My 5-year-old, Mordred, has always been very timid but sweet. She has her routine and part of that is when I feed her, I take her log and water out, then come back a half hour later and put fresh water and her log back in after she's done eating. She takes long drink, then goes to sleep in her warm hide to digest.

For the first time tonight, after I gave her the thawed rat just how she likes it, I was about an hour late with putting things back in her enclosure. When I walked in, she was sitting on top of her rock huffing and hissing loud and fast. I thought that she had developed a sudden respiratory infection or was choking on rat fur. I took her out so I could replace her items (since the log goes over the rock) and she stopped huffing. When I put her back in, she drank her water and went to her warm hide, just like normal.

I know she likes her routine and has major aversion to change, but can snakes tell time? It was the most bizarre thing I have ever seen a reptile do, like she was having a scaly panic attack. Could she really have known I was a little late giving back her log and water? Or do all ball pythons have to drink water immediately after they eat? I know she gets a little huffy when I change her substrate and she spends hours inspecting it until she feels safe, but I was really surprised that my tardiness seemed to bothered her so much. I'll never disrupt her routine again lol