My JCP has been a real sweetheart. She only bit me once, the first time I took her out of her container after I bought her at the breeder expo.

Anyhow, before last week she would mostly rest in the fake plants that I have in her aquarium, and occasionally she would sun her self under her IR bulb on two large branches that I have set up for climbing.

As of the beginning of the week, she has been spending almost all of her time in one of her hides, coiled up. Very unusual for her, and the first time she has used her hides since I purchased her about a month ago. I try to handle her at least five minutes daily, although not in the 48 hours after feeding, so I've been removing the hide and taking her out. This hasn't been a problem so far.

Last night when I had her out though, she seemed very nervous. Moving quite quickly and trying to grab on to anything she could reach. After a moment or two she urinated on me, and then passed urates. I know this to be a sign of fear, so I put her back in the tank and gave her a minute or two to calm down while I cleaned up, and then picked her up again just for another minute to let her know that she was still safe if I handled her. Her feeding has been fine, so no trouble there (rat pinky once per week).

I *suspect* that she might be getting ready to shed, but her eyes are not blue, and since she is only about eleven or twelve weeks old, her scales are always a bit dull. Am I on the right track thinking that this is the case?

What should I do when a snake defecates or urinates out of fear? Why would she be suddenly so afraid?