My bp doesnt like me???

I have noticed for awhile that..he doesn't like anybody in the room while he is eating and it has to be dark, when he doesn't go for the mouse right away..after i drop it in and hes right there in front of it but doesnt seem to notice it..he looks at me in weird curious kinda way...no striking though. He will keep stareing at me intell i leave the room and then he will eat it. Also everytime i come in the room or do something kinda near his tank..he will poke out his head ...like to see who it is or what im doing..then goes back in his hide. and when i take him out..he still just sits in my hand..but when i put him on a bed or something he starts moving around. Hes never striked or even tried...i have had him since june/july and i handle him once a week for about 10 to 20 mins. Is it normal for him to act that way?

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Originally Posted by Riyuu

i handle him once a week for about 10 to 20 mins. Is it normal for him to act that way?

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try handling him daily.

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Originally Posted by Kennyxemerson

try handling him daily.

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Why? He sounds to me like he's acting like a normal ball python. Some ball pythons are just more cautious than others. No matter how much handling I do, the more timid ones remain timid. The more outgoing ones are just naturally more outgoing.

I don't believe that your snake dis-likes you. He's just acting like a normal ball python.

Also since you just got this snake a few short months ago, can I assume it's an 07 hatchling? Smaller, younger snakes are even more naturally cautious. Their instincts tell them that they can be prey just as much as they are a predator so they tend to be more nervous. What you are describing pretty much sounds like a ball python. :)

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Originally Posted by rabernet

Why? He sounds to me like he's acting like a normal ball python. Some ball pythons are just more cautious than others. No matter how much handling I do, the more timid ones remain timid. The more outgoing ones are just naturally more outgoing.

I don't believe that your snake dis-likes you. He's just acting like a normal ball python.

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ehh idk, I had an EXTREMELY timid girl who I worked with daily and now she is just as outgoing as her 2 brothers who were for some reason ALWAYS exploring everything every chance they got, but then again idk how old his bp is so that could have to do with it.

I think what Robin's referring to is the sort of base "personality" (I don't like to use that word but can't think of another atm) of the snake. Like Robin I have some snakes that are just more shy than others and I doubt that will ever change. That's quite different from say our big female Brannagh that came to us extremely defensive from years of possible neglect. That wasn't her true self just a survival instinct at work. Working with that type of issue brought out the truly nice snake that was behind all that mess. Another snake might have reacted to that set of circumstances by simply balling up, refusing to eat and waiting to die (as our Saoirse was when we rehabbed her). Brannagh is now a big, confident snake....Saoirse is now a female that will always be on the shy side but isn't terrified of the world any longer. We treat them the same for basic routines and just have to tweak a few other routines to work with how they react to the world.

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Originally Posted by frankykeno

.... the sort of base "personality" (I don't like to use that word but can't think of another atm)

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"snakeality" ??? :P

Soo..maybe i should at lease try handling him daily???

Also yes he is still pretty small...maybe thats why?

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Originally Posted by Riyuu

Soo..maybe i should at lease try handling him daily???

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Although some people might disagree, that's what I did with mine... I let him sit in his tank for a week then I slowly tried handling him, each time a little longer... He's fine now and doesn't seem scared at all.. You might want to try it, but then some bps are just like that.

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Originally Posted by BallPythonsRule

Although some people might disagree, that's what I did with mine... I let him sit in his tank for a week then I slowly tried handling him, each time a little longer... He's fine now and doesn't seem scared at all.. You might want to try it, but then some bps are just like that.

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How do you know if he is scared or not??? honestly. Im not trying to argue with anyone, but when you pull a bp out of the tub and he is crawling around your hand, or you put him on the bed and he takes off , he is literally trying to escape and hide from you. I doubt they are being curious to see what the bed or the rest of the room looks like or trying to get exercise. They just want to get away and hide in a nice warm spot.... I hope this makes sense. :2cent: So what im trying to say is no matter how much handling you do, they are still going to be bp's.

