Nervous, biting little girl

Hello,

I am new to the reptile world and I purchased my first snake not to long ago. She is a beautiful 3 month old Lesser, and I purchased her from a reptile show last Saturday, Jan 5. She was looking pretty hungry, and it had been nearly 2 weeks since they last feed her, so I offered her a live mouse. That was on Monday, two days after I got her, and she readily ate it. My friend who has had snakes in the past was impressed by how quickly she ate it. Anyways I have held her a few times since then, and she has been perfectly fine. However, last night she started striking out of no where. There was no rodent scents in the air or anything food relate. This seems more like a nervous/fearful striking behaviour. I put her back into her tank and she was still trying to strike at anything that moved by. This morning she was acting the same way. However, if you continue to hold her she eventually stops and acts like nothing is wrong and starts climbing all over me. I have noticed that any "sudden" movement startles her back into a defensive position. By that I mean me moving my hand to react for something, even if my hand is several inches to a foot away from her head. From what I have read, and heard from friends, this is really odd behaviour.

Does anyone have any advice to curb this behaviour? Although she is just a baby and it doesn't hurt, I know she will grow to be a big girl. I don't want to keep handling her if that is making things worse, but I also don't want to leave her alone in the tank and have it amplify the problem.

Thanks

Welcome to the site!

Young BP's are pretty low on the food chain, and it takes awhile for them to realize that you aren't trying to eat them lol.

It could also be that your BP is hungry. I would try feeding her every 4-5 days until she is bigger.

Making sure that your cage temperatures/humidity are spot on will help, as will offering good hides etc. If you post a picture of your cage we can make sure the everything is in order!

I have the temp spot on. It is staying in the mid 80s as an average. There is a hiding log and a water bowl big enough for her to soak in. I have eco-fiber (I think that's what it is called) as substrate. I have been keeping the tank on the more humid side too, but I don't know the specifics. I tried to post a pic, but I can't figure it out. I clicked on the add image and gave the link to where it is on my computer, but when I viewed the preview it wasn't there. I can offer her more food. I know they said she was eating fuzzy rats, but I can't get those live where I live. I would like to get her used to pre-killed food, but I hear it is a slow transition so I went backwards to the adult mice. I'll offer her some more food tomorrow. This time I'll get two mice.

Any advice on how to get a pic, and I'll gladly post a couple.

How to post pictures: http://ball-pythons.net/forums/showt...with-pictures)

She might be that way for awhile, I got a female mojave last march and she is still feisty. She eats and sheds fine I think she is just a big chicken. I tried handling her as often as possible and she calmed down a little. She still strikes and hisses once in a while. Just keep trying

Don't be afraid to try the frozen thawed right away. Mine made the transition with no hickups. Unless you have other reasons, frozen are so easy.

Yay! I got the photos to work. Here are a couple pics of her. These were taken when I first got her, and when I first put her in her tank.

http://i1340.photobucket.com/albums/...pse3adaf9f.jpg


http://i1340.photobucket.com/albums/...ps21d0e70d.jpg

Cover three sides of the tank with something dark, it'll make her feel safer.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Capray

Cover three sides of the tank with something dark, it'll make her feel safer.

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+1 to this. Same thing goes for Bearded Dragons, especially babies. As prey items in the wild...covering 3 sides of their tank can suddenly make a non eating bearded dragon into a non stop eating machine.

when ball pythons first hatch they are easy to handle without any striking. then as they get a little bigger some go threw a stage where they will strike. if you handle them or you don't handle them much, most will out grow this in time.

Well I covered up 3 sides, and she is starting to really move around her tank now. She seems much happier. I didn't think something that simple would make such a difference. Hopefully now she'll soon outgrow this striking stage. If I move slow when I go to remove her from the tank she is fine. I figured I'll feed her, and leave her be for a couple days in her "new" surroundings. Hopefully that will build up her confidence a little more. Thanks for the advice :)

Well I covered up 3 sides, and she is starting to really move around her tank now. She seems much happier. I didn't think something that simple would make such a difference. Hopefully now she'll soon outgrow this striking stage. If I move slow when I go to remove her from the tank she is fine. I figured I'll feed her, and leave her be for a couple days in her "new" surroundings. Hopefully that will build up her confidence a little more. Thanks for the advice :)

Glad to hear she's settling in better now! You would be amazed that the littlest things that can make a ball happy/stressed.

She's is absolutely gorgeous by the way! Good luck with her.