really scares me that they heat rocks are still on the market. Wouldn't you think they would have tons of lawsuits against them by now? I guess not... Its really disheartening. I don't understand why they even make the heat mats capable to get to 130+ degrees. Why not cap it at a more reasonable level?

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Mark S lol I didnt think of that to be honest. But He had just been fed earlier that day a nice rat :]

Some snakes stay in feeding mode for a day or two. The lack of handling is probably contributing to that, not that it's a bad thing not to handle them.