Normally docile snake being bitey

My BP, Spectre, was off of feed for a few months and refused to eat, and only recently started to eat once more. I've fed him a couple times this week to try and get him back up to a healthy weight, and just in case he decides he wants to stop eating again. He'll be fed again Sunday, and then just Sundays after that.

Recently, he's tried to bite me a couple times, once while I had him out on the bed to let him move around a bit, he ended up biting the blanket. And again today when I tried to move him inside his tank, because he has been laying on his log, and I do not want him to get too cold. I've had him for almost a year and have yet to be bitten, and I know I should expect this, but I'm not sure why he's being so bitey lately. He's around 3 years old and has always been pretty docile and tolerant of everything, and has had no major changes except the fact that he stopped eating until recently.

Is he going into shed?

No, he's not going into shed currently. Even when he was shedding, he seemed to be fine with me just generally checking up on him.

He seems incredibly irritable and bitey, and I'm not exactly sure why. I'm afraid to pick him up at this point. He was normally very docile.

Are you sure your hands are not eminating a food smell? Do you have any other bp's in the house? Have you triple checked the enclosure he stays in? Are you sure he isn't sick?

He is currently my only snake, I've washed my hands before I try to touch him, and the enclosure he stays in is the same it's always been. Nothing has really changed at all. He doesn't seem sick. This is only a recent thing, he's been in the same spot for the past couple hours, and seems pretty much ready to strike at anything. He ate yesterday, so I doubt he's hungry. Just seems annoyed.

Well, I would give him some space and not handle him at all. If you must, put on a pair of thick gloves to return him to his enclosure. Those are the most in possibilities that I could think of. I mean you had him for three years so I know you can read him pretty much right? Has he ever been bred to your knowledge? Personally , I would mainly leave him alone bc that is basically what he is saying. I know it's a shock but look at it like its a temporary attitude until you can get more of a clue to the etiology.:gj:

No, I haven't had him for three years. The person who owned him before me had him for a year, and I got him November 1st of last year. He never bit his previous owner, and has never bit me. He's pretty much been a very tolerant snake until now. He is in his enclosure and hasn't been moved from there. I won't mess with him out of fear of being bitten. Just been leaving him alone.

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And no, he has never been bred.

He also seems to occasionally rub his face against his climbing branch..? He's been there all day and I've seen him do it a few times, but he isn't shedding, and likely won't shed until the end of the month, when he normally does.

What size prey is he taking?

He's taking full grown mice, but they aren't leaving much of a bulge in his stomach. He's been fed three times this week to compensate for the fact that he refused to eat for a couple months.

Oh, when you said he was 3 years old I just thought you raised him up. Ok. Where he rubs his face on the climbing branch do you see any injury? Does he have any mites or scale irregularities that you can see or tell. These are a few things that can irritate the animal. The main thing is to leave him in the enclosure and wait to get more clues as to why his behavior drastically changed.

No, nothing on his face looks wrong, he looks the same as always.

Yeah, I see some other members have some thoughts on it. We will get to the bottom of it soon. I mean we're checking all the bases. For now just go in to clean , change water , and to feed. Don't handle him at all for now.

I'm glad to have so many people trying to help me with this. He's my first snake, so it has me very concerned, as I've been trying to do everything right.

If he's a three year old male he may just be super hungry now that he's stopped fasting; even an XL mouse isn't a decent-sized meal for an adult ball python. How much does he weight? And have you tried him on rats?

He just ate now, and I'm unsure of how much he weighs. I haven't been able to get a scale to weigh him. I'll try feeding him a rat next time, I'm just worried it'll be too big for him with how skinny he's gotten.

Even after being fed yesterday, he still seems very, very irritable. I'm unable to pick him up due to the fact that I KNOW he will bite me at the moment.

You shouldn't be handling for 48 hours after feeding anyway. Weighing is usually done just after a bowel movement so as to get an "empty weight".

Could his eye caps from previous shed still be there? If so, he can't see well and the more food he gets, the more he think's you could be food, until he bites.
And would it be possible to set up another enclosure? I have heard of some snakes that think that if their hungry and there enclosure opens, they could think that it's food not your hand, so people suggest feeding them somewhere else from their actual enclosure- although i have never had this issue so i do not know if it works. Especially if he is also striking when he is outside of his enclosure.
Generally I don't wait 48 hrs after feeding my snakes, I wait till the next day and they are fine, they haven't bit me so far

I used to feed him in a different enclosure, but started feeding him in his tank after hearing that he'd think every time I pick him up, I'm moving him to eat, and I believe that this is the issue. He used to not bite or be angry at all, but since I started feeding him inside ihs tank, he's been irritable. His eyecaps aren't left over from the last shed, he was fine after shedding and only got pissy after eating.

I have a couple of snakes that I feed in different enclosures, and they're not bitey. Last time one of my gentle boys got bitey, he hadn't poo'd in a while. I'd be grumpy too if I needed to poo and someone was messing with me. :rofl:

Feeding inside the tank does not make a snake aggressive. I wish this would stop being spread around. In fact with many BPs the act of moving them to another enclosure can make them not eat.

Also not handling the next day is to prevent a regure not to prevent biting.

Let's get back to basics. What type of tank is he in? What are the temperatures? If temps get too high or low they can make a snake grumpy. What's his humidity?

Being fed 3 times in a week is pretty often even if they are just small mice. I would back off from him and give him a few days to digest all the food he has had recently.

Then try again. He's been getting a lot of food recently and may be still in feeding mode.

First thing I would check and double check are temperatures.

Is his husbandry good? Humidity levels, temps, etc? Even though he just ate, he might still be hungry. Especially since he's been off feeding. Try offering him a snack, nothing huge, but just a little extra something.