I have a ball python (Hercules) that I have had for about 10 years now. He has never shown any signs of aggression towards me in the past 10 years, no problems at all. I regularly held him and he never bit me/struck at me and very very rarely hissed. Within the past month he has bit me a few times and strikes whenever I open his cage. His appetite has also skyrocketed. He used to be a finicky eater now he will eat everything all the time. Im confused at the sudden change of behavior. I have heard from a pet store that sometimes older ball pythons just get aggressive, but I'm still concerned. My thoughts include not feeding him enough/large enough prey, not a big enough cage, not handling him enough? But again, nothing has changed recently that I could connect with the sudden increase in aggression. Any ideas from other long term owners or similar experiences?
Thanks
Sandra