Reasons for a VERY Grumpy Baby BP??

[Lisn123]

Well our sweet lil' BP was in RaRE form last night!! She seemed very "agitated" when we entered the room. She was half in & half out of her hide, and actually "struck" (hard) the side of the glass as I approached. She did it two more times a little later. So I just covered up her tank, the side she was laying on, with a towel to make sure she felt extra secure and left her alone for the night

Here's the "facts"- ha ha- let me know if you have any opinions

1. Husbandry seems great- temps & humidity have been perfect

2. Monday night we fed her and if you saw my other post about that, she didn't eat it, but acted "protective" of it all night. In the a.m. it was still there. but after I had my breakfast and went back to get it out, it was gone. (the first 2 times we fed her, she struck & ate immediately)

3. She was laying over that same spot last night, when she struck at me... wondering if there is some scent still there and if she was acting protective of it?

4. Part of me wondered if she didn't eat the mouse, but dragged it into her hide, and thats why she was acting that way. But my husband got her out this a.m- Said she acted her sweet normal self. He also checked both hides to make sure there wasn't a mouse in there. (and there wasn't)

5. No signs of shedding.. but wondered if that could be it? we've had her 3 weeks and she hasn't had a shed yet. (she's very small- but thats another story)

6. No poops since we brought her home in 3 weeks- maybe she's constipated & grumpy. LOL

7. Sat. night- into Sunday- she had a little escape adventure. We found her under my daughters bean bag- about 6 feet from her tank. Maybe she's stressed from that?? but she didn't act like it Sunday evening or Monday when we had her out- holding her for a few minutes.

We picked this snake because she seemed active and "personable" Its my "daughters", she loved how curious she was, crawling all over her, etc. While the others we looked at just balled up & acted shy in her hands. Of course, now after seeing this, my daughter is a little freaked out (& so am I to be honest) All we heard & read, was how docile they are. Of course, since finding this site, i've learned the young ones in particular can be a little grouchy.
Im really hoping she was just having an "off" day. But lets just say, im not overly anxious to stick my hand in there to change her water or anything

Any of the wonderful advice and support you all have to offer, would be greatly appreciated.

Thank- you!!

[Slim]

The chances of her being constipated are very rare. They go when they need to go, and young BPs use most of what they eat to grow. Doesn't leave much left over for waste.

As for the aggression, I wouldn't sweat it. Snakes have individual personalities, and can have good days and bad days. Also, young BPs can be a little uppity just as a matter of course. They grow out of it as they get older and larger.

If you might have missed the pink belly or blue eyed phase of the shedding process, there is a good chance she could be about to shed. Some BPs get really cranky during a shed, and some act like it's no big deal.

Just in case she may be in a shed cycle, make sure your humidity is somewhere north of 60% to help the process along.

[ballpythonluvr]

I have a big female normal that has gotten quite grumpy lately. Last night, I tried feeding her a f/t small rat and she just struck at it real hard and was agitated. She has been showing some signs of aggression lately. She is usually a big sweetheart but I guess she was having a "bad" day. Sometimes snakes just get into moods.

[Stewart_Reptiles]

#1 Stress due to husbandry related issues, main cause to large of an enclosure and over handling.

#2 Because he is a baby, keep in mind that young individuals tend to appear more nippy it is directly linked to their size and the fact that they see you as a predator hence the reason why they are being defensive.

#3 Not feeding enough.

A description of you enclosure, size of the enclosure, size of the animal, temps provided, humidity provided, how often the animal is being handled, food size offered and how often etc, would really help narrow it down,

[Lisn123]

#1 Stress due to husbandry related issues, main cause to large of an enclosure and over handling.

#2 Because he is a baby, keep in mind that young individuals tend to appear more nippy it is directly linked to their size and the fact that they see you as a predator hence the reason why they are being defensive.

#3 Not feeding enough.

A description of you enclosure, size of the enclosure, size of the animal, temps provided, humidity provided, how often the animal is being handled, food size offered and how often etc, would really help narrow it down,

Her tank is a 15 gallon (24x12x12). She's about 18" long, but I would say on the "thin" side. (Dont get me started on this one- they were feeding her once every two weeks, because she was so small- yes, I dont understand that logic either)
Since she's been home, we've fed her once a week. Sorry, I dont have a scale yet, to give exact wt.
Temps- cool side- 78-83. Warm side 88-94 Humidity- most often in 60+%, (occas. drops into 50's)
If anything, i might say we've "over handled her" -- maybe??? We did take her out in the first week we had her home. Of course, coming from the mentality that "more handling = her being more use to us" (I know thats not the case now) But after the first two feedings, we didn't touch her for 4-5 days.- just did normal care of tank- water, etc. Then we would take her out- maybe 5-10 min. for next 3 days, until it was time to feed her again. We've followed that same cycle for last couple weeks.
During the 3 1/2 weeks we've had her, she's never shown the signs she was showing last night.

UGH... just dawned on me. Could it be mites?? I noticed her rub her face a few times on her log the other night, when she was "hovering" over her mouse (& not eating) But i haven't seen any other signs of them or of her scratching.

