Severely nippy BP!

[RedDemon5419]

Knowing that the snake is being underfed is definitely contributing to her being "Severely Nippy." A medium mouse is at most 13-15 grams.. That snake at 400+ grams should be on minimum rat pups/weaned rat closer to 30-35 grams.. In no way is a medium mouse inline with her bodyweight.. I would try an appropriate sized meal for a few weeks and she will probably calm down. That is typically when they start growing OUT of their nippy behavior not going into it..

The medium mouse is as big as her largest part of her body. I'm not saying I'm not going to take your advice, but again, using several ellipses appears condescending and it making me not want to trust you, regardless if your info is good or not.

If someone else pipes up and says "Yeah they should probably be on pups by now" despite her literally just breaking 400 grams a few weeks ago. I'll go to my local pet shop and grab a few rat pups to see how she'll handle them.

[Moose84]

The medium mouse is as big as her largest part of her body. I'm not saying I'm not going to take your advice, but again, using several ellipses appears condescending and it making me not want to trust you, regardless if your info is good or not.

If someone else pipes up and says "Yeah they should probably be on pups by now" despite her literally just breaking 400 grams a few weeks ago. I'll go to my local pet shop and grab a few rat pups to see how she'll handle them.

I am going to try and not use as many periods. And if you don't trust me and need someone else to pipe up that's fine too. I have multiple snakes currently at that weight or even a bit smaller and all of them take pups. Sorry I am not like others who sugar coat things and would rather talk about which type of exo-terra tank to use while the owner of the animal is stating that they underfeed it. The fact that i use "ellipses" is maybe just the way my brain puts things onto a forum of discussion. You have to understand this stuff is glaring to me and I want to help you and the animal. I'm not really sure of any other way I could have put that. I would also tell you that by saying "you aren't willing to make certain changes.." on this forum people who have knowledge and understanding will often ignore you and you will continue to use this forum as an echo chamber to make yourself feel better about improperly caring for the animal.

I didn't write this just a heads up... https://ball-pythons.net/forums/show...ing-Guidelines

[Moose84]

Hi! First time posting so bear with me, I apologize if this isn't the right forum to post this in.

I've got a roughly 1 year and say, 4 months old ball python named Astrid, Normal Pastel.
When I first got her she was generally calm and everything, but I got her from a petsmart.
Since i've had her she's bitten me,and nipped herself quite a few times. Thankfully she hasn't hurt herself severely by doing that, but the issue obviously, is that whenever I enter my room and she pokes her head out, she always enters a defensive strike stance.
It's getting very difficult to swap out her water dish daily, even handling her because she's just so defensive and mean when in her tank, but when I get her out of it. She's generally okay.
But because she's getting more and more unpredictable, I'm having a hard time handling her.
Is there a reason why she's so mean? Is it something I'm doing wrong? Husbandry? Other snakes in the room? Is it just a personality thing that'll go away with age when years pass?

My other boy Bjorn is in the same room, and while he's significantly younger, he acts like a normal BP, hides his head when I get near. The usual.
Any advice is appreciated because I love my Astrid to death and it makes me sad that she's so defensive and nippy.

This female is 16 months old and weighs 400 grams? Once again I am trying to help you out. The smallest female I have at around that age is in excess of 900 grams and I don't powerfeed my animals. If I could make a suggestion with all good intentions? Maybe have a little bit of humility here and realize that something isn't right with the way you are keeping the animal. I am passionate about this species and have spent countless hours with animals from 55 grams to breeding females and for you to tell me that at 400 grams and 16 months old in a female ball python that a medium mouse is as big around as the widest part of her body it is laughable when I just fed off rat pups days ago to animals at 250 grams. Once again, I think continuing to educate yourself on their proper care and being less defensive on constructive criticism will go a long way for both you and the animal. So, to kind of close things out knowing what we all know now that snake is probably hungry and that is a main factor in why the animal is being so defensive.

[RedDemon5419]

This female is 16 months old and weighs 400 grams? Once again I am trying to help you out. The smallest female I have at around that age is in excess of 900 grams and I don't powerfeed my animals. If I could make a suggestion with all good intentions? Maybe have a little bit of humility here and realize that something isn't right with the way you are keeping the animal. I am passionate about this species and have spent countless hours with animals from 55 grams to breeding females and for you to tell me that at 400 grams and 16 months old in a female ball python that a medium mouse is as big around as the widest part of her body it is laughable when I just fed off rat pups days ago to animals at 250 grams. Once again, I think continuing to educate yourself on their proper care and being less defensive on constructive criticism will go a long way for both you and the animal. So, to kind of close things out knowing what we all know now that snake is probably hungry and that is a main factor in why the animal is being so defensive.

Of the things I've researched and vary opinions, having a year old ball python seems normal in line between 250 grams and 500 grams. Obviously she's a little older so she could be putting on some more weight, but again, I got her from a petsmart where the feeding charts they gave me were inconsistent with what she was supposedly eating. She was like 170 grams when I got her back in Feb. On the thin side but no where near starving. Her spine was triangle shaped back then and now it's rounded out quite well since I've bulked her up.
I've gotten opinions throughout all sorts of subreddits and forums. I've even asked breeders in youtube comments. "Is she at an okay weight for her size?"
Most if not all of them have said "Yeah she's at a healthy weight, not overly obese or underweight."

