Aggressive Snake?

[jarocho151]

So, maybe around 4 months ago I put my BP in a 40 gallon tank. on the right side was her
hot spot with a new and bigger cave. and on the right I put back his old smaller cave, on
the cold side. She went in to her old cave and the next day I realized that she was still
in her old cave so I went in to check. she was still there and cold to the touch. As I
picked her up I went to put my right hand under her as to hold her in a ball. Before I had
my hand fully on her belly she stricked and bit me. First time she did. I was startle, but
I brought her to my belly to warm her up.
Everything was ok for a few weeks. Then I started to notice she would look down to my hand,
and one day she looked down and was opening her mouth but I was able to switch hands and
pull her away. The next time I was was going to pick her up, again she bite me. I Believe in
total has has biten my about 4 times. Now im more cautious and started to wear globes.
Can someone help me understand what is going on? Did she change because of how cold she got?
She was about 8 months old when she start to bite, and I fed her every week. Not sure what
went wrong. hope someone could shed some light.
thanks.

[Stewart_Reptiles]

It's either stress to to husbandry that is not suiting her or she is not fed enough.

[Godzilla78]

Why are you keeping the snake in a cold tank? The cool side should never drop below 76 degrees Fahrenheit minimum, preferably 80 degrees.

[jarocho151]

Thanks for the reply.
So i feed her ones a week, a mice a little bigger than her biggest diameter.
Also she has a hot stop on the right and a colder side on the left.
the room she is in, is never below 75-80. with her hot spot having a heat mat and a heat
bulb on top in case its cold.
I been keeping good track of temp and humidity. since to be
right.
also it seems like she is always rushing to my hand when i dont wear the gloves.
Can I do something to fix her behavior? or is it to late?
Not sure why she would not go to the hot side, instead she stayed on the cold side all night.

[Nathanhimmerich]

Have you tried putting the preferred hide on the hot side? Sometimes these animals are quite sentimental I've noticed. I had one which was going to outgrow her hide, so I provided a second one to transition to. She stayed in the old hide, so I put it on the hot side, she stayed in it until she couldn't really hide in it whatsoever. I realized I had to be more stubborn than her and removed the hide altogether and left the appropriately sized hide on the hot side. She learned quickly at that and she was the same way on the next upgrade. Luckily I now know that being stubborn is sometimes the best for the health of the snakes.

You're not doing anything to put the snake at risk by not monitoring the cold side, but if you want the snake to be happy rather than surviving, get the cold side up to 80 consistently. I know that takes some money and work, but you're asking for advice and that's the only advice I can immediately give. Humidity is another factor, and you say it's good, but if the snake isn't handling well then make sure humidity is also on point. It's easy to tell thr humidity is where it should be if the shed is coming off as one piece, or close to it, and the substrate is not actually wet for long (this can lead to a respiratory infection, sometimes fatal). The only other potential problems I can think of are appropriate substrate (easy to research whether your preferred is ok for their health, so many good options), and overhandling. Handling your snake when they are in blue (just about to shed and basically blind because of the blue caps on their eyes), within a few hours of eating (safe to say wait until the next day), or more often than roughly 30 minutes a day. Some can handle more time, but their body language is easily misunderstood. A snake that seems like it is happy but exploring a lot might be actually nervous as can be and frantically searching for a place to hide, for instance.

A lot of things to consider, but all of these things become routine and I don't mean to talk down to you if it seems I am. I hope some piece of this is helpful and makes you and your snake buddy happier.

Best wishes.

[Stewart_Reptiles]

Thanks for the reply.
So i feed her ones a week, a mice a little bigger than her biggest diameter.
Also she has a hot stop on the right and a colder side on the left.
the room she is in, is never below 75-80. with her hot spot having a heat mat and a heat
bulb on top in case its cold.
I been keeping good track of temp and humidity. since to be
right.
also it seems like she is always rushing to my hand when i dont wear the gloves.
Can I do something to fix her behavior? or is it to late?
Not sure why she would not go to the hot side, instead she stayed on the cold side all night.

She does not go on the hot side because she feels insecure and prefer the smaller hide, BP will chose security over thermo-regulation.

Chances are there are also more husbandry issues.

What is you BP weight?

How do you measure you temps (type of thermometers)

How often do you handle the animal.

[savora]

Also, what size rat do you feed?

[jarocho151]

I dont have a way to weight her, but she is biting and letting go right away, so im ot sure its hunger.
Also the code side is around 77, so it needs to be above 80?
she has been sheding good. but the last one was in alot of little pieces. i will continue so think about what i can do better to help her.
Also after that day I took out the older one just do it didnt happen again. i felt horrible.
I will be buying a bigger heating mat just to see if she brings up the temp.

[bcr229]

Do you have your heat sources regulated by thermostats now?