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Originally Posted by juddb

How do you know if he is scared or not??? honestly. Im not trying to argue with anyone, but when you pull a bp out of the tub and he is crawling around your hand, or you put him on the bed and he takes off , he is literally trying to escape and hide from you. I doubt they are being curious to see what the bed or the rest of the room looks like or trying to get exercise. They just want to get away and hide in a nice warm spot.... I hope this makes sense. :2cent: So what im trying to say is no matter how much handling you do, they are still going to be bp's.

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I don't know if he's scared or not, he just doesn't act as scared as he did before... I'm not a snake whisperer so I truly have no idea.

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Originally Posted by BallPythonsRule

I don't know if he's scared or not, he just doesn't act as scared as he did before... I'm not a snake whisperer so I truly have no idea.

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Understood.... :rockon:

I would recommend more handling. Once per day if possible. The handling sessions themselves can be just a few minutes.

Also, when I feed mine in-cage I often times see the behavior you describe. He'll smell the mouse and know I'm dropping something in but then he'll start tracking me even if I move a couple of feet away from the cage. One thing I've done is just move so that he is looking more towards the rodent and he'll switch. I've also found that once the prey gets close enough he'll figure it out. This only occurs when feeding in his glass cage but never when in a tub or cardboard box.

I've seen a similar behavior in my JCP once when I replaced his heat lamp right after dropping a rat in. For a minute or so he was totally fixated on the lamp.

I think that once they get ready to feed (smell it) they just naturally tend to "lock on" to any nearby heat signatures.

Ok thanks! Ill try handling at lease once a day. :3

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Originally Posted by bearhart

I would recommend more handling. Once per day if possible. The handling sessions themselves can be just a few minutes.

Also, when I feed mine in-cage I often times see the behavior you describe. He'll smell the mouse and know I'm dropping something in but then he'll start tracking me even if I move a couple of feet away from the cage. One thing I've done is just move so that he is looking more towards the rodent and he'll switch. I've also found that once the prey gets close enough he'll figure it out. This only occurs when feeding in his glass cage but never when in a tub or cardboard box.

I've seen a similar behavior in my JCP once when I replaced his heat lamp right after dropping a rat in. For a minute or so he was totally fixated on the lamp.

I think that once they get ready to feed (smell it) they just naturally tend to "lock on" to any nearby heat signatures.

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I have to disagree with what you are telling us here. All you need is a pair of tongs (not the wooden ones, the stainless steel surgical ones) #1 you wont smell like rodents and #2 you shouldnt be feeding outside the enclosure anyway. Feeding in or outside the enclosure doesnt do anything but eventually make the snake go off feed.

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Originally Posted by Riyuu

Ok thanks! Ill try handling at lease once a day. :3

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Keep in mind that your snake may be naturally timid, and daily handling may or may not change his demeanor.

You just said, "feeding in or outside the enclosure" doesnt do anything but eventually make them go off feeds. I'm sure it was a typo, but it made me laugh since that would suggest never feeding them at all! :D

Anyway, my 07' girl is very shy and reserved also. She *sometimes* greets me in her tub and sometimes not. I've had her for months and she still balls up when I reach in the tub to stroke her back. The difference is, nowadays, once I've got her up onto me, she uncurls and is somewhat curious. When I first got her, she just stayed in that ball shape.

So I think that regular handlings do help, at least a little. But it's like someone said, different snakes have different "snakealities" (as it was so poetically put. lol) My big girl is a whore. She loves everyone and anyone and will get herself into anything. She's fearless. The little one is afraid of her own shadow, and has been ever since I got her. So I'm willing to bet that she'll be that way even as an adult, though maybe not to such an extent.

Hope I helped. :/

-Haylee

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Originally Posted by juddb

I have to disagree with what you are telling us here. All you need is a pair of tongs (not the wooden ones, the stainless steel surgical ones) #1 you wont smell like rodents and #2 you shouldnt be feeding outside the enclosure anyway. Feeding in or outside the enclosure doesnt do anything but eventually make the snake go off feed.

