suddenly temperamental ball python (who loves water...)

[kldoss89]

ok my male bp has really got me scratching my head in confusion. i took him to the vet about 1 1/2-2 months ago or so for an upper respiratory infection. during his treatment period, he had an almost successful shed (only had about 3 inches of old skin on his tail, which i was easily able to take care of) he was not terribly moody during his shed, though that might have been from him being sick.

however, when i fed him last week (sun june 2) i upped his mouse size to adult large because he was getting bigger. he ate it fine, but within 5 days, he was snapping every time i went by his cage. he is in a glass cage, but is in a spare closet to keep a good control on temp and humidity (which i monitor with thermostats) and give him privacy. he has never been like this. a friend of mine suggested that since he eats frozen mice, i might consider giving him a live mouse this feeding to get his hunting needs fulfilled. i was not comfortable doing that so i pulled the mouse's tail yesterday after he wrapped it to make him think its struggling. he was still snappy last night after he ate (which is normal) and asleep this morning when i checked on him. im hoping that helps some. but just in case, has anyone else ever noticed their bp change temperaments so suddenly? was it because they were hungry? could he already be shedding again? last time, he stayed dull for a good 3 weeks before he finally shed, but he was also sick at the time (it was just not a good time for him). however this time, i have not really noticed much color change yet. do they even shed that close together?

also, he is not a normal bp anyways. he rarely curls in a ball when he is scared. he jumps, but never strikes. he is ALWAYS active when i take him out. i was worried that he might be getting stressed out, because i read somewhere that bps are not normally active. but he has never once missed a feeding (i feed every 7-9 days). he also LOVES water. he does not have ticks, nor is he dehydrated. i had this confirmed with a vet. but he will happily spend a good hour or more in his water dish every day. the vet checked him for scale rot and everything, and said by looking at him he would never know that he was in the water that much. raising the humidity in the tank does nothing to break him of his water habit. should i be worried, or just let him be? sometimes i wonder if he is full ball python or if there is another python somewhere in his blood.

edited to add something i forgot:
another example of how he loves water and is not normal: his last feeding (the one on june 2) when he grabbed the mouse, he landed in his water dish. he never released, and went through the whole squeezing and eating process in the water. there was literally water flowing out of his mouth and he was struggling to do anything without drowning himself. i was scared to move him though because at the time, i didn't know if you could move a snake who was in the middle of a feed safely. he was never once phased with the water, and there were several times that he was completely submerged (face and all) in the water for several seconds.