Ball Python with a Nasty Attitude

I have a ball python female who is, well... a witch!

We have nine others- and they are all sweet as can be. Now, we do intend to breed them. The witchy one is a baby, but she is a het piebald. We have a sweet and beautiful het piebald male that she will eventually be bred with.

So, sure, she has her purpose. But we like to have our snakes be pets too- all of them- and I don't like having one that tries to bite me if I even dare to change out her water bowl or clean her tank.

Advice? Will she get better with handling? She hisses, strikes... it's scary to pick her up!

Her name is Luna and she is beautiful... on the outside! lol

How old is she? How long have you had her?

Ship her to me...I will get bit for another het pied,,,LOL Handle her with gloves about once a week and make sure she has a stress free enclosure.

It's not uncommon for babies to be nippy, one thing you can do if you don't mind is just let her gnaw on you. Eventually they learn that you're not trying to eat them and they settle down. It's worth the pin pricks IMO.

Time heals all wounds... Constant handling should do... hope you dont feed in her enclosure. if so consider changing...

The babies are always more defensive than the older BPs. In my experience, they do get better. I have two that were always ready to strike but I handled them every time I cleaned the tubs, changed the water, etc. and they are way more relaxed now.

You might just have a feisty one, but she is probably just scared. She needs to learn that you are not going to eat her...lol. You can try gloves if it makes it easier for you. However, also from experience, their bites don't hurt much at all. I was bit by a 5 foot girl & it really wasn't that bad.

We have had her a couple of months. I had a baby in March, so she didn't get much beyond basic care for the last month of my pregnancy and the past month or so! I am starting to handle them all more, though (of course I wash up good after- but I was told not to touch them at all when I was pregnant! That sucked. My husband handled them then, but he didn't deal with Luna much. I am the one that handles the snappy ones).

Hmm, yeah, I think I can take a few nips. Gloves is a good idea too. She is an '08, not an '09, but I can't recall her exact DOB. Funny, the boy is such a doll, and they're from the same place. They're both gorgeous and we're very happy with them. I can't wait to have some piebald babies!!!

Thanks!

Yup, we do feed them all in their enclosures. We haven't ever had a problem until this one (and she snaps at us in a defensive manner- I don't think she is confusing us with her food). She is a fabulous eater!

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by aff19802

Time heals all wounds... Constant handling should do... hope you dont feed in her enclosure. if so consider changing...

---

I'd have to disagree with you there. Constant handling of an already stressed and highly defensive snake is, I believe, more likely to freak it out. Regular handling sessions that are short, start and end well and follow a very consistent routine would be what I'd recommend. Also feeding in the enclosure has never been proven to cause a snake to strike at it's owner either in a defensive or feeding strike. Strikes can happen of course but feeding in the enclosure does not particularily up the chances of them. I feed 40 snakes from 3 different species in their enclosures. If your theory held true than I'd be awfully chewed up by now.

The fiesty ones always make the best feeders :)

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by TheOtherLeadingBrand

We have had her a couple of months. I had a baby in March, so she didn't get much beyond basic care for the last month of my pregnancy and the past month or so! I am starting to handle them all more, though (of course I wash up good after- but I was told not to touch them at all when I was pregnant! That sucked. My husband handled them then, but he didn't deal with Luna much. I am the one that handles the snappy ones).

Hmm, yeah, I think I can take a few nips. Gloves is a good idea too. She is an '08, not an '09, but I can't recall her exact DOB. Funny, the boy is such a doll, and they're from the same place. They're both gorgeous and we're very happy with them. I can't wait to have some piebald babies!!!

---

Just set up a regular handling session with her perhaps once or twice a week. Glove up if you want, take her out, stay calm and focused and hold her firmly with control of her so she can't strike until she calms down a bit. When she's calm return her to her home. Slowly up the time she's out for handling returning her in a calm manner. Eventually she'll likely get the idea of it though some are never really comfortable with much handling. You may want to keep a mister bottle handy and when you open her tub if she goes into a gonna bit you posture, give her a good mist in the face - that backs down most of them and makes them rethink things. :)

She may calm down or may not, it is usually up to the individual snake. I have a 7 y/o girl that cannot be handled! It is a challenge every time her tub is pulled open. In my experience breeding sometimes calms the beastful ones also. You are a few years from breeding her but if she don't calm down before then maybe it will help her calm once she does breed.

Cool thanks for the mister tip!

Yeah, I am hoping she chills out. I worry, how will I get her off of a batch of eggs someday! lol

You never know about that. We have one female here (Ardra) that has attitude. She often tries to nail us, she's a good size breeding female and unfortunately the mister trick doesn't cut it with her. She just glares and hisses right through the water droplets LOL. Funny enough one of her daughters tried to bite me as she exited the dang egg last year.

