Do your ball pythons ever actually ball up?

Obviously, I do my very best to never intentionally startle my snake at all, much less to the point of balling up. But I always though BP were very shy and vulnerable are therefore prone to the behavior that gives them their name. But I have never seen mine do it!

When I first reach in to get her, she will often "duck" and flinch and pull her head close to her like she is trying to protect it. And when I am holding her, if I accidentally make a sudden move, she will do the same thing. But never any balling up.

Obviously, I am not at all CONCERNED that she never gets terrified and balls up, it's naturally a positive thing, and I am guessing just part of her personality. She just must be a little braver than most and prefers to asses the situation before resorting to a ball.

I'm just curious about you all and the behavior you see out of your snakes. Do you have any that ball up immediately without question at any perceived threat? Or are yours pretty chill like mine and only skittish when you first have contact with them, or sudden moves. Just curious. :)

Mine is brand new still but have seem him go into complete ball mode twice now. The other night he already had poo in his cage so I reached in just to clean it and did the ducking move too lol

I've only had my little guy for two and a half weeks, but I've yet to see him ball up, or even hiss :) I was pleasently surprised, was expecting him to be a bit more shy/nervous just due to the young age. Not complaining at all though! :)

Sometimes. It really depends on the snake.
For some reason all my males are social butterflies and never ball up. My little girls are a little more shy and will always ball up at the first touch then come out soon after.

My very young Lemon Blast het Hypo will fully ball up sometimes, but the rest are more inquisitive.

Mine used to ball up then they realized I was at there mercy and now they just do things like refuse to eat or poop on thier hides and laugh while I clean it up :P

I have a couple of snakes that will ball up all the time they are the timid ones . The rest hardly ball up but those snakes it seems like to be held. Then I have a couple that always take a defensive posture . Sometimes striking at me. Guess there like people they all have difference dispositions .

My new guy does... And will sometimes stay lime that for 10-15 minutes or until I leave the room. He was tub raised and not handled expect for cleaning.

But after he settles we will start working with him. No hissing tho that's a good thing

Nearly all of my hatchlings will ball up. Some grow out of it pretty quickly, some take a little longer, and some never grow out of it at all.

My little mojave still balls up, everyone else seems to just wanna go go go when I get them out especially my lesser.
I think mine are the same as yours, just get nervous at first and with sudden moves

I think it is dependant on their personality. Seems hatchlings or new arrivals tend to ball more. But once adjusted most of mine don't ball unless startled. My mojave I think is bi polar. Some days he balls up, some days he just wants to cruise.

Mine balled up when I first got them, but now they don't really ever do that. One is real shy still and does the head moving thing, but that is about it!

My little mojo is the only one that balls up and thats not very often. He's getting better :)
Today I went to a pet store and held a cinny for the first time. He was gorgeous and didn't ball up when I held him, then when they went to put him back he wouldn't let go of me haha after they got him off he balled up into a perfect ball X) I wish I could get him, he wasn't head shy with me. From his size I'd guess he was around 4mos and $200. That sound about right price wise?

ive had my girl Gertrude for about a month now and shes always done the flinching and her body expands n tenses up then after a min shes fine, but for the first time, she was in a ball last week nd was moody found out after it was because she was in shed and now that its over she back to her normal self very sweet girl

See, I love hearing all of your answers because they just prove snakes do indeed have individual personalities. My girl was 3 months old when I got her, so pretty young, but I have no idea what she was like as a neonate/ hatchling. She didn't even ball the first two days I had her, but she was very defensive and struck at me when I opened the box and put her in her new home. But since then, she has been very sweet and never defensive or terrified apparently. I wonder if her first defensive strikes, obviously the result of shipping stress, were indicative of her personality. She seems more inclined to hold her ground rather than shrink away in fear. And on the other hand, I have seen countless unboxing videos where the snake comes out in an adorable little terrified ball. That is what I was expecting, but she came out swinging! I loved her immediately. haha

Anyway, she has been a great snake, but never lives up to the ball python name. :D

None of mine really have. One's a year and a half old and she hasn't balled ONCE...

Ball pythons? Really? More like string pythons!

No idea where that name came from :P

My normal is like yours Emily, I am however happy my Lesser isn't like his sisters... They were cranky haha

Oh forgot to tell mine did do a short hiss at me but quickly stopped. I am now nervous about him biting me he is still new and still settling in but I had to move over a bit to adjust thermometer probe ill tell ya I was really nervous heart pounding this is my first ball I'm use to my lil corns but I just tried to calm down and have confidence idk if he knew or not how nervous unwashed after hearing him hiss at me earlier but this time when I went to move him no hiss and Thnk god no strike he actually just was moving along my hand

My 4 WC females ball up and stay balled up. My yellowbelly female balls up a lot too. But for the most part, all my other bps might ball up some in the beginning but relax and wander shortly afterward.

My 4 WC females ball up and stay balled up. My yellowbelly female balls up a lot too. But for the most part, all my other bps might ball up some in the beginning but relax and wander shortly afterward.

My little guy never really balls up, just flinches.

