Am I Doing Something Wrong?

Well, I got my ball python (Molly) on January 9th. Since then, she's shed quite nicely and eaten twice. At night, I notice her snaking up the walls of her aquarium and looking at the lid. It doesn't appear to be "stargazing" and she usually moves to another location after a few seconds. She comes out during the day to look around also.

The problem is, whenever I go to pick her up, she acts scared and coils up. She's never bitten or struck at me, not even hissed. When I want to pick her up, I run my fingers over her back (about halfway down her back) to let her know that I'm not an attacker. This usually gets her to twitch, as if she's jerking away from me. She'll settle down after three or four strokes, but she will do everything she can to avoid being picked up. When I finally do get her in my hand, she squeezes slightly and eventually lets go enough to crawl through my fingers. After a minute or so of crawling, she tries to get away so I stick her back in her aquarium. So, am I doing something wrong?

I'm thinking that maybe I'm trying too hard to get her to like me (I try to pick her up once a day and hold her for about 10 minutes or so). Or maybe she's just not used to her new surroundings, but it's been a week and a half since I got her. I've tried holding her both in the morning and at night, and the result is the same. I really don't want her to be just a "display" snake, but I also don't want to stress her out with constant handling. Any ideas?

First maybe give us an overview of her setup...

-Temps: ambient, cool side, warm side
-Humidity
-Hides (what kind, where)
-Heat sources
-Cage (size, type)

What exactly do you expect her to do. From the sounds of it, this sounds like pretty typical behavior. Really not trying to insult you but what do you expect from her?

It's normal. To your snake, you're freakin' HUGE! I'd be scared too. Eventually they'll get used to you, but mine always tries to go back "home" if i'm standing near the tank with them.

DutchHerp; Warm side is around 85 degrees and 35-45% humidity. Cool side is 73-75 degrees and 40-55% humidity. Ambient temperature in the aquarium is usually around 77 degrees. Our apartment is usually around 70 degrees. She has an 8-watt undertank heater, which is temperature-regulated and underneath her hide and aspen bedding. There's also an overhead light that heats with a 50-watt Tight Beam bulb. Her hide is an Exo Terra medium size, which is above the undertank heater and below the heat lamp. Living quarters is a 10-gallon glass aquarium with decorative background on three sides for privacy. Water dish is a large Exo Terra, and it's located on the opposite side of the aquarium as the hide.

Egapal; I'm not sure what I expect her to do. I've heard of people's relatively new ball pythons simply crawl into their hands in the morning, and I guess this is what I want. Even at the pet store, the ball pythons didn't jerk away from me when I reached out (slowly, of course). I'm not sure if she'll get as comfortable around me as I'd like, or if this is it.
Now, I'm not saying that I resent her or am going to return her or anything - I love the little girl - I just wish she'd let me handle her without being so jerky first. Like a trust thing, you know?

This all sounds normal.

The lurking around at night is the BP being curious. This is a good thing. During the day can be a sign of stress, but that's to be expected for the first two weeks, at least. Give that some time. Let the snake have it's peace and get adjusted. I am sure you are anxious and really want to play, again, give it some time.

The way that she reacts when you pick her up is also normal, especially for a new snake. How old is she? She sounds "head shy." Breaking them of jumping back when you touch them near the head is something that takes some practice. that should eventually go away. By the way, she curls up into a ball because that's what they do. That's why they call them Ball Pythons. (attempting humor, not trying to be rude)

I remember when i first got my snake, i was so excited. I can imagine you just want to play, and that will come. In my experience, part of the fun is getting adjusted to each other. I think they have personalities too, you just have to let her get used to you.

good luck and have fun.

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Originally Posted by JNieporte

DutchHerp; Warm side is around 85 degrees and 35-45% humidity. Cool side is 73-75 degrees and 40-55% humidity. Ambient temperature in the aquarium is usually around 77 degrees. Our apartment is usually around 70 degrees. She has an 8-watt undertank heater, which is temperature-regulated and underneath her hide and aspen bedding. There's also an overhead light that heats with a 50-watt Tight Beam bulb. Her hide is an Exo Terra medium size, which is above the undertank heater and below the heat lamp. Living quarters is a 10-gallon glass aquarium with decorative background on three sides for privacy. Water dish is a large Exo Terra, and it's located on the opposite side of the aquarium as the hide.

Egapal; I'm not sure what I expect her to do. I've heard of people's relatively new ball pythons simply crawl into their hands in the morning, and I guess this is what I want. Even at the pet store, the ball pythons didn't jerk away from me when I reached out (slowly, of course). I'm not sure if she'll get as comfortable around me as I'd like, or if this is it.
Now, I'm not saying that I resent her or am going to return her or anything - I love the little girl - I just wish she'd let me handle her without being so jerky first. Like a trust thing, you know?

