Wild Child Ball Python

On May 5th of this year my first bp and first snake, a nice little butter male, arrived. He's so friendly and easy to handle that I wanted another one and bought a champagne female a few weeks later. It's a good thing I got him first, because if she had been my first one there wouldn't have been a second one.

Their husbandry is identical, except that, being larger, she gets larger rats. Both snakes are in identical enclosures on the same thermostat, and they're quarantined in the bathroom away from the geckos and beardie. The temps are pretty good, a little cool (72-73) on the cool end, but then, I've been told young ones prefer things a bit cooler. When she arrived she was in a super tight ball, and when I take her out, if she's not balled up, she does mostly fake strikes at me and has bitten me and drawn blood. I was trying to weigh her, and had not been handling rats or anything that would smell like food when she nailed me good. I asked someone with more experience, and he said he's had people tell him that putting a t-shirt with the person's scent on it into the cage helped them. The t-shirt has been in her cage for several days. It's a good thing I have a large box of adhesive bandages. She's pretty and I don't want to give up on her. I've ordered a snake hook with some other items from Pangea and the box should be here on Monday. Last weekend she ate for the first time, and it was only when I put the f/t rat at the entrance to her hide and left it overnight. She won't leave her hide to grab it, and if she's out of a hide and I walk in, she goes back inside in a hurry. She reacts to every move I make. Ideas, please?

Also, when I hold her I've noticed that she feels much more leathery than the butter bp. Is this normal for champagnes?

Leave her alone except for feeding and cleaning. It could still be stress, some take longer to adjust. IMO you should remove the shirt but that's just me, I've heard of that too but I wouldn't put a foreign object in with a bp but I'm sure plenty of people do but it could be having a negative effect. I would definitely get the cool side up and it should be at the very minimum 75 but ideally 78-82, 72 is pretty low, if your keeping in glass tanks I would put a che on cool sides with lamp dimmers and if your not using glass tanks then get another thermostat and heat mats for the cool side but either way get it up around 80. The warm side is what should be a little cooler for younger bps, a temp of 88 is good. Your new snake should of been quarantined away from your first one even though they were only bought a few weeks apart.

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I know that the same room isn't the best quarantine location, but it was the only choice. And I bumped up the thermostat a bit last night.

Give her time to settle in. Every BP is different in how they react to changes. Also sounds like she may be going into a shed cycle.

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Originally Posted by Slim

Give her time to settle in. Every BP is different in how they react to changes. Also sounds like she may be going into a shed cycle.

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She doesn't look like it, but maybe that is coming up.

I won't be near a computer today, but will check this thread when I return.

Out of my 17 snakes in my collection I have one really mean ball python, not sure why she is so mean, she is a bumblebee which is pastel spider possibly het pied possible yellow belly. She is still pretty young but growing fast, always strikes at me most times I open up her tub, just a snappy little thing. I'm thinking she was taunted when she was younger by a previous breeder? She won't eat dead mice, only live ones, she wants to hunt! I'm not really interested in handling her though, just using her as a breeder so it really doesn't matter to me. I usually use a paper towel roll and let her bite that, then grab her from behind and move her to another tub, I haven't got bit yet.

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Originally Posted by cchardwick

Out of my 17 snakes in my collection I have one really mean ball python, not sure why she is so mean, she is a bumblebee which is pastel spider possibly het pied possible yellow belly. She is still pretty young but growing fast, always strikes at me most times I open up her tub, just a snappy little thing. I'm thinking she was taunted when she was younger by a previous breeder? She won't eat dead mice, only live ones, she wants to hunt! I'm not really interested in handling her though, just using her as a breeder so it really doesn't matter to me. I usually use a paper towel roll and let her bite that, then grab her from behind and move her to another tub, I haven't got bit yet.

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Yikes. The seller said she was easy to handle, so maybe there's some change I could make to tame her down.

Did she ship to you? Some people don't feed for a couple weeks before they ship, and some get a little more aggressive when they're hungry. Maybe up the feedings for a couple weeks to see if that helps. My banana POS get clown was exactly as you described, tame as a puppy now. Kept holding him once to twice a week doing my best not to get bit. Almost gave up, didn't hold him up for a couple weeks, picked him up, and nothing. Still not another strike. It took about 4 months, maybe more. Good luck

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One of these days I'm gonna save the Justin Kobylka video link I keep referencing BUT..

Sometimes my female mojo is testy, not necessarily snappy but very jumpy on anything else that moves in the room and with a wife, 3 dogs a cat a beardie and 3 more balls on the way it's hard to isolate her, anyways in that video especially the young ones and little noodles tend to be a little more defensive. If they don't try and wrap you up its a defensive strike which means husbandry is off or the animal is stressed often times they go hand in hand.

The whole point of this video was more putting your snake into flight instead of fight mode, for me it's easy with the killerblast but the female mojo is a big girl and she's very confident. Unfortunately for her I'm more confident, if she starts getting testy or coiling back in a strike position I touch her head or depending on where my other hand is under her chin. Under her chin she immediately calms down, top of her head she'll make a violent jerking back motion but after that she's fine, it's important during that case that you don't jump. They sense if you're not confident.

Before going that route I'd bump your cool side temps up a bit. Also as slim mentioned some take longer to settle in. My male normal is an 08 and he's not aggressive just doesn't really care to be handled much or for very long. Good luck!