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Originally Posted by snakeluvr#3

Oh forgot to tell mine did do a short hiss at me but quickly stopped. I am now nervous about him biting me he is still new and still settling in but I had to move over a bit to adjust thermometer probe ill tell ya I was really nervous heart pounding this is my first ball I'm use to my lil corns but I just tried to calm down and have confidence idk if he knew or not how nervous unwashed after hearing him hiss at me earlier but this time when I went to move him no hiss and Thnk god no strike he actually just was moving along my hand

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Awe, no need to be nervous, they really can't hurt you. Finding that confidence with snakes can be difficult when you are unfamiliar with the species. I way pretty much in your boat the first few weeks I had my girl. I had caught gopher snakes and king snakes as a kid, but ball pythons were new to me. I think they can definitely tell when you are nervous. Just be firm, but gentle. Don't put your hand near them and hesitate, that just gives them a reason to feel threatened and bite. If you just reach in and grab them, they learn you won't hurt them. Snakes aren't affectionate creatures, they are instinctual, which means everything in their environment is evaluated in terms of survival: Can I eat it? Can it eat me? Can I hide under it?

Sheldon never balls up, he might move his head back for a second then he goes back to trying to figure out what he can do to get himself into trouble! He only really hides during the day but if anyone walks in he always sticks his little head out. At night or during handling sessions he is extremely curious. But he never tries to threaten anyone.

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Originally Posted by emily hubbard

can i eat it? Can it eat me? Can i hide under it?

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:p

Pretzel's so chilled out all the time it's ridiculous! She's balled once, in the entire time I've had her (a year and two months), and that was when she was in the bath. She hated it so I went to get her out. She got startled when my Gran burst into the bathroom, went for me and then balled up. I just sat with her in a warm towel until she was ready to come out and she was fine!

She hasn't balled since that, and that was about a year ago. Whenever I get her out she just looks at me like "Really? You want cuddles NOW?! Meh. Fine." Then sort've just...uses me as a climbing frame, gets in my pocket or err...goes back to sleep. She doesn't really flinch, just twitches when I first touch her :)

:D

My female never balls up. But my male is a different story. He balls up every time I take him out of his cage. I then unravel him and his tongue starts going an then he relaxes and starts climbing all over me. He's just a big(little) scaredy snake. :P He also occasionally hides from his food if it moves too much. Lol. Poor baby. I know the food isn't too big either. He's two years old and only eats mice. :/ Booger. But I adore him. I just have to baby him a bit more than the others until he calms down. :rolleyes:

Many of the WC snakes I've seen are quick to ball up and will continue to exibit that behavior even after several years in captivity. Of course these WC were in breeding collections and did not get handled on a regular basis like a pet would. I've never owned a WC, so I'm not sure if they would abandon the 'ball up' behavior with regular handling.

I don't think I've ever owned one that would ball up after they reached 300 grams or so. I'm not sure if that's due to them reaching a certain size, or if by the time they got that big they'd been around long enough to know I wasn't going to eat them.

My BP's never ball up when I hold them. They coil up kind of like a ball when in the tub, but I think that is how they retain heat the best. But as for as balling up when scared, they grow out it quick.

Quetzal never balls for me anymore, have had him almost two months now. He did for the first days after his first feeding with me, so I guess days 6-10, after that he seemed to realize I was much too concerned that I would hurt him to think he was a tasty snack :P He's tagged me once, came home from taking my sister's dogs for a walk and must have still smelled a little too much like dog as he was not having any of it until I rescrubbed my hands up to my elbows and changed my shirt. Otherwise when I startle him or if he's not interested in coming out, he'll push a single coil over his head and pout. I got him at 5mos so I don't know how he was as a littling, but he's been rather laidback the entire time I've had him.

My big male normal does indeed ball up when it comes time to pull him out of his tub for a full cleaning or when handling. My other snakes do not do this but they do jerk their heads back when I have to pull them out of their tubs for whatever reason.

I dont know what your talking about:
http://ball-pythons.net/gallery/file...6/brady_03.jpg
LOL. Yes they do. Well at least this one does. Apparently hes bad at it. Doesnt he know his head is sposed to be in the middle. lol

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Originally Posted by interloc

I dont know what your talking about:
http://ball-pythons.net/gallery/file...6/brady_03.jpg
LOL. Yes they do. Well at least this one does. Apparently hes bad at it. Doesnt he know his head is sposed to be in the middle. lol

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Awwh bless!! :D

Ok this guy made me a liar today
http://img.tapatalk.com/48dd5fc8-851e-d0e3.jpg

Quote:

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Originally Posted by interloc

I dont know what your talking about:
http://ball-pythons.net/gallery/file...6/brady_03.jpg
LOL. Yes they do. Well at least this one does. Apparently hes bad at it. Doesnt he know his head is sposed to be in the middle. lol

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ahahahaha! He wants to be able to keep a close watch on whatever is freaking him out. Precious.

Ya he's about 120g in that pic. Now he loves being held. I think he looks forward to it. People may say that balls don't like being handled but 3 of mine would beg to differ. Lol. I have 2 that don't like being held, so I don't. But 1 of mine, as soon as I'm in my room she comes right to the front of the tub and stares at me until I take her out. It's awesome. :)


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