Hi!

first of all, this is a long post, very sorry i kinda got carried away writing, but i'll put a tl;dr on the bottom too.

My 1 and a half year pastel ball python male has been acting quite different lately when it comes to feeding.
I feed him live in a seperate container and I usually let him slither out gently after he's done eating (I keep trying to convert him to f/t, tips on that would be appreciated too he's kinda picky on that)
His temp., humidity, hides are all the same and nothings changed by the husbandry.
I'm a new time reptile owner, I've had him since march and he's been fine with eating and getting him out.
ANYWAYS.

Few weeks ago my BP has been acting weird.
I got myself his mouse, as I do every week, went into the room and he immediately came out of his hide against the glass of his terrarium. I wanted to take him out to feed into his feeding tub but he acted all 'defensive' or hungry. It was very unusual for him. He was in Strike pose the entire time and kept following my hand with his head, when I moved on the other side of the glass, like he thought I was the food. The mouse was already in the same room but it always is and usually it's no problem.
when I tried to reach in to pick him up from the other side, he swirled around and looked at me very defensively. I took my hand out, wondering what I should do and then he does the weirdest thing i've seen him do.
it looked like he tried to strike the air. There was nothing there, no hand, no mouse nothing and he struck at the air and had his mouth open and his neck stretched out for a good second. It was in the direction of the heat lamp (dw I have a UTH too, it's for the ambient temp getting colder cuz winter)

I got confused and didnt wanna stress him out more by taking him out, so I dangled the mouse from the top opening of the cage in and he struck it and ate it there.

few days after that, he went into shed: I thought that maybe was the reason why he was like that.


and then, after he shed, I went to feed him again, got the mouse and this time he didn't come out to the glass. I got him out no problem but the second I put him into the tub, he stared me down, head lifted and in s pose. he was staring right at my face like he was gonna strike at me and eat me. Even thought that won't be possible for him obviously. I just sat there for a few seconds maybe a minute and then he kinda calmed down and went down into the tub. He's never shown that kind of behaviour before. i got the mouse out, dangled infront of him and he was just staring down my hand that was holdign the mouse instead of the mouse literally in strike reach. (i know I should use tongs to avoid him getting my hand, i misplaced them the time before and couldn't find it anymore)

anyways, he realized the mouse was there, struck, missed once, struck again and got it.
the next feeding went fine, no stare downs no miss no trouble.

going to recently:
I didn't feed him for a week, because I wanted to try nd give him pre-killed. (ive stopped feeding him for a few weeks, a few times before this, to get him to f/t before but he never showed this kind of behaviour)
I euthanized the mouse and when i went to feed him, he came out to the glass again, I opened the other side of the door, cuz I'm afraid that if I open the one he's at, he'd strike me in the face smh.
I dangled the dead mouse in by its tail with the tongs (that by the way were somehow in a different room???) he didn't react to it immediately. The mouse kinda slipped off the tongs (i needa get those scissor tongs) because of bad grip so it kinda just layed in his enclosure. he was strike pose following my hand again, staring at me and when I reach in with the tongs to pick up the mouse again, he struck at the tongs and then he immmediately saw the mouse and struck and coiled it. I gave it a few tugs on the tail just so it seems like it was kinda still alive for him.
now, usually, he'd be coiled up for maybe a minute or so, I don't count the time. BUt this time, he was just coiled up for quite some time. it looked like as if he'd died in that position (obviously not).
after a minute or so from striking, I put a blanket over the cage, i thought maybe he'd be more comfortable (wasnt a problem before tho). i checked in after a few minutes and he was still coiled up so i left him alone a bit more with the blanket over his cage. a few mins later, i come back and he'd started eating the mouse so all was well.

2 days later, today: he's kinda in the open, instead of sleeping over his utc side in a hide like he usually does... he's been laying half in, half out of his hides, staring at the glass. and when I'm nearby he stares at me sometimes. a lot of those times he's not in strike pose but it's weird that he's out of his hides, just laying his head down in the middle of the enclosure at the glass....



His hides haven't been moved, the temp and humidity is the same as it was months ago. 2 sides of his enclosure are darked off (the back side is against a dark wall)...
I handle him every now and then for just a few minutes and not during shed time or withing 48h of feeding.

ARGH this post is so long i'm so sorry..

TLDR:
my 1 1/2 year old male bp has been showing some weird behaviour around feeding time, looking like he's gonna strike me, thinking my hand is food probably. He's only started being weird for a few weeks, before it was never a problem. He feeds live mice in a feeding tub. all husbandry remained the same.

the first time he was acting different, he came out of his hide, to the glass door the second i came into the room, he followed my hand like it was food, I couldn't pick him up and move him to his tub, and he struck at the air under a heat lamp, it was really odd, i've never seen a snake do that. ended up feeding him by dangling the mouse from the top opening.

the second time, i managed to get him out of the enclosure without him acting defensively or so, and put him into his tub but he began to stare me down, like he would strike at my face any moment.
when he calmed down after a bit, i held in the mouse by the tail but he was staring at my hand rather than the mouse. but later got the mouse after he realized it was there.

third time, i havent fed him for a week because I wanted to try and give him pre killed. when I wanted to get him out, but he was out against the glass of the terrarium again, so I just decided to hold in the mouse by the tail with tongs. i accidentally let the mouse slip out of the tongs while holding it so it was kinda just laying there, and he didn't react to it. I tried to pick it up with the tongs again and he suddenly struck at my tongs but then immediately struck at the mouse that was laying on the enclosure floor when he realized it was there....
he then proceeded to have it coiled for WAY longer than he usually coils his food. I put a blanket over the tank for privacy and he eventually started eating after quite some time.
2 days later he's kinda just hanging around in the middle of his enclosure instead of curled up in his hide like he usually is. he was staring at me earlier but this time not in strike pose.

my question:

have you guys encountered behaviour like this?? He's usually a fairly shy and calm guy, never bit me, never struck at me before. (he struck at my cousins phone once cuz she stupidly kinda shoved it into his face tryna take a picture even tho I CLEARLY TOLD HER NOT TO DO IT. He probably got scared by the large phone. but that was in april or so)

Is this behaviour anything to worry about? and how should I handle it and react when it's feeding time. I'm sorry, i'm very new to owning a BP, I got him in march and has been my first reptile.