Can Aggression mean hungry?

[Emily Hubbard]

I just got back from out of town for Thanksgiving. I left my ball alone for 5 days. I offered her food, on schedule before I left and she was not remotely interested. I have heard it is not bad for them to miss a meal, so I just threw the mouse away and left. Today, the first thing I did when I came in the door was check on her and she is out in the open near the front of the tank (mine opens from the front) in a strike position. She struck at the glass the second my face appeared there. Did I freak the hell out of her, or is she just ravenous? I am defrosting a mouse as we speak, though normally she eats on Mondays, she is just acting too bizarre. Should I be worried? Help!

[Annarose15]

She was probably out hunting and you just startled her. I wouldn't be worried, just offer her food like you are already planning to.

[loonunit]

Yeah, it can mean hungry. Sometimes it means stressed or defensive, but usually when there's nothing else going on like this, it means hungry.

And I've been having a lot of aggressively hungry snake incidents the last few weeks, too. It's probably just the time of year.

[snakesRkewl]

She's hungry if she's striking at the side of the tubs, it's that time of year
I feed/offer all of my breeding females at least twice a week this time of year.

[Emily Hubbard]

Yeah, she startled me more than I startled her I think! She is not a big striker, so I was NOT expecting it when I just went to say hello after our brief absence. She was not in the mood for introductions, apparently.

She ate right away and is now sleeping it off.

I feel really bad that I was away for 5 days and so I have no idea how long she was in that crazy predator hunting mode. This is only my second feeding with her, so I haven't seen a pattern yet. I planned on offering her food weekly. The first time, she took it, and then like I said, on Monday I offered and she was completely disinterested, she just looked at it and crawled the other direction. So normally, her next feeding would be tomorrow, but today when I got home, she was just being a crazy predator. Do any of you have growing snakes that do better eating say, every 10-11 days as opposed to 7? I guess it is about learning when the individual snake wants food.....7 days is apparently too short for mine, but 13 is too long. I am so not leaving her again for longer than a weekend until I figure it out more....

[Annarose15]

Yeah, she startled me more than I startled her I think! She is not a big striker, so I was NOT expecting it when I just went to say hello after our brief absence. She was not in the mood for introductions, apparently.

She ate right away and is now sleeping it off.

I feel really bad that I was away for 5 days and so I have no idea how long she was in that crazy predator hunting mode. This is only my second feeding with her, so I haven't seen a pattern yet. I planned on offering her food weekly. The first time, she took it, and then like I said, on Monday I offered and she was completely disinterested, she just looked at it and crawled the other direction. So normally, her next feeding would be tomorrow, but today when I got home, she was just being a crazy predator. Do any of you have growing snakes that do better eating say, every 10-11 days as opposed to 7? I guess it is about learning when the individual snake wants food.....7 days is apparently too short for mine, but 13 is too long. I am so not leaving her again for longer than a weekend until I figure it out more....

It's actually better to leave her for a few extra days than to feed and leave. She could have complications like regurgitation while you are gone and die (worst case and rare, of course, but why take the chance?). As long as she's healthy, skipping an occasional meal won't do any harm. I feed mine every 5-7 days, depending on the snake, but there are some that I don't expect to eat that often just because they are inconsistent.

[Twist]

Honestly, my snake has never struck at me but one time, and that was when I walked into the room. The tank is directly beside the entry way and as soon as I walked in i heard her strike the glass - just once and that's the only time she's ever struck at me. I think we both startled our snakes, but I also think that you should just go ahead and feed her. She's probably pretty hungry.

[Kinra]

It does sound like she was hungry, but if this becomes a pattern it's probably more aggression. My male enchi is well feed, but he's still a jerk. He's always either hissing at me or striking at me. It doesn't help that I don't let him scare me and still hold him.