This ain't about 'having humility' I've been more than willing to listen to people, and the other responses that I've gotten here I've taken into consideration and stride. I can perfectly disagree with how things should be done with some people too, like I have with you.
I'm more than willing to continue learning, but when you have so many varying opinions on how reptiles should be kept, especially in this community, being told you're wrong when you're doing exactly what other people are doing, (An example being 'Tub vs glass tank' garbage that people love to argue about. Another is a breeder I saw at a reptile show had one year old BPs that were still in small size, and they were fed live but still looked like a hatchling but were perfectly healthy looking.) is going to obviously make people upset, because then you come across as snooty when they're doing things that other breeders and keepers are doing. Each snake is different and just because your ball python is 900 grams at one year, doesn't mean mine has to be as well. Should she be heavier? Probably, and I plan on getting her bulkier because she's closing in on year two now since she's apparently 16 months, because again, I've had to estimate on her birth and how long the store had her for from feeding records until I got her. So in short, I'm planning on improvements with her feeding situation. Her enclosure is perfectly fine the way it is and in no way am I devolving into an 'echo chamber' when you have thousands of opinions of breeders and keepers contradicting one another, I'm taking in as much information as humanly possible.

[Moose84]

I just read back through this thread. I thought I might have missed something but it is now clear to me I haven't. Three things and I will be done as I don't want any trouble from the admins..

1.) I'm not the first person that mentioned to you that the prey was too small.

2.) Please don't take it out on the animal if the behavior continues because you clearly believe you are doing everything right.

3.) I might use too many periods but myself and many others have your animals best interest in mind. It is very clear reading back through this I offended you when talking about tank size and that's not something you are willing to change. It was glaring to me and others that you are underfeeding the animal. I can only say what I see based off of experiencing and keeping multiple animals. You have been keeping this species for 9 months and you are starting to see the shortcomings of your care.

Best of luck sir/mam..

[walzon1]

Of the things I've researched and vary opinions, having a year old ball python seems normal in line between 250 grams and 500 grams. Obviously she's a little older so she could be putting on some more weight, but again, I got her from a petsmart where the feeding charts they gave me were inconsistent with what she was supposedly eating. She was like 170 grams when I got her back in Feb. On the thin side but no where near starving. Her spine was triangle shaped back then and now it's rounded out quite well since I've bulked her up.
I've gotten opinions throughout all sorts of subreddits and forums. I've even asked breeders in youtube comments. "Is she at an okay weight for her size?"
Most if not all of them have said "Yeah she's at a healthy weight, not overly obese or underweight."

This ain't about 'having humility' I've been more than willing to listen to people, and the other responses that I've gotten here I've taken into consideration and stride. I can perfectly disagree with how things should be done with some people too, like I have with you.
I'm more than willing to continue learning, but when you have so many varying opinions on how reptiles should be kept, especially in this community, being told you're wrong when you're doing exactly what other people are doing, (An example being 'Tub vs glass tank' garbage that people love to argue about. Another is a breeder I saw at a reptile show had one year old BPs that were still in small size, and they were fed live but still looked like a hatchling but were perfectly healthy looking.) is going to obviously make people upset, because then you come across as snooty when they're doing things that other breeders and keepers are doing. Each snake is different and just because your ball python is 900 grams at one year, doesn't mean mine has to be as well. Should she be heavier? Probably, and I plan on getting her bulkier because she's closing in on year two now since she's apparently 16 months, because again, I've had to estimate on her birth and how long the store had her for from feeding records until I got her. So in short, I'm planning on improvements with her feeding situation. Her enclosure is perfectly fine the way it is and in no way am I devolving into an 'echo chamber' when you have thousands of opinions of breeders and keepers contradicting one another, I'm taking in as much information as humanly possible.

Honestly I've been on and off this forum for awhile and while I disagree with attacking behavior of some members but they don't offer bad advice. Think of it as overly passionate for the care of animals. Simply what you were told was wrong. These members know what they are talking about. I've had a veterian tell me my 400g male should be fed pinkies. A lot of bad advice out there. Try not to take it personal and stick to this forum to learn. Your BP is severely under weight for it's age. My male is 400g and only 7 months BTW and I feel like he is under fed and should weigh more. Breeders are usually around 600g at 7-8 months so.....

Sent from my moto g(6) using Tapatalk

[Craiga 01453]

The medium mouse is as big as her largest part of her body. I'm not saying I'm not going to take your advice, but again, using several ellipses appears condescending and it making me not want to trust you, regardless if your info is good or not.

If someone else pipes up and says "Yeah they should probably be on pups by now" despite her literally just breaking 400 grams a few weeks ago. I'll go to my local pet shop and grab a few rat pups to see how she'll handle them.

Medium mice are way too small. I've attached a link to a very well trusted feeding chart.

https://ball-pythons.net/forums/show...ing-Guidelines

[RedDemon5419]

Honestly I've been on and off this forum for awhile and while I disagree with attacking behavior of some members but they don't offer bad advice. Think of it as overly passionate for the care of animals. Simply what you were told was wrong. These members know what they are talking about. I've had a veterian tell me my 400g male should be fed pinkies. A lot of bad advice out there. Try not to take it personal and stick to this forum to learn. Your BP is severely under weight for it's age. My male is 400g and only 7 months BTW and I feel like he is under fed and should weigh more. Breeders are usually around 600g at 7-8 months so.....

Sent from my moto g(6) using Tapatalk

Well as I've said, I'm always willing learn more and I definitely plan on upping her meal size. Being passionate I understand, but there's also being passionate and being mean. Being passionate doesn't justify being mean.

In any event I will keep things updated with her and her weight.