Feeding question

My ball python gets really agressive whenever I feed him. When I try to get him back in his cage (I feed him in a different cage) he bites my hand and wraps around it like he's trying to kill a mouse. He didn't start acting like this until a few months ago. Does anyone else's snake do this? Is there anything I can do to make him stop?

feed in the cage...or use a hook to move him

how old is he?
what are you feeding him?
how often are you feeding him?

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Originally Posted by Chubbz

feed in the cage...or use a hook to move him

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Also you can try washing your hands before handling again they might still smell like mouse

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Originally Posted by patthesnakeman

how old is he?
what are you feeding him?
how often are you feeding him?

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bingo this info would help loads. Good call

He's one and a half years old. He eats 3 adult mice every other week.

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Originally Posted by reptile_lover07

He's one and a half years old. He eats 3 adult mice every other week.

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You might want to feed him once a week ;)

Also if he has a strong feeding response you might want to feed him in his enclosure to avoid any problems.

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Originally Posted by reptile_lover07

He's one and a half years old. He eats 3 adult mice every other week.

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My two cents would be to feed him weekly either a 5 or 7 day cycle.

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Originally Posted by Freakie_frog

Also you can try washing your hands before handling again they might still smell like mouse

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I do wash my hands before I pick him up... he still thinks I'm food


I think I'll try feeding him more often.

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Originally Posted by reptile_lover07

I do wash my hands before I pick him up... he still thinks I'm food


I think I'll try feeding him more often.

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LOL yea you have some that will try and eat you every time..LOL

Let us know how the new feeding works out.

Feed in the cage. Problem completely solved.

It's likely that he's tagging you because he's still in a feeding mode and interprets your movement as another prey item. The only good reason I've ever found to feed a snake in a separate feeding cage is to keep it from ingesting particles of substrate along with their food.

If you use a particulate substrate, you might want to try putting a sheet of newspaper on top of the substrate and offering the food on that. Remove the newspaper when your snake is done eating.

Mark