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It sounds the cage might be a little bit cool. People on this forum recommend 88-94 hot and 78-84 cool. Ambients around 80, humidity 50-60 and 60-70 during shed.

Apart from this it sounds like you have a nice setup.

I agree with you that it's a little strange your snake is like this, as many BPs I've seen are just laid back and don't really care.

I'd say just see how it goes for a few months, she'll probably calm down.

Be happy she's feeding and shedding well!! Maybe it's just her (temporary) personality.

thats normal some ball up, some just hiss some, do nothing, and some try to bite.

as for the temps question i fail to see what that has to do with the OP's question

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Originally Posted by nixer

as for the temps question i fail to see what that has to do with the OP's question

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I thought maybe the snake's environment had to do something with the snake's temperament.

She's young and she'll adjust and settle down, continue to hold her for 10-15 a day, she should settle in quite nicely. I have one who's about 6 months old, and she is very active when I get her outlooking for an escape route :), while my older ones just like to chill around my neck.

So, just leave her a lone except for feedings? I can do that.

I realize that the temperatures are a bit low, but I'm not sure how to raise them. I'm using an 8-watt undertank heater AND a 50-watt Tight Beam bulb, and the temperatures posted are the normal. I have a 75-watt Tight Beam bulb; should I switch to that? I'm also covering half of the top (it's a hinged wire closure) with triple-layered aluminum foil to help keep the heat and humidity in, but it's not working as well as I hoped for.

As to her age; I'm not sure. She was sold to me as a hatchling, and was about 18 or 20" long when I got her on January 9th. She doesn't ball up however; she just jerks away and retreats to her hide.

Feeding her was a success; I fed her live and she made a perfect face strike with three coils wrapped around. The mouse didn't squeal and it didn't bite, but she did eat it upside down.

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Originally Posted by JNieporte

So, just leave her a lone except for feedings? I can do that.

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Just keep doing what you are doing and realize that things are going to take time. Your ball does not know you and is just a baby. I got my girl back in mid August and whenever I would take her out she would jerk a bit and act a bit scared. Now when I take her hide off she just looks at me and I can reach down and pick her up without any issues unless I make a sudden accidental movement or move to fast. She will warm up to you in the way that BP's do. I don't know what I would expect her to crawl into your waiting hands though.

Personally I want my BP to climb into my waiting hand, climb up my arm, coil loosely around my neck then when people I don't like come by I want her to rear up and spit fire balls at them. I have settled for her not acting afraid and quickly settling into her crawl all over the place attitude.

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Originally Posted by Egapal

Just keep doing what you are doing and realize that things are going to take time. Your ball does not know you and is just a baby. I got my girl back in mid August and whenever I would take her out she would jerk a bit and act a bit scared. Now when I take her hide off she just looks at me and I can reach down and pick her up without any issues unless I make a sudden accidental movement or move to fast. She will warm up to you in the way that BP's do. I don't know what I would expect her to crawl into your waiting hands though.

Personally I want my BP to climb into my waiting hand, climb up my arm, coil loosely around my neck then when people I don't like come by I want her to rear up and spit fire balls at them. I have settled for her not acting afraid and quickly settling into her crawl all over the place attitude.

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Took me a while before I could get mine to shoot fireballs. he's not there yet, but I've trained him to spit gas. Now if I could just get him to learn to strike a match....

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Originally Posted by JNieporte

So, just leave her a lone except for feedings? I can do that.

I realize that the temperatures are a bit low, but I'm not sure how to raise them. I'm using an 8-watt undertank heater AND a 50-watt Tight Beam bulb, and the temperatures posted are the normal. I have a 75-watt Tight Beam bulb; should I switch to that? I'm also covering half of the top (it's a hinged wire closure) with triple-layered aluminum foil to help keep the heat and humidity in, but it's not working as well as I hoped for.

As to her age; I'm not sure. She was sold to me as a hatchling, and was about 18 or 20" long when I got her on January 9th. She doesn't ball up however; she just jerks away and retreats to her hide.

Feeding her was a success; I fed her live and she made a perfect face strike with three coils wrapped around. The mouse didn't squeal and it didn't bite, but she did eat it upside down.

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in order to regulate and control temps, get a thermostat ; johnson, ranco, helix or herpstat. A thermostat will allow you to completely control the temps.

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Originally Posted by Texas Dan

Took me a while before I could get mine to shoot fireballs. he's not there yet, but I've trained him to spit gas. Now if I could just get him to learn to strike a match....

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:rofl::rofl::rofl:

I'm training mine to spell out sanscrit messages on the floor.

Hey Slim, did you change your signature to E-Thug after that incident a few days back? :P

I used to see the 'staring/smelling at the ceiling' behavior quite a bit when I kept balls in tanks with screens on top...

My guess is, any new/weird scents from the room, will spill down from the screen...I figured they were just smelling in that direction, trying to figure it out...