Need support and advice on taming/handling ball python.

[Joshwah]

Hi guys

I had my ball python called "Udon" for slightly over a month now. When i got him, he ate no problem. I handled him 2 days later and seemed ok, he was never in striking position and was curled up in a ball on my hand for 15 minutes.

That night he spilled his water dish, i put my hand in it and he was out his cage slithering around and climbing on the edges, and he just flicked back and bit me. from that day on i was hesitant to handle him. i handled him about 3-4 times after that. but he is now so aggressive. he hides in his box, the lid can be taken off, whenver i do that, he goes into a "s" shape and strikes at the lid as im taking it off.

Once i was feeding him and after he made his kill he went crazy and went striking like 20-30 times at the glass door. I will get background soon.

I also tried to use a snake hook and rub his body before handling him, he buffs up and hardens and forms a S curve ready to strike.

I am super scared of this guy now idk what to do. pls help.

I also tried handling him 2 days after he was fed, no difference.

If you need any more details pls comment down below


just some details about my cage and ball python
hes around 75cm
3 years old
champagne morph
male
he is hydrated properly even though i have never seen him drink. his skin is not wrinkly at all
he is fed a large mouse every week(around monday afternoons)
his cage is 60cmx35cm and is 40cm high.
his substrate is reptibark
he has 2 hides
1 is a cave like thing and other is a small box which i made a whole in it

[Bogertophis]

The best way to change a snake's attitude is to change yours.

What I mean is that he is feeling your lack of confidence, and it's scaring him. You aren't communicating to him that he's safe with you...instead you're
convincing him that he has something to fear. You say that now you are 'super-scared of this guy now' but why? Is this your first snake? Maybe it's just
not meant to be... I mean, no one has ever died from a ball python bite, I promise you. A bite isn't pleasant but most are avoidable if you can manage to
have more empathy with how frightened your snake is of YOU.

Also, you are feeding live...and that alone can make a snake far more "pumped up" & likely to nip. You say he is 3 years old...so he should NOT be eating
every week...but it's also possible that he's being under-fed & is hungry for larger prey. Imagine if you never had lunch or dinner, but only snacks.

The time he was climbing on the edges of his cage (after spilling his water bowl)...he felt very vulnerable being out in the open like that...many snakes that
are perfectly calm with handling may react in a similar way if you put them on the ground, then come back to scoop them up. Snakes do NOT see well, and
they don't generally recognize us visually, so once you let go of them & aren't close enough to identify by scent, they get fearful that we are an approaching
predator rather than the human they already know. They know us best by our touch & scent. They use their heat sensing pits to detect both prey & predators,
but that won't tell them which one.

[Joshwah]

The best way to change a snake's attitude is to change yours.

What I mean is that he is feeling your lack of confidence, and it's scaring him. You aren't communicating to him that he's safe with you...instead you're
convincing him that he has something to fear. You say that now you are 'super-scared of this guy now' but why? Is this your first snake? Maybe it's just
not meant to be... I mean, no one has ever died from a ball python bite, I promise you. A bite isn't pleasant but most are avoidable if you can manage to
have more empathy with how frightened your snake is of YOU.

Also, you are feeding live...and that alone can make a snake far more "pumped up" & likely to nip. You say he is 3 years old...so he should NOT be eating
every week...but it's also possible that he's being under-fed & is hungry for larger prey. Imagine if you never had lunch or dinner, but only snacks.

The time he was climbing on the edges of his cage (after spilling his water bowl)...he felt very vulnerable being out in the open like that...many snakes that
are perfectly calm with handling may react in a similar way if you put them on the ground, then come back to scoop them up. Snakes do NOT see well, and
they don't generally recognize us visually, so once you let go of them & aren't close enough to identify by scent, they get fearful that we are an approaching
predator rather than the human they already know. They know us best by our touch & scent. They use their heat sensing pits to detect both prey & predators,
but that won't tell them which one.

I Forgot to mention that he only climbs around at NIGHT. Around 1-3am.'
I don't quite understand what i mean by changing my attitude.
Should i just go for it and pick him up?
Even if i do, he is curled up into a ball and in striking position.
are there any tips on how to hold him?
and how to get him comfortable with you?

[Luvyna]

Udon sounds like a very scared ball python, if I remember correctly you've mentioned before that he has barely been handled with his previous owner and that's probably why.

