Aggressive Ball, ideas?

[MissSeeman]

I do wash my hand both prior and after each time I handle him, and no he doesn't hiss, he just turns into that S shape and starts bouncing up and down.

[Quickone4u]

Well when i go to pick him up ill open up his tank, and I'll make a little bit of noise just so he knows I'm around, then I try to pet him on the midsection; being careful to stay away from his head, and as soon as my hand goes near him he freaks out. I've been thinking about getting a hook for easier access into taking him out, but I'm worried it won't solve anything..

It's not necessarily the case but you could be startling him by making "a little bit of noise". I would just open the cage, gently reach in and stroke his mid section a time or two and just pick him up. He'll get use to it and should settle into it. You could try the hook if you are more comfortable with that but with bps it's not really necessary. Even if you get a little nip you'll just laugh it off afterwords

[Quickone4u]

Is it possible that he has outgrown his one mouse once a week, and is just hungry?

Actually thats a good point as well that I forgot to bring up! Usually by that age they are able to handle a small rat which is a good bit more then one mouse so it is always possible he could be out and about looking for food when you come in to pick him up. He may just be in hunting mode when you reach in and that could be why you are getting the behavior you are. So you know how much he weighs?

[MissSeeman]

That's exactly what it seems like, he looks like he's in hunting mode. I don't have a scale at the moment, but it's definitely something i'm buying on pay day. He's about 16 inches long, and his midsection is probably about 3 1/2 inches around, but i do notice his skin is a little stretchy off of his body is that a sign he's hungry or underfed? God i feel horrible if this is the case.

[GoFride]

The "one mouse a week" you are feeding him may be the equivalent of a rat pup, or (at best) a barely weaned rat. Just sayin'... he might be hungry!

[MissSeeman]

Well i try to get a rodent thats as thick as his biggest part as close as possible, but it seems that getting a scale and finding out his weight might be a little more accurate for finding out what size he should be eating?

[Quickone4u]

That's exactly what it seems like, he looks like he's in hunting mode. I don't have a scale at the moment, but it's definitely something i'm buying on pay day. He's about 16 inches long, and his midsection is probably about 3 1/2 inches around, but i do notice his skin is a little stretchy off of his body is that a sign he's hungry or underfed? God i feel horrible if this is the case.

If you have a picture you could post, that would help more. Could be a little underweight or dehydrated. Whats your husbandry like? What are your warm and cool side temps as well as the humidity? If nothing else next time you feed him try offering two mice. Let him eat the first one completely and after you see him yawn to reset his jaw, offer him the second and see if he takes it. If the first was enough then he more then likely won't take the second. I would definitely recommend getting a decent gram scale though so you can keep track of his weight and make sure you are offering appropriate sized prey which most recommend to be 10-15% of his body weight.

[MissSeeman]

His humidity is constantly at 60% and around 75% when shedding is about to occur. his heat is at 85% on the warm side 75% on the cooler side. Here is a picture, he's a little dull in color because he's about to shed.

[Quickone4u]

His humidity is constantly at 60% and around 75% when shedding is about to occur. his heat is at 85% on the warm side 75% on the cooler side. Here is a picture, he's a little dull in color because he's about to shed.

Well from the picture, he doesn't necessarily look too underweight. Hard to tell with him being in shed if he's dehydrated but with your humidity numbers and being that he's eating,i wouldn't think so. He could just be a slow grower but you will know more as far as prey size once you get a scale and wether you should offer him more mice our just larger in general. Most recommend bumping them up to rats once they can take them as they say they offer higher nutritional numbers although I can't back that up myself. Speaking of your numbers, most recommend a basking/warm area around 90-92 and a cool side around 80-82 with ambient temps in the low to mid 80s.

[rperry03]

He looks like he is a good size. If you can't get small rats try feeding multiple large mice.