Hello all,

My ball python experience started about 1 year ago when a friend was showing me some of his BP's and how cool they are to have around. Before I knew it, he was helping me build a rack system, and I was the proud owner of a male pinstripe BP, and two female pastels. They are all 3 doing great. They feed well, are extremely easy to handle, and they are from what I can tell, happy little BP's. The pinstripe male is going to be big enough to try to breed this year, however, the two pastel females are not going to be ready. So, I picked up a "proven" female normal BP that is currently at 1800 grams. I purchased her from a reputable breeder, and she hasn't missed a meal in her new home. She is in great shape, and just had a good, clean shed. I must say that even just being a normal BP, she's a beauty of an animal.

BUT, despite husbandry being in check, being well fed, and the overall great health she's in, she is one grumpy animal. I left her alone in her tub (didn't handle her) for about 5 days when she first got here, and for the past few weeks I've been trying to handle her a little bit each night. But, she is still very reactive when I get my hand underneath her to pick her up. It's quite a challenge to get her out of the tub without getting tagged, and once she's out of the tub, if I allow her even the slightest chance to perch on me, she will quickly take defensive measures. Now getting bit by her isn't the worst thing that could happen in life, but it is getting a little "old" at this point.

She did come from a large facility with a lot of snakes, so I'm sure being a normal BP she wasn't getting handled a lot as they have many "cooler" snakes to get out and show people. So I'm wondering at this point if there's much hope of changing her disposition, or if like me, she is too set in her ways to change. I do not own a snake hook, and I don't really want to get one since all I deal with are these four BP's, just i'm a bit concerned that she could injure herself biting me, and if a hook might help mitigate some of her attempts to chew my hand off, I'm happy to buy one for her benefit.

Are there any other things I need to look into for getting her to be more at ease? She is in a sterilite tub, temp and humidity are great, she does have a hide box, and again, she eats like a champ. The only thing that is off about her is the attitude.

I appreciate any advice you all are willing to share in regard to making her a little bit "happier" with her life.

Thanks!