Hissing?

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I have a new Oct. 07 ball that was a rescue of sorts.

I haven't handled her much; just letting her eat and relax. She has eaten twice for me and seems more energetic. Today I went to pick her up to check up on her breathing etc, and she didn't move at all when I lifted her hide. Once she was free of the hide, she sat there a second, then let out a HUGE breath, and her sides visibly collapsed, like she had been holding her breath for a LONG time.

Then she was fine and breathing normally when I lifted her out. There was no defensive behavior at all when I reached in.

Was this a hiss? It didn't sound like how my corn snakes hiss, and she wasn't being defensive (so far as I can tell). Was it just a big sigh?

Just wondering, as I have never heard a ball hiss??
Thanks.

[giaach]

Sounds to me like a big exhale. Balls hiss pretty much like other snakes ( the ssssss sound). If she's a rescue, she could have had bad experiences with being picked up and the long exhale might have just been a pseudo hiss in defence.

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Sounds to me like a big exhale. Balls hiss pretty much like other snakes ( the ssssss sound). If she's a rescue, she could have had bad experiences with being picked up and the long exhale might have just been a pseudo hiss in defence.

Ok, well, that makes sense. I was thinking that if it was a hiss it was a pretty pathetic one. I just have this feeling that her "good" attitude can be attributed mostly to her being starved by her previous owner, and that as soon as she gets some more meals into her she may become a little terror haha.

It was just the strangest thing when she did that...I had never seen a snake do that before. I listened to her breathing very closely afterwards to make sure she wasn't wheezing, but she seemed to be breathing quietly and normally....

[littleindiangirl]

It was a hiss lol, just a big lazy one.

Another little tid bit, snakes lungs are full when relaxed, they have to force the air out and compress their lungs to breath. Opposite of humans, our lungs are empty when relaxed, and have to expand our diaphram to breath. You startled her when she was sleeping and she let you know.

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It was a hiss lol, just a big lazy one.

Another little tid bit, snakes lungs are full when relaxed, they have to force the air out and compress their lungs to breath. Opposite of humans, our lungs are empty when relaxed, and have to expand our diaphram to breath. You startled her when she was sleeping and she let you know.

Hahah OK. I am fine with her having an attitude! She is so skinny and now that she has had a few meals in her she is spunking up a bit, which is cool with me! I could tell even when she was lethargic that she had a higher fear response than my other BP Meerah. I think I need to go out and buy soft cotton gloves in anticipation lol!

Once she gets fatter she'll probably be interesting to handle.

[littleindiangirl]

My pissy ones always turn out to be the best feeders! She'll do fine with some handling

[frankykeno]

Rescues sometimes do that. Act so laid back because the poor things just don't have the energy or interest in life to act defensively. For me, I love it when I see that first spark, whether it's gentle exploration or a bit of attitude. At least it means they are back in the land of the living so to speak.

[clipclopclip]

Rescues sometimes do that. Act so laid back because the poor things just don't have the energy or interest in life to act defensively. For me, I love it when I see that first spark, whether it's gentle exploration or a bit of attitude. At least it means they are back in the land of the living so to speak.

Tell me about it! Last night was her first night in about two and a half weeks of being here with me that she actually made any effort to climb the walls of her tank and nose at the lid! In two and a half weeks!

I was pretty excited about that as I fell asleep last night, and then found this morning a beautiful healthy-looking poop on her cool side! I took it into the vet hospital right away to get a fecal done for possible parasites, so hopefully they'll let me know tomorrow if she needs to be dewormed.

I am just happy that she is eating, pooping, and getting some energy! I certainly don't mind her acting defensive if that means she's coming back to being a normal healthy hatchling!

[frankykeno]

Rachel, there's a syndrome Dave and Tracy Barker talk about in their book "Ball Pythons - The History, Natural History, Care and Breeding" that they call LONHS - Lights-are-on-but-nobody's-home. An amazing book btw and well worth purchasing.

Anyways, they describe this as a syndrome where the snake is there but not there. So stressed out it is really not engaged in it's life, uncaring of what is happening around it and usually unwilling to feed. It's often seen in wild caught adults and is a result they say of stress and shock.

We've personally witnessed this in two adults we rehabbed and it's a long, slow process to bring them back. Blessedly, with a lot of help from experienced people here, we were able to accomplish this and now have two lovely adult females that are continuing to learn to accept captivity.

I can tell you the first time one of them hissed at me - after a long time of her just existing coiled up in a terrified ball - I was so thrilled I posted about it here! Saoirse finally cared enough about life to give me attitude! It was one of those moments of snake keeping that I will always treasure. Saoirse's never looked back either, she's still a challenge sometimes but she's coming along and triumphing over what was done to her.

Sometimes hissing is a very precious thing.

[Argentra]

Oh I hear that. My little rescue pastel always pulls his neck into 'S' position when I touch him, let alone pick him up, and wouldn't move. But last time, he actually stretched his head out a bit and looked around! I'm hoping he's finally taking interest in life again, although he still has not pooed for me.

Glad to hear your little one is 'waking up' as it were.