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She was shipped, but the seller said she was fed about a week to 10 days before she was shipped. For the first few weeks she refused to eat, but yesterday and last Saturday she ate. She let the rat sit there for hours before eating both times, and both times they were halfway into her hide, but at least she finally ate them.

Is this the video you're talking about? It helped a little. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S7DQssbM0uk

I'll back off on trying to handle her for the next several weeks and see if that helps.

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Originally Posted by cchardwick

Out of my 17 snakes in my collection I have one really mean ball python, not sure why she is so mean, she is a bumblebee which is pastel spider possibly het pied possible yellow belly. She is still pretty young but growing fast, always strikes at me most times I open up her tub, just a snappy little thing. I'm thinking she was taunted when she was younger by a previous breeder? She won't eat dead mice, only live ones, she wants to hunt! I'm not really interested in handling her though, just using her as a breeder so it really doesn't matter to me. I usually use a paper towel roll and let her bite that, then grab her from behind and move her to another tub, I haven't got bit yet.

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For awhile I though I was the only person experiencing this and it was localized to my collection. I have 2 single gene pastels and 3 combos in my collection. The best that can be said for them is that they are flighty. I have two that are down right pain in the butts. In my case I know it is not a husbandry issue. None of my other animals act like them. I have one adult female that I picked up awhile back that is just evil. She acts like the retics I have seen that have attitude problems. It isn't a question of if she is going to have a go at me it is a question of when. Before I got her I would have swore that there are not any ball pythons that act like that. I have a sub-adult killer bee female that I bought at 600 grams. She is beautiful but nuts. I am thinking the double dose of pastel plus the wonkiness of the spider gene is pushing her attitude over the top. This one calms down a little once she is out but I still will not let either of these animals anywhere near my kids. If anyone has pastels, especially bee combos can refute this please let me know.

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Originally Posted by butterballpython

She was shipped, but the seller said she was fed about a week to 10 days before she was shipped. For the first few weeks she refused to eat, but yesterday and last Saturday she ate. She let the rat sit there for hours before eating both times, and both times they were halfway into her hide, but at least she finally ate them.

Is this the video you're talking about? It helped a little. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S7DQssbM0uk

I'll back off on trying to handle her for the next several weeks and see if that helps.

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Yeah that's the video! Helped me a ton with my spooky girl!


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It's good to know that I'm not the only one. Hopefully she'll come around.

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Originally Posted by butterballpython

It's good to know that I'm not the only one. Hopefully she'll come around.

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I actually think the t-shirt idea sounds viable in the long run. In the short run I think the smell could possible freak the animal out enough that it wont eat. Please let us know how it goes. I am going to try it with my worst girl. She is not a problem eater.

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Originally Posted by JodanOrNoDan

I actually think the t-shirt idea sounds viable in the long run. In the short run I think the smell could possible freak the animal out enough that it wont eat. Please let us know how it goes. I am going to try it with my worst girl. She is not a problem eater.

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Mine has been a finicky eater since she got herre, but she did eat with the t-shirt in there. Good luck, I hope it helps.

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Originally Posted by JodanOrNoDan

I actually think the t-shirt idea sounds viable in the long run. In the short run I think the smell could possible freak the animal out enough that it wont eat. Please let us know how it goes. I am going to try it with my worst girl. She is not a problem eater.

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Well, it seems to have worked. She hasn't struck at me since the t-shirt went into her tank, and yesterday I had her out. Other than an attempted escape, she did fine.

Success! She was just out, and she did not ball up! She moved around and I got to see that pretty head marking and those shiny black eyes. :gj:

I held her with her front half unsupported and pointed down to check for a wobble, and almost detected something but not quite. So if she does have any, it's very slight. Both her parents are champagnes and both sets of grandparents are champagne x normal.

I'm happy that I finally got to hold her without her being all balled up, and she acted slightly nervous, but otherwise OK. Yeah! :D

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Originally Posted by JodanOrNoDan

If anyone has pastels, especially bee combos can refute this please let me know.

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I have a pastel, though just a single gene, but she's the sweetest of my current 2 snakes. She loves to explore and never balls up or sits still when she's out, and my 4 year old loves holding her.

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Originally Posted by JodanOrNoDan

If anyone has pastels, especially bee combos can refute this please let me know.

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I have a Pastel Butter, he was a breeder male before I got him, and not handled much. He's never struck at me but when I first got him he would hiss a lot. He calmed down when he realized I wasn't a threat. Only took about a month.

I had to chuckle when I read your post...I have had my first BP since 2011 and you couldn't find a sweeter tempered girl...then over the last year I added a few more...but my 2nd, Ramses, is my 'snarky' boy aka my wild child! I have to agree with you, if he had been my first there might never have been another!

I have tried not handling him, handling him, you name it...he's had 2 sheds for me, eats like a piggy and is growing like a weed...but no matter what I do he is always in strike mode!

So, no advice from me...just a sympathy post! :)

I have a single gene pastel, a pastel desert and a queenspin and they are my 3 calmest and friendliest scale babies.

I have a spinner blast boy, pastel, spider, pin stripe, and he is a real sweetheart, very friendly, nothing phases this boy, not even when my 12 year old cat lays by his viv to get warm by the heat lamp. My house runs very cold so to keep the ambient at 78-80 the lamp is a must in the winter. I also have a firefly girl , pastel, fire, and she is also very sweet, much pickier with food but is easy to handle. My wild child is my corn snake, she is always willing and available for a good strike, and bite. She just doesn't like being fussed with.