Enclosure to tub behavior change

[LittleTreeGuy]

Okay, so maybe this is normal behavior, I'm not sure... but wanted to throw it out there and see if it's just my snake, or if anyone else has seen this. I got my first bp in early November 2015 (2 months ago). I had her in an enclosure I picked up at an expo (seen below). It was higher than I liked, and because it was very thin-walled, it didn't hold much heat. A large UTH and CHE were used to keep temps on the low end of acceptable. So, I started studying up on tubs. I decided to build a rack, and move her over to a tub. She's around 130g now, so I went with a 15qt tub with two small hides and a water bowl. I know the hides aren't "needed" but she had two before, so I gave her two in the tub.

Now, the strange part... when she was in her enclosure, I could open it and remove her from her hide and she was fine. I felt like she felt very comfortable being handled. I've had her in the tub setup for about three weeks now, and gave her some time to get used to the change. When I take her out of the tub now, she coils up and seems very hesitant to move around. Almost like she's scared. After 5 minutes or so or if I put her on my lap, she'll loosen up a little bit.

I am wondering if there is something in the snakes brain that now that it's home is a dark hiding spot, anything out of that "norm" could be threatening. Where as before, it had a large, open front to see the room and activity in the room, so it become more used to that outside behavior.

Does that make sense? Maybe she just needs more time to get used to the new home?


Here is a picture of the old setup and new tub setup.

old setup temps/humidity: 88/77/40-50%
New setup temps/humidity: 92/81/60-70%

[Slim]

First off, that is one great lookin' Mojo!

Hard to say what the issue might be. Could be a phase she's going thru. Might be early pre shed behavior. Could be any one of a million things we'll never think of. It's good news that she seems to relax after the initial defensive behavior. To be honest, I think a lot of young BPs will do that. Just a built in mechanism courtesy of Mother Nature.

Best advice I've ever gotten in this hobby: "Sometimes ball pythons do weird crap"

[LittleTreeGuy]

First off, that is one great lookin' Mojo!

thanks man. She caught my eye and I just couldn't pass her up.

Best advice I've ever gotten in this hobby: "Sometimes ball pythons do weird crap"

This made me laugh out loud and actually sounds like it's pretty accurate. I may go with that. LOL

[bcr229]

While the plural of anecdote is not data I've taken in several snakes who used to live in sub-optimum environments, and their personalities changed from chill and laid back to hissy, pissy, and defensive once they were moved into a decent enclosure.

A lot of people state that their snakes get "aggressive" or "defensive" if given a hide (e.g. adult boas or retics), or if they live in a tub/rack setup versus a tank (ball pythons).

I think there is a good reason for the difference. If a snake is not secure or comfortable, it really doesn't care if it's moved out of that environment. A snake in an open enclosure or without a hide feels exposed, and thus isn't happy or secure in its home. So, when you come along and take the snake out of that environment, it really doesn't care because it wasn't in a good place to begin with.

[anthropomorphization on]
Suppose you live in the ghetto. Your apartment is never comfortable - too cold in the winter, too hot in the summer, and it's always so dry your skin cracks. It's also dirty and it stinks like raw sewage. The food you're given smells nasty, you can hear your neighbors fighting through the walls, and last week the lady across the hall got robbed. If you get pulled out of there you may fuss a bit but you're not really unhappy about leaving that environment.

Now suppose you're dropped into a five-star hotel. Your temperatures and humidity are perfect. You have a comfortable bed, cable tv, gourmet meals, and top tier security in the building. If someone tries to pull you out of there against your will, of course you're going to fuss, try to hide in a closet, grab whatever you can on the way out, or even bite whoever is fooling with you, because you REALLY don't want to leave.
[anthropomorphization off]

So, my opinion: if your snake is defensive or fussing about being removed from its home, it's because your snake is happy, comfortable, and secure in its home.

[Hannahshissyfix]

First off, that is one great lookin' Mojo!

Best advice I've ever gotten in this hobby: "Sometimes ball pythons do weird crap"

Haha this! In general id say babies are more touchy and go through phases. Are you maybe over handling it? If you've only had her for 2 months and she's been through 2 enclosure changes I'd probably try to give her plenty of alone time. I know it's hard when there so cute!

[LittleTreeGuy]

While the plural of anecdote is not data I've taken in several snakes who used to live in sub-optimum environments, and their personalities changed from chill and laid back to hissy, pissy, and defensive once they were moved into a decent enclosure.

A lot of people state that their snakes get "aggressive" or "defensive" if given a hide (e.g. adult boas or retics), or if they live in a tub/rack setup versus a tank (ball pythons).

I think there is a good reason for the difference. If a snake is not secure or comfortable, it really doesn't care if it's moved out of that environment. A snake in an open enclosure or without a hide feels exposed, and thus isn't happy or secure in its home. So, when you come along and take the snake out of that environment, it really doesn't care because it wasn't in a good place to begin with.

[anthropomorphization on]
Suppose you live in the ghetto. Your apartment is never comfortable - too cold in the winter, too hot in the summer, and it's always so dry your skin cracks. It's also dirty and it stinks like raw sewage. The food you're given smells nasty, you can hear your neighbors fighting through the walls, and last week the lady across the hall got robbed. If you get pulled out of there you may fuss a bit but you're not really unhappy about leaving that environment.

Now suppose you're dropped into a five-star hotel. Your temperatures and humidity are perfect. You have a comfortable bed, cable tv, gourmet meals, and top tier security in the building. If someone tries to pull you out of there against your will, of course you're going to fuss, try to hide in a closet, grab whatever you can on the way out, or even bite whoever is fooling with you, because you REALLY don't want to leave.
[anthropomorphization off]

So, my opinion: if your snake is defensive or fussing about being removed from its home, it's because your snake is happy, comfortable, and secure in its home.

I get it, and it makes sense. I never looked at it that way....

[LittleTreeGuy]

Haha this! In general id say babies are more touchy and go through phases. Are you maybe over handling it? If you've only had her for 2 months and she's been through 2 enclosure changes I'd probably try to give her plenty of alone time. I know it's hard when there so cute!

I'm hoping so... I've cut back on my handling from almost to daily to just a few minutes every few days. I hope she gets better with it, but she's healthy, so that's the important part.