Adult ball python suddenly hissing

[snakemother]

Hello! We've had one of our male ball pythons for about 6 years (he's around nine), always in the same rack system, no changes. He's always been really easy going and actually the one we use in educational shows for folks to touch.

Picking him up out of the tub 2 nights ago he hissed every time (3 times) we touched him. Finally threw a towel over him to get him out and check him over. He acted normally once he picked him up. He seemed fine, except in shed, but he's been out of his tub before briefly while in shed many times for cleanings.

The only two things I could think of were, first, we usually don't get them out in the evening. The second is there was a storm coming in I was unaware of, but thunder cracked loudly shortly after we got him out.
Edit - just thought of something else - here in Michigan we were having a heatwave, probably mid 90's in here with no air-conditioning.

Could this just be a fluke thing or since it's so out of his normal behaviour should I be concerned for him healthwise? Thanks for reading this, and any advice.

[Lord Sorril]

Edit - just thought of something else - here in Michigan we were having a heatwave, probably mid 90's in here with no air-conditioning.

Mid 90's can easily heat stroke or even kill your ball python: Him being irritable under these conditions would be the least of my concerns.

[redshepherd]

Yeah, if the ambient temp is a constant mid 90's and he doesn't have a spot somewhere to cool down, that's dangerous. Ball pythons being a tropical species have a higher tolerance for that than some others, but that's not safe at all.

Behavior-wise, I've heard of snakes becoming defensive in hot unsuitable temperatures, so that would also explain it.

[snakemother]

Thank you guys - luckily the heat has broken here and the house is in the mid eighties now. I'm going to pay more attention to the heat in the snake room from now on - it's in the basement so a couple degrees lower than the house temps, so was probably low nineties last week. I have a thermostat on the rack to be sure it stays warm enough in the winter, but guess I need find a way to bring temps down on unusually hot days. Thanks so much for your imput!

[Bogertophis]

Thank you guys - luckily the heat has broken here and the house is in the mid eighties now. I'm going to pay more attention to the heat in the snake room from now on - it's in the basement so a couple degrees lower than the house temps, so was probably low nineties last week. I have a thermostat on the rack to be sure it stays warm enough in the winter, but guess I need find a way to bring temps down on unusually hot days. Thanks so much for your imput!

If your "snake room" is staying 88* or above, I'd turn off their supplemental heat (of whatever kind you're using) for sure.

Over heating a snake can make them cranky, sure, but can also cause neurological damage (permanently) or even death.

If nothing else, put a big closed container (like a capped plastic jug- for safety in case your snake knocks it over) of cold water in the cage to bring down the temps.

[dr del]

Hi,

Also the fact he is in shed and cannot see as well as normal may make him defensive - hissing would be fairly normal at that point.

I'm glad the temps broke though.