THANKS for all the responses

[Homegrownscales]

She might just be a bit stressed from all the activity. I would cease all handling until she resumes a normal eating schedule, as well as perhaps blacking out the three open sides of the tank would make her feel more secure. Get a scale and make sure you're feeding 15% of her body weight to make sure she's getting large enough meals. Also scales come in handy with fasts and just general health checks. Youngins can be a little defensive so it's important to go all out to make them feel more secure.


Check out what's new on my website... www.Homegrownscales.com

[captainjack0000]

It sounded like you were feeding F/T, or maybe you even mentioned that. One thing I have noticed from my BP is that the mouse has to be up to temp for her to want to eat it. I dropped in a thawed but room temperature mouse and she knew something was up, her tongue was flicking around and she crawled all around and even right up next to it, and was in that very aggressive hunt mode. However she didn't strike and eat it. I didn't know what was going on.

So I used some tongs to extract the mouse and ran hot water over it and tried again and she snagged it right away. Gotta get that mouse temp up or else they won't "see" it with their heat pits.

Now that she's older, it seem as though high mouse temperature up or not, our BP will inspect the mouse for 15 or so minutes and then just casually begin to eat it. No striking and constricting.

[MrLang]

One of mine sits half out of his hide like that when he's hungry. Since he has spider gene, he actually wobbles around in the S position and looks very intimidating. I can tell it's because he's hungry because he wobbles when he's hungry and is perfectly still when he's defensive. When I move around he gets excited and thinks he's going to eat, but that just translates into a 'scary' behavior (erratic movement, 'tracking' me back and forth, sometimes striking the cage). I thought it was because the scent of the rat was on the paper towels, but he does it even if I change them immediately. The only time he doesn't do it is when I'm feeding him very aggressively. He's basically just a fatty.

I can still pick him up when he's like that and he's perfectly fine to hold, by the way. When I first reach in if he looks like he's going to get too excited and try to eat my hand, I touch him on the side with a paper towel roll to show him he isn't getting a rat.

I ONLY noticed this behavior after I started feeding him in his enclosure, so if it bothers you too much you could consider feeding separately to see if it makes a difference.

[Lisn123]

It sounded like you were feeding F/T, or maybe you even mentioned that. One thing I have noticed from my BP is that the mouse has to be up to temp for her to want to eat it. I dropped in a thawed but room temperature mouse and she knew something was up, her tongue was flicking around and she crawled all around and even right up next to it, and was in that very aggressive hunt mode. However she didn't strike and eat it. I didn't know what was going on.

So I used some tongs to extract the mouse and ran hot water over it and tried again and she snagged it right away. Gotta get that mouse temp up or else they won't "see" it with their heat pits.

Now that she's older, it seem as though high mouse temperature up or not, our BP will inspect the mouse for 15 or so minutes and then just casually begin to eat it. No striking and constricting.

Ironically, I actually heated up this mouse a little with my hair dryer this time- maybe it was too hot. She struck faster the last two times just warming it with water. Im sure it will just take some time to learn her "quirks"
thanks for your input!

[Lisn123]

One of mine sits half out of his hide like that when he's hungry. Since he has spider gene, he actually wobbles around in the S position and looks very intimidating. I can tell it's because he's hungry because he wobbles when he's hungry and is perfectly still when he's defensive. When I move around he gets excited and thinks he's going to eat, but that just translates into a 'scary' behavior (erratic movement, 'tracking' me back and forth, sometimes striking the cage). I thought it was because the scent of the rat was on the paper towels, but he does it even if I change them immediately. The only time he doesn't do it is when I'm feeding him very aggressively. He's basically just a fatty.

I can still pick him up when he's like that and he's perfectly fine to hold, by the way. When I first reach in if he looks like he's going to get too excited and try to eat my hand, I touch him on the side with a paper towel roll to show him he isn't getting a rat.

I ONLY noticed this behavior after I started feeding him in his enclosure, so if it bothers you too much you could consider feeding separately to see if it makes a difference.

Wow, you sounds like you are describing my snake to a "T" "He actually wobbles around in the S position and looks very intimidating" Sounds just like Medusa and "When I move around he gets excited and thinks he's going to eat, but that just translates into a 'scary' behavior (erratic movement, 'tracking' me back and forth, sometimes striking the cage)" Thats just what she was doing last night.

Today when I go in the room, she'll come out of the hide into that same "S" posture and look around. At first I thought it was her "happy to see me" LOL but coming out because of someone was in there. Then after last night, Im afraid she's going to strike at me again, but maybe its like you said, she's just looking for more food.

They told us at the Petstore, that they were feeding her in separate container. But after reading from everyone here, that it was not necessary & could be more stressful taking her out to feed her. But now im starting to wonder...maybe she's just one of those I should feed in separate tank.

I think i need to get a scale as well. I was hoping to hold off for a little while. But I think i saw on here that you can get one fairly cheap at Walmart? or someplace similar.

THANKS for sharing your story. Makes me feel better