Viscious Ball

[Anatopism]

Yeah, the only time I ever got a latch and wrap, the snake had been eating one small rat a month for the last three years because some vet told the owner he was "obese". And when I brought over a tray of medium rats, he downed 4 in the first sitting, 4 a week after that, and was at 3 rats a week for two months after that.

How often do you feed and how much? How old is this ball python, and how much does he weigh (or how long is he if you don't have a kitchen scale)? How often does he refuse food?

I would also classify this as "cage aggression". I would get a cardboard box and start feeding him in there instead of in his tank. He's associating the opening of the tank and the appearance of your hand with food. We need him to associate something else with food.

And last but not least, I would get a nice heavy pair of gardening or work gloves. It blocks the heat signature from your hands somewhat, AND if he bites it, it won't hurt you or reward him in any way. If we can get him past the cage aggression and the hunger, you can start handling him again barehanded on non-feeding days. But you'll definitely want gloves and probably long-sleeved shirts for moving him to and from the box on feeding days.

And I'm sorry to hear he latched and wrapped. I've only had that happen the one time, and gosh, it hurt. I had bruises visible on my finger for two weeks afterwards.

I disagree with a few things said/implied here.

1) ball pythons are not parrots or dogs... allowing a snake to bite you is not a reward or in any way going to motivate or encourage it to want to bite more. I have never encountered a snake that has bit (whether strike/coil or defensively strike/release) make the connection that biting in any way gets them something they want/stops behavior they don't want. Biting from a snake is an instinctive response... they do so because you smell like food, or they feel threatened by you. A bird might bite because it learns you make funny sounds when they do so, or because they learn it makes you leave them alone.... a ball python does not, or at least hasn't ever in my experience or the experience of my peers.

2) the OP says they feed in a seperate enclosure. I recommend reading the dozens of threads/debates on this topic, and consider the thousands of snakes that are fed properly in their enclosures that never become "cage aggressive".

To the OP: my first thought.. is how large is the enclosure your BP is in? Does it have hides or adequate shelter to feel secure? We had a ball surrendered to us because she was "mean". They were keeping her in a 55 gallon tank... we put her in a small sterilite tub... she never once snapped at us. There are lots of possibilities aside from enclosure size that can be a factor with a defensive snake, and I am sure once you are able to post telhe specifics about your setup, everybody here will be able to give you lots of helpful advice