She bit me

[Clint Bundy]

The only ball python in my collection that has struck at me is my Pinstripe male. He is young and still has a bit of an attitude. Once he is in my hands he is like putty though. I never go at my snakes head first to get them out. Getting bit is just a part of having reptiles as pets. If it weren't then everyone would have them.
I could tell you stories about my GTP striking at me but that would take hours.

[Court10_17]

im happy to here other people tell their story of bites because i feel like its a right of passage now. before i had ever ben bit i was so afraid but once my youngest pastel got me 4different times in one night ive never ben bit again an if i was to be bitten i wouldnt be terrified anymore just relax an dont pull your hand away if you do check for teeth in your hand hope i helped sum

[Ham]

In my opinion it sounds like she was just hungry, a year old ball python will need more than 2 large mice, my yearling old could eat 3 large mice and barely show a belly bump. She was still hungry probably and mistook the quick motion of your hand for prey. The smell of blood from your finger probably got her excited and that was why she was stiff when you handled her afterwards. Feed them a rodent that is as wide or maybe just slightly wider than the widest part of the snakes body, this is a good meal size, just feed the one. Mice are usually too small for ball pythons at that age, so rats would be a better choice, not only that, rats are supposed to have less body fat, and can be a leaner healthier meal for the snake than mice, atleast this is what I have been told on more than one occasion. At night I would also reccomend maybe keeping the ambient temp atleast 80 F, some people dont mind it getting cooler than that, but I dont like it to get that cool, and my pythons have seemed to do well at that night time temperature.

[stevepoppers]

Yeah, night drops are unnecessary. Some have reported positive results during breeding, but that's it.

It's just...It's a snake. They bite. Is it really surprising?

Heck, it's an animal. They bite. Ever play with a puppy or kitten?

You go through it and teach them it does no good. This was probably from fear. And yes, remove the hide, approach from behind, pet them a bit, then pick up.

Age and size don't really correlate well.

[mozbink]

Thanks all to who posted their comments. I just got in a small space heater for my spare room where I keep her. I should be able to keep a more consistant ambient without night drops to 76 degrees. I will shoot for 80.

I am going to be trying to feed her a F/T rat this weekend. Not sure what size. I dont have scales to weigh her on so it is hard for me to estimate based on weight of the prey versus percent of snakes weight.

I may run by the petsmart where I bought her frozen "Large" mice and open the boxes and see what the small rat looks like in girth.

Her first time taking f/t anything was last weekend. Now I am going to be introducing her to f/t rats. Not sure how that will go...hopefully well. She didnt play when it came to eating those two mice so hopefully she will not give me any trouble with the rats.

[Ham]

Sounds good man, just find a rodent that is about the same girth or slightly larger than your snakes widest part. Dont worry about the weight, girth is a great way to determine appropriate feeder size. Youll learn eventually how to tell when your snake is hungry or not, with snakes it is all body language.

By the way I work with a ridiculous number of snakes on a regular basis, and have never been bitten by anything bigger than a 6 inch baby king snake, those little stinkers are always hungry and ready to eat your fingers!

Ball pythons are notoriously laid back, most will not try to bite unless they think your hand is food, make sure you dont smell like rodent, so wash yer hands after handling prey items, (this includes dogs and cats, their scent may be mistaken for food). Ball pythons do not see very well, they primarily rely on smell and their ability to see body heat, so if they smell food and they see a warm hand moving around they may just think its a rat and try to eat it. Just keep this in mind, most snakes I deal with usually relax as soon as they realize its a person and not food or a predator. So just touch them behind their head farther back along their body to let them know its you, also dont hesitate when you deal with them, once you pick them up they usually calm right down.

[mozbink]

Update:

I left her alone and fed her a "small rat". The rat pups looked to me to be slightly smaller than her largest girth point. The rat looked about equal if slightly more but not where you could tell by eye balling it.

This was her second F/T feeding and the first time trying rats. I did my routine, she struck and missed the first time and then setup and struck a second time. She tagged and bagged the rat. Took her 30 minutes or so to swallow it all.

I left her alone for two days. In the meantime I had ordered gloves but decided to pick up a cheap petstore snake hook. When two days had past I used the hook to remove her hide. She was defensive. I started to use the hook to try and pick her up and she struck the hook. I gently touched the back of her head and she went into a semi submissive posture with her head lower than her body. I then used the hook to lift her a little bit. I picked her up the rest of the way with my hands. She was fine after in my hands. She was a ball for about 20 secs then started exploring everywhere.

I held her for about 10 minutes and put her back. The next night she was roaming her tub. I opened it up and she watched me but did not get into any kind of def posture. I touched her in her middle part and she tensed.I picked her up with my hands. She didnt go into a ball but was definitly stiff for about 10 seconds. Then she relaxed and I held her for 15 minutes with no issues.

Next night she was exploring the tub. I again opened the tub and she repeated the same calm as the night before. I touched her with my fingers before I picked her up and she didnt tense as much as she had the night before. I picked her up with my hands and she explored me for 15 minutes until I put her back.

Tonight I opened the tub as I saw she was out of her hide. I touched her and picked her up. She remained calm the whole time and I held her for 15 minutes. I have been letting my kids pet her gently away from her neck and head.

So I think it was a combo of needing more time to settle in, with the biggest factor being she needed more fulfilling food than she had been getting at the petstore and on my first weeks meal.

Her eyes were a little dented as well when I bought her. I have her humidity at 70 and I am waiting on her first shed.

Thanks to all who responded. I feel lucky that I was able to get her to convert to F/T mice her first week here, and then a F/T rat the next week. She is a monster when it comes to her tagging of prey and eating it. Hope she keeps it up.

Just wanted to update as there are alot of newbs like myself and wanted to let them know how things were going with our new family friend.

[SnakeKB]

Congrats on getting her to calm down. I just got my first ball on Sunday which hes 3 y.o. Today was my first day holding him and he was a little tense and shakey at first but he didnt strike at me at all. I havnt experienced a snake bite yet so i was nervous everytime his head went toward my hands or arms. The previous owner said he was very docile and he showed it by not tagging me. It felt pretty cool having him wrapped around my arm and hand.

[scottyjoe920]

my son and i have a year old ball python, the only time he has ever struck was after feeding...we take him out of cage and feed him in another container. i wanted that to be the first and last bite so i got a snake hook to get him out of feeding container...works great my son holds container while i get him out....my snake knows feeding times over when he feels movement in the feeding container ;-) other than that he is very shy and lovable.....

[SnakeKB]

my son and i have a year old ball python, the only time he has ever struck was after feeding...we take him out of cage and feed him in another container. i wanted that to be the first and last bite so i got a snake hook to get him out of feeding container...works great my son holds container while i get him out....my snake knows feeding times over when he feels movement in the feeding container ;-) other than that he is very shy and lovable.....

Ive never had an issue with my snake biting when feeding in his container. I just let him eat and leave him alone for 24 hours and he is perfectly fine. I wouldnt dare stick my hand in there just after he ate though. Hes all shakey and you can tell hes ready to strike at the drop of the hat.