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I only relayed my experience so I'm not sure what you mean when you say you disagree. Are you saying I'm lying? You could possibly be disagreeing that a BP that smells food would starting locking on heat sources. However, I would be willing to bet that with a little home experimentation, you could convince yourself otherwise. :P

Also, your last assertion which, I assume, is that feeding snakes out of enclosure just makes them go off feed is not correct.

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Originally Posted by rabernet

Keep in mind that your snake may be naturally timid, and daily handling may or may not change his demeanor.

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Thank you....

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Originally Posted by Mindibun

You just said, "feeding in or outside the enclosure" doesnt do anything but eventually make them go off feeds. I'm sure it was a typo, but it made me laugh since that would suggest never feeding them at all! :D

Anyway, my 07' girl is very shy and reserved also. She *sometimes* greets me in her tub and sometimes not. I've had her for months and she still balls up when I reach in the tub to stroke her back. The difference is, nowadays, once I've got her up onto me, she uncurls and is somewhat curious. When I first got her, she just stayed in that ball shape.

So I think that regular handlings do help, at least a little. But it's like someone said, different snakes have different "snakealities" (as it was so poetically put. lol) My big girl is a whore. She loves everyone and anyone and will get herself into anything. She's fearless. The little one is afraid of her own shadow, and has been ever since I got her. So I'm willing to bet that she'll be that way even as an adult, though maybe not to such an extent.

Hope I helped. :/

-Haylee

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Typo sorry i dont even know what i was trying to say anymore its too early in the morning.

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Originally Posted by bearhart

I only relayed my experience so I'm not sure what you mean when you say you disagree. Are you saying I'm lying? You could possibly be disagreeing that a BP that smells food would starting locking on heat sources. However, I would be willing to bet that with a little home experimentation, you could convince yourself otherwise. :P

Also, your last assertion which, I assume, is that feeding snakes out of enclosure just makes them go off feed is not correct.

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Im only saying that its unnecessary to feed them outside of its enclosure. Also i wont be doing any experimentation with my snakes, they are in perfect health and stress free. Good luck to you buddy

Just to clear things up here, my original post wasn't an argument for feeding out of cage. I mentioned it because it was relevant that in cases where my BP couldn't actually see me at ground level, he wasn't distracted by me.

Also, I'm not entirely sure what you mean by "experimentation". I'm simply relaying experiences I've had. In any case, I see nothing wrong with trying different things to see what works best for you and your snake (being safe of course). Its also important to avoid assuming the way you do things is the "right" way. In fact, there's alot to be said for having actual experience in the different options.

For example, you made the comment about out-of-cage feeding. Firstly, even though its not the most popular method, its a fairly established practice and I have never seen "going off feed" as one of the cons to it. Also, there are snakes that will only eat outside their enclosure.

I can say there are situations where feeding out-of-cage works well for me and I can do it without feeling the need to say feeding in-cage is "wrong". I feed in-cage for 2 of my 3 snakes.

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Originally Posted by bearhart

Just to clear things up here, my original post wasn't an argument for feeding out of cage. I mentioned it because it was relevant that in cases where my BP couldn't actually see me at ground level, he wasn't distracted by me.

Also, I'm not entirely sure what you mean by "experimentation". I'm simply relaying experiences I've had. In any case, I see nothing wrong with trying different things to see what works best for you and your snake (being safe of course). Its also important to avoid assuming the way you do things is the "right" way. In fact, there's alot to be said for having actual experience in the different options.

For example, you made the comment about out-of-cage feeding. Firstly, even though its not the most popular method, its a fairly established practice and I have never seen "going off feed" as one of the cons to it. Also, there are snakes that will only eat outside their enclosure.

I can say there are situations where feeding out-of-cage works well for me and I can do it without feeling the need to say feeding in-cage is "wrong". I feed in-cage for 2 of my 3 snakes.

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Ok man do what you do buddy. ;)