Anyways, the thing is Ardra is Ardra. She's a lovely snake and produces lovely babies so she has a red biter tag on her tub and we manage her. Of the females that bred last year though, this girl with attitude was easy to get off her eggs. We were prepared for a fight, nothing...she came off easy as you please and was one of the fastest to get settled back down and eating after egg laying.

Most will calm down with regular handling. I do have one that has never calmed down. She hisses, and has tried to bite me many times. I bought her as a sub-adult, and she was like that when I got her.

Good luck with her.

Gorgeous baby, btw!

Thankyou!!

Oh, yeah, this one bit at me as I took her out of the bag when she arrived! LOL I was shocked, I am lucky I didn't get bitten in the face since I stupidly just assumed she was sweet. OOPS!

"It's up to the individual snake". "Some never tame down". That's interesting. I have only ever had a couple of snakes that were "mean", but was always able to calm them down. There's just a little effort involved, and it takes more than "once or twice a week". Of course, I'm not referring to ball pythons. Never had a problem with those. Retics and African rocks were a bit of a challenge, one took almost six months. But I have never owned a reptile that I couldn't tame. Never. And I've had some of the "bad rep" ones like Nile monitors, gold tegus, green anacondas and the aforementioned retics and afrocks.

If you don't want to start out with a lot of handling, then TEACH THEM THAT YOUR SMELL IS NOT A THREAT. Do regular maintenance. Change the water bowl more often. Get your smell in there and do not disturb/stress them. That's how the trust starts...

Chris

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by TheOtherLeadingBrand

I was told not to touch them at all when I was pregnant!

---

I'm not going to address the original question of your thread, because you've gotten lots of good responses about that, and I do not have personal experience with an exceptionally aggressive one.

However, I wanted to address the part I quoted, more for the benefit of anyone else that reads this thread, since you are past that anyway.

I assume you were told not to touch the snakes because they carry salmonella? I'm sure the doctor meant well, but unless there were reasons why you needed to be exceptionally careful, and were also instructed to avoid other things that can carry salmonella, such as raw chicken and eggs, then I believe those instructions were based on ignorance and/or fear rather than facts and science.

Based on everything I have read about the subject, there is no more danger of getting salmonella from handling a reptile than there is from handling raw chicken or eggs. So, if it is safe for you to bring raw chicken and eggs into your home, then it should be safe for you to have reptiles in your home. If it is safe for you to handle the raw chicken and eggs in the cooking process, then it should be safe for you to handle reptiles. It is, of course, advisable to wash your hands thoroughly afterwards, just as it is after handling raw chicken and eggs.

Sorry for the mini-rant! I just get so tired of hearing about people who think they have to give up their pet reptiles due to pregnancy or a baby in the house. I'm really glad that despite the misinformation you were given, you kept your snakes and just had hubby take care of them!

Oh yeah, we would never have given them up!

I also did, however, stop handling raw meat. I am a vegetarian now, and I don't cook anyway (haha) but I quit feeding my dog any raw meat during my pregnancy, and I won't do that while my baby is young either.

I feel it is probably a small risk, but I am still exceptionally careful and make sure both of us wash up and we only seriously handle the snakes or clean their tanks if we are going to be able to shower right after and put our clothes in the wash.

Won't be long before our little one will be playing with the snakes (with complere supervision of course!). I can't wait. I grew up with pet snakes, and, as you can see I have never lost my affection for them.

My boyfriend adopted tow female sisters that were born in 06 because the breeder could not handle on of the girl's attitude... she was very violent and snippy for the first year or so,.. but has calmed down a bit... we were wondering if she had eye sight problems when she was younger because she would push more then her sister would... she seems to be very fine now and has calmed down a bit.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by aff19802

Time heals all wounds... Constant handling should do... hope you dont feed in her enclosure. if so consider changing...

---

Why? Now I'm WAY confuse. Every says to feed in YOUR enclosure but you say do not?

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by cartman89

Why? Now I'm WAY confuse. Every says to feed in YOUR enclosure but you say do not?

---

It is just a personal preference. Do what works for you. I think handling before and after feeding gives you more of a chance being bit. I feed in my enclosures, and haven't been bit. They know you aren't a mouse. They aren't going to strike you because they think your food, unless they can smell it on you.

I feed in the encosure with no issues as of yet.

We feed in the enclosure. We have ten, soon to be 13! It would be too much to move them all. Plus, they are snippy when we arrive home with mice and rats... I would never touch them then, including to move them. Once they eat we leave them alone for a day or two, and they are fine. The snippy one is snippy no matter what, where, or when :)

Man, i just got a second snake, and a second aggressive ball python. All of my friends snakes would ball up and stay balled up a while into handling but not this one. he/she just hissed at me. I only had it for about 3 weeks and pet it every now and then to try to introduce it to me. Last night i had some friends over and told them it was nice and wasn't aggressive, and they held it and it was fine, but as soon as my hand goes in the tank it either hisses or gets ready to strike. WTF??