Slight aggression signs?

[hurricaNe]

Hello, ive got a bumble bee male, who i've had for about 2 years going on three now and lately ive noticed that hes getting some what "aggressive". At times when i'm near the front of the tank and he notices a movement he shoots his head towards me really fast and creeps towards the front. when i reach my hand in the tank, same thing, he shoots his head towards me and looks as if he is thinking about striking me, but never does. I do not feed in the tank nor do i feed live. One other thing i know that snakes can be aggressive when they are in shed mode, but i did a check on all my balls to see if they're alright and about 3 days ago i did notice he was in shed but i had a problem when i had him on my arm. He had a SUPER tight grip on me and i mean like fully wrapped around me from tail to head and i felt that my arm was sort of losing blood circulation, this is strange because he has never done something like this, also, he was kind of stiff and was holding a strange formation and was really hard to get him to let go of my arm/untangle him off, and again i know not to handle snakes when they're in shed mode but i was only checking for something like a shed, and in this case he was shedding. Any insight as to why he whips his head lately at me? Could it of been that he was going into shed mode a week prior and i just wasn't too sure..?

[eatgoodfood]

Hes either hungry or scared. Where is his cage, what does he weigh, and what and how often are you feeding?

[hurricaNe]

I feed every week, its in the living room but i live alone and hes always been there with no problems. not sure on his weight dont have a scale. the tank is also black pvc so everythings dark and hes nicely covered with leaves.

[eatgoodfood]

Hmm... I would honestly still think hungry, I would try to get your hands on a scale and weigh him. You said he's 3 years old? What type and size of prey are you feeding?

[hurricaNe]

im feeding him small rats.

[bcr229]

In your OP you said that you don't feed live, so I'll assume f/t. Are you feeding the Arctic Mice or similar brand small rats? Because those are 50 grams (listed as 100 grams net weight per package of 2), which are barely bigger than a weanling rat. If your guy is pushing 3 years old he can eat bigger meals than that.

[hurricaNe]

To be honest, maybe your understanding of "small" rats are different, im not sure the rats are about 3 inches long and 1 and a half diameter? but anyways besides the food, because i have it under control, but my concern is more towards the super tight grip he had on me and didn't want to let go one bit, hes never squeezed so hard before let alone locked himself to the point where i could barely uncoil him.

[Bugmom]

Just guessing, but maybe being in shed he felt insecure about maintaining a good grip so he gripped extra tight?

Or he was just giving you a full body snake hug

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[Bugmom]

Oh and the rat sounds too small for a snake his age, assuming he's the normal size of a 3 year old bp. I'd move him up a size.

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[Inarikins]

The gripping tightly is a sign of insecurity (ie you're not a good perch and he feels like he is going to fall) and the 'aggression' is going to be hunger. I would start feeding him something around 100 grams (and weigh it, don't just guess) and see if he calms down after that. Weigh him, and his prey items. This time of the year, and at his age, he's no doubt trying to get ready for the breeding season (whether or not you have females) and they try to pack in all the food they can. My 'small' is a rat that's going to be 40-60 grams, which would be fine for an off-season male, but I would try getting him what I consider a 'medium', which is going to be a rat 100-150 grams and see what he thinks about that.