I think going for it and picking him up is a good place to get started, actually. There are some ways to reduce the chances of getting bitten when you do this, one is to hold up one hand in front of your BP (out of striking range, which is around half the snake's body length) and move your fingers around to distract him. Once he is focusing on your hand, go in with your other hand from behind and pick him up. It's best to do this as quickly and confidently as possible, because the longer you hesitate, the more nervous and riled up your BP gets.

Once your BP is in your hands, put him in your lap and cover him with a towel. They feel safe in dark, enclosed spaces and this will reduce the chances he'll try to bite you, especially if you just leave him in your lap without holding him. Even if he does try to bite you, keep him on your lap anyway. Let him get used to your smell and being close to you, and that will help him learn that you won't cause him any harm. If you really don't want to get bitten you could wear long sleeves and some gardening gloves when handling.

Many people have had amazing success with taming defensive snakes into calmer ones. Some snakes also never fully become tame and always have a tendency to strike. Some snakes are just like this and that's okay. They all have their own personalities, and the nice thing about snappy BPs is that they tend to be good eaters. The important thing to remember is that BPs bite out of fear, not out of aggression, and good ways to reduce fear are getting them familiar with you and acting confident when you are handling them.

[Zincubus]

Royal / Ball pythons are by far the easiest snakes to handle in my experience.

It’s understandable that you’re nervous after the bite but ....

In your case .. I’d suggest using your hook.. .. the trick with all snakes , imho, is to approach them CALMLY with your hand and get hold of them GENTLY about about a third of the way down from their head .. AGAIN in your case you can direct it’s head away from your hand with the hook and use the other hand to get hold of it .. it won’t try and bite so you can drop the hook and support the rest of the snake with that hand.

It’s really hard for me to explain in words due to my dyslexia/Aspergers but you maybe able to understand.

If not just search YouTube for handling tips for newbies/ nervous keepers ,

Good luck !


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

[fadingdaylight]

Another thought, but a large mouse once a week for a three year old BP doesn't sound like enough food to me. Perhaps try moving him over to rats, get a decent sized meal in him, even if less often, wait the standard 48 hrs after the meal for the prey drive to die down and the digestion to take hold, then pop that lid off. As other suggested, be confident. I was nervous at first and my BP struck at me once, early on, due to my own mistake. He missed, but it was enough to learn. Now, I only handle during the day. I use hand sanitizer before opening the enclosure every time, for hygiene and to create a distinct scent. Then I reach in, tap three times on the hide, and lift it off of him. Then I touch gently on his back somewhere to let him know it's me, then scoop him up. Seems to work like a charm, we have both mellowed out significantly.

[bcr229]

This is a good video of how to handle a defensive snake: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VDjlg1njtfY

[ckuhn003]

You say he is 3 years old...so he should NOT be eating every week...

Sorry to hijack this thread but this statement caught me a little off guard and I want to make sure I'm doing the right thing with my BP.

I've been using BP feeding charts which gives prey size and days in between feeding. The recommended range for a smaller BP (up to 600grams) is 5-7 days while larger BPs are 7 days. Since I consider my BP to be on the picky side, we've hit a nice little spurt where he's pounding Rats so I've been feeding him every 7-10 days because I know at some point he's going to refuse and go off feed. It seems like it's the only way for him to pack on some weight.

[Bogertophis]

Sorry to hijack this thread but this statement caught me a little off guard and I want to make sure I'm doing the right thing with my BP.

I've been using BP feeding charts which gives prey size and days in between feeding. The recommended range for a smaller BP (up to 600grams) is 5-7 days while larger BPs are 7 days. Since I consider my BP to be on the picky side, we've hit a nice little spurt where he's pounding Rats so I've been feeding him every 7-10 days because I know at some point he's going to refuse and go off feed. It seems like it's the only way for him to pack on some weight.

I wouldn't worry...it sounds like you're doing OK with yours, but when BPs get more mature (the OP's is a 3 year old) they tend to do better eating larger prey, which
takes longer to digest, so the time between feedings is longer, depending on exact sizes of prey. Also, I think you'll find at some point a BP that is several years old will
go on more fasts when food is offered too much or too often. It's very hard to help online when we aren't SEEING the actual snake, & from the behavior described by the
OP, I just suspected that his 3 year old BP is not only scared of handling, but that he's also hungry for larger prey (rats not mice). Just my guess, & I could be wrong.

[Moose84]

Sounds like this snake is acting normally for the most part. Normally as far as being out at nights etc... It's obviously stressed being handled and sounds food aggressive.. I can't imagine however feeding a 3 year old ball python just one mouse every week. You need to bump that up to a small rat. Is there anyway you can get a weight on him and give it to us and maybe some pictures of the snake and set up?