Always staring at me?

[PeanutButler]

My ball python has developed this habit of watching me and always looking hungry, even the morning after eating.

He came to me about a month ago at 135 grams, and has been taking an adult mouse every week.
He has now taken to laying in his hide with his head sticking out, resting on his water bowl and staring out of the tank, or coiling his neck into an s shape and actively watching us whenever he sees us. When he sees us he will often follow us with his head, or slither out of the hide a bit as though he is waiting for food to show itself.

Is it possible that he's not getting enough food? He has been an amazing eater, last week if I hadn't gotten the mouse into the cage as quickly as I did I think he would've struck out of the cage and snatched it away from me (he was slowly inching towards me and wrapped it right after it was offered). I joke around with my husband that the little guy is plotting something, but I'd really like to know if I should be concerned with how intense he's been. He really does look like he's expecting something from me, but never strikes at the glass or anything like that.

[T_Sauer]

It wouldn't hurt to feed him every 5 days instead of 7 ... I personally feed all of mine every 5 days until they reach 300 grams then I go to every 7 days until they mature up and stop growing rapidly and then I go to a 10 day schedule .... Going from every 7 to every 5 days doesn't seem like much of a difference and is only about 2 to 3 more feeders per month but you would be surprised at the difference it will make

[Smitty33]

My daughters Mohave girl is exactly the same. She just ate a large fuzzy rat last night and is sticking her head out of her hide watching my every move. I changed her water dish and she could have cared less. Never ducked back in or acting afraid at all.

[Coluber42]

Could it also be that, especially the day after feeding, there's still some residual dinner smell around? My little guy has been doing that. Last week's feeding was fairly messy... this week's was less so, but still left a little spot on the paper towel. In both cases, he was hovering around the spot like he thought he was going to get another meal. I didn't want to bother him immediately while he was digesting, but after I came back later and cleaned up, he stopped watching those spots like a mouse was going to spring out of thin air.

[PeanutButler]

Hmm thanks for the suggestions. I will try offering him food a little more frequently. He has also been spending time resting his head on his hide at and angle or knocking down his thermometer and resting his head and neck flat on that. He has no issues with balance though, so it's not stargazing from what I have read. He holds his head quite steady when poking around or staring with his head and neck off the ground. Tonight I was talking to him through the glass and he very slowly started coming towards me with this intense focus.

I'm really at a loss, here. Maybe he just needs to be fed more often.

[T_Sauer]

Hmm thanks for the suggestions. I will try offering him food a little more frequently. He has also been spending time resting his head on his hide at and angle or knocking down his thermometer and resting his head and neck flat on that. He has no issues with balance though, so it's not stargazing from what I have read. He holds his head quite steady when poking around or staring with his head and neck off the ground. Tonight I was talking to him through the glass and he very slowly started coming towards me with this intense focus.

I'm really at a loss, here. Maybe he just needs to be fed more often.

How close was your face to the glass? A possibility is that if you were close enough and you were "talking" to him .... The hot air from your breath as you were speaking created a "hot spot" on the glass, for example when we blow hot air on a cold window so you can write on it with your finger .... Even tho you could not see the fog, ball pythons use their heat receptors to hone in on prey. I'm thinking that your breath warmed a small area on the glass that he could pick up on with his receptors and he was focused on that "hot spot" ..... Was he flicking his tounge a lot?? This is just a theory that popped in my head, but I don't think it is too far fetched to be a possibility

[Nikel]

My kid watches me all the time, normally with his head resting on the edge of his hide or a log, and he'll lift his head and follow me if I get close. The only time he retreats fully into his hide is when the light gets bright or he hears the spray bottle :-)