Handling.

[Rob]

I wouldn't it's a BP a bite isn't gonna kill you. Confidence! They can tell. If the animal isn't eating and isn't acting right and losing weight I would consider brining him to a vet. Maybe he picked something up from the mites.

[snake lab]

Snakes bite. Some just stay pissed off. I have a big firefly male that has been pissy since he was a baby. Hes tagged me more times then i can count. Hes just always mad. I have some that are great and chill and others that are just nippy. The fact that hes aggresive will usually mean a good eater. Considering they are an animal that likes to be left alone he may just not want to be messed with. Dont be scared of him. Just reach in and grab him. He will either get over it or wont. As long as your husbandry is good which it appears to be and hes eating and the plumbing works good i wouldnt worry too much. The mites could have pissed him off too. I know if i had mites on me id be upset.

[MrLang]

Dont be scared of him. Just reach in and grab him. He will either get over it or wont.

I'm learning more and more how true this is as I own these animals longer. HE CAN SMELL YOUR FEAR

[snake lab]

Ya gotta keep in mind every animal has some sort of defensive posturing move. A snakes move is the infamous strike posture. If they sence its working then they will stay aggresive. Once they realize its not workin then they strike. If they realize that your not afraid of them and dont back off ball pythons tend to give in. But there are those that just say screw it and stay nasty lol.

[Slim]

In my experence, the ones that hiss tend to be quick to calm down once you get them up out of the enclosure. By and large, the few BPs that have bitten me didn't give a hiss for a warning.

If you've never been bitten before, I can assure you the bite isn't that bad...it's the strike that makes you jump.

[Wes]

My male pastel always hisses at me when I first go in to get him but just a few seconds after having him out he is exploring and doesn't seem to be the least bit aggressive. I think some of them just feel comfy in their home and don't want to come out but once they are out they are like "hey, this isn't so bad" lol

[snakemomma77]

Jackson, my pinstripe man when we first got him he was always pissy, stricking at the glass when we walked by, striking at the light, I was afraid of getting bit. My husband just kept getting him out at night and holding him for about 30 minutes, Jackson staying in the strike pose the whole time and struck at anyone who walked by, finally I saw a video on youtube about an agressive BP and my husband watched it and tried what the video suggested and it worked. Now four weeks later he seems alot calmer and now I am not afraid to get Jackson out and hold him, where before I would not even open is cage. lol

[viper8940]

Thanks guys. Just confused me because for the first 2 months i had him he was perfectly fine without hissing or anything and now all of a sudden hes all cranky

[Mike41793]

Try this. Skip to the part past the crazy desert bps lol.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S7DQs...e_gdata_player

[viper8940]

hes an adult thou. thats what makes it more weird