Completely random unprompted aggression

[hyperferret]

Hello everyone. I'm having aggression issues with my boy (? not positive on sex)- I think he's around 2 years old and I’ve had him since September. According to his previous owner he has always been very docile, never aggressive, and that has been my experience as well until today.

Brief timeline of my snake's recent history:
A few weeks ago: escaped and was out of his enclosure for about 3 days total (just in case this could be relevant?)
Last Wednesday: Most recent feeding
Last Friday: Most recent handling before today (Monday)

Just so we've already ruled out hunger/lack of handling.

Today it was happysnakeyexplorationtime so I opened my snake's cage and just as I was about to pick him up like I usually do, he violently lashed out at me. I got away in time, and tried to touch him with an object that was not my hand and he tried to bite that and then tried to strike me again.

This was really really confusing because he has *no* history of aggression whatsoever, and gets handled on a regular basis (no more than two days between handling). Like I wrote above, he ate quite recently, and his previous owner and I have ALWAYS fed him in a separate enclosure.

After a minute or so, he cooled down and I was able to pick him up, have him crawl around on my arms and let him explore on my bed. In the mean time I decided I should clean his cage to see if it would help soothe any stress he might be facing. After it was cleaned, complete with fresh water and a new hidey hole, I put him back in. He seemed pleased with everything.
I let him settle for a little while (about an hour-hour and a half) before attempting to take him out again (he is used to frequent handling.. or so I thought). When I (slowly) reached for him, he made a noise like he was expelling air (like a sigh)—excuse my ignorance, but was that a ball python hiss?? I wasn’t sure, and I opted to just stroke him a little and he made the noise again. Maybe I was just paranoid and he was being his normal self again? He made no attempt to strike and did not make aggressive movements (just defensive).

Since then he has popped out of his hidey holes here and there to explore his newly cleaned enclosure.. and stare at me a lot, haha. He’s been very active since this ordeal began about 3-4 hours ago, but the moment he sees me he ducks back into his hides (although that’s not terribly abnormal for him).

This is very very weird. Snuggles has never acted this way before. He has always been quite an explorer/escape artist and he knows when I go to pick him up it means he gets to be outside, so I don't understand what could make him feel so threatened. He must be stressed by something, but he has regular feeding, a clean cage, heat, etc. I am afraid he might have some sort of health problem? He seems like a completely different snake now.

Any insight is appreciated.

[Boanerges]

Welcome to BP.net The sigh you heard was probably a hiss. What is your set up like? Temps, size cage etc?

[Kaorte]

!!

We need to know a little bit more about his setup before we can give you a good answer. What size enclosure? How many hides does he have and what kind of hides are they? What are your temps and how are you measuring and controlling them? What size prey are you feeding him? Do you know his weight/age/length?

Sounds to me like he is stressed out. I would just leave him alone completely for a week or so and let him settle in.

Constant roaming (or exploring) can be an a sign of stress in ball pythons.

Also, feeding in a separate enclosure will not get rid of "aggression". It will basically do nothing. You are more likely to receive a bite when moving the snake to another enclosure then if you feed in the home enclosure. I feed all 6 of my snakes in their home enclosures and I have never been bit or struck at in 2 years.

Try not to think of your snake as "aggressive". He is not actively trying to hurt you, he is scared. You are a big scary monster to him!

[hyperferret]

His cage is a 30 gallon and he's about 30-32 inches long. I have a temperature gradient with the hot side at about 90 degrees and the other side room temp, usually like 77-80 degrees or so (my damn thermometer broke about a week ago, but it hasn't changed and that's what the reading was when it did work..). I have hides and water on both ends.

[Kaorte]

do you happen to have a picture of the setup and/or the snake?

Do you happen to know his age? Can you estimate his girth?

[hyperferret]

His hides are cardboard boxes that get replaced on a regular basis, and I use a basic heat lamp as his heat source and keep my place the same usual temperature for the cooler side.

He's eating young rats- a tiny bit bigger than adult mice. lately I have been thinking that they are too small though, as I compare them to the largest part of him. So perhaps he is not getting enough sustinence when I feed him? I'm not sure of his weight..

Thing is about feeding in a separate enclosure.. this snake is heavily conditioned to it. The moment I put him in it he goes into feeding frenzy mode. Based on my observations of this particular snake I'd say if I fed him in his normal enclosure it would probably affect his behavior.

He has stopped roaming and seems to have settled in one of his hides. I will try giving him some time to chill.

[Kaorte]

Yeah, I think the best thing you can do is just give him some alone time. He should relax

[hyperferret]

do you happen to have a picture of the setup and/or the snake?

Do you happen to know his age? Can you estimate his girth?

I don't have any pics unfortunately and my camera is kind of malfunctioning. :\

I don't know his exact age, but I do know (s?)he is a little over two years old. I'd say he's 6-7 inches around at his largest.

[hyperferret]

Yeah, I think the best thing you can do is just give him some alone time. He should relax

Yeah. I suppose after cleaning his enclosure he might have gotten a little freaked out some more. Maybe he doesn't like change :B

Thanks for such prompt replies! Makes me feel a little less worried about my baby.

[Kaorte]

I don't have any pics unfortunately and my camera is kind of malfunctioning. :\

I don't know his exact age, but I do know (s?)he is a little over two years old. I'd say he's 6-7 inches around at his largest.

ah, at that age he (or she) could probably eat a small rat, around 100 grams.

The prey item should be approximately as large as the largest part of the snakes body.