Hey everyone, I tried looking online to see what may cause him to act this way and the only conclusion I may come to is that I may have startled him by such a change in atmosphere and he became stressed quickly.

Situation explanation, I have had my Royal for nearly two years now and the owner before me had him for about five years, I work in the Everglades around around other reptiles and animals and many co workers on site who have seen my snake said that he is a very healthy looking 3 footer. Living in Florida, the outdoor temperature constantly changes from extreme hots to humid to rainy to even at night sometimes freezing. My python is in a 40 gallon tank, has a wicker woven upside down basket hide that i intertwined vines through, an AstroTurf substrate, a glass waterbowl big enough for him to soak in that has vines and smooth rocks around it, I have an under the tank heating pad and a night glo light thats 50 watt considering my room tends to already be hot, I don't want him to be cooking in the tank, I change his water repeatedly and mist his tank everyday, I handle him quite often and is very gentle, some days he is a bit finicky and wont let me pick him up so I will leave him alone but he is surely handled often.

I took him out today during the day time which I do about 2 times a week, at night I take him about about 4 -5 times a week considering he is nocturnal.

Today when I did take him out he was a little tense at first which is normal, after a few minutes he relaxes and is all over my hands and wanting to explore, I can hold him with one hand and he will stay perfectly fit around it, he is a very gentle snake.

However...

Today I took him out with me to get the mail, and this is where I think maybe I startled him due to the temperature and lighting change and the overall outside atmosphere which today is a bit of a 70's heated air. On my way back to the house, he made a very quick hiss and strike, he did it about 5 to 10 times, either away from me or towards me, he tried getting away from me a bit it seems to the point where his tail was gripped around my wrist and hand tight enough for him to sort of hang from it, so I held him with both hands, at this moment, when I got a good grip on him to show him he was elevated and not going to fall he calmed down a bit more but here or there would strike. The odd thing with his striking was however, when he struck, his mouth never opened as if he were to bite. His entire head lunged foreword, he exhaled and hissed but never opened his mouth like he does when striking for his food. How it kinda looked as an example if a human were to do it, I could say it would kinda look like if someone had a big big big sneezing attack.

When I got back into the house it was a little darker in the hallway he completely calmed down enough for me to get him back to his tank. When I put him in the tank is where another odd thing happened, his body was kind of whipping everywhere in tense bursts. He would tense up a bit and then whip his body, banging against the glass or his water bowl, he completely push his basket from one side of the tank to the other in one move, and would give off a hiss like he doesnt want to be touched, like if someone were to shrug off another person. He then would press his head against the glass and kinda try to push the cage off the top which is securely in place, so that didn't alert me much but its the fact that he acted that way, when usually when I put him in his tank he crawls straight into his basket and lays down.

SORRY FOR THE LOOONNNG POST, but just wondering has anyone else's Ball ever done this? So far this is the third or fourth time its happened, but it is a long period of time between his little freak outs and a few days after I am a little more cautious picking him up but I am successful. Could it be maybe taking him outside startled him? Stressed him out? and what about the striking but not striking thing? Could it be that for some reason maybe when I get a little nervous holding him he senses that and has the freak out?

I watched him in his cage till he calmed down a bit, misted the cage and covered part of it up to kinda give him his space. Anyway, would appreciate some feed back from more experienced owners??

Thanks. :]