My Ball Python wants to eat me. T_T

[loonunit]

People keep saying that enclosure feeding doesn't lead to cage aggression, but I do have one big dumb male black pastel that exhibits CLASSIC cage aggression. If you're already having to use gloves, I'm going to argue that there's no harm feeding in a separate enclosure for a month or two, and seeing if that improves her behavior the rest of the time. (And if you do try that, and it does help, I'm going to also suggest developing a signal at the end of feeding, so that she knows eating time is over and doesn't go for your hand when you try to put her back. I use a cardboard box for feeding George: when I'm out of rats, I turn the box on its side and dump him out on the table. It ain't dignified, but at least George knows meal time is over and stops with the idiotic biting.)

[Andybill]

room is 88 plus a 75 watt bulb? shes probably waaaaay too hot!

x2 I am surprised this wasnt the first thing that was addressed. If she doesnt have a cool side she cannot regulate her body heat. They move from their hot sides to their cool sides because believe it or not they do need to cool off. you should try to drop the heat in your room to around 80. I get cranky when I cant get cool on a hot summers day! lol.

[Solstice]

@Lefty
Her lamp is off right now. If the room is hot I turn it off....

I'll try to save up for all the proper stuff, but it might take a while. :\
I hold her about two hours every day, except when she is getting ready to shed or if she ate recently. I'll start feeding her in her normal enclosure now.

BTW, here are a few pics of her and her tank:
http://i.imgur.com/zJyiC.jpg (this pic was taken when I first got her)
http://i.imgur.com/zbSrO.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/gDkRA.jpg
Sorry they are bad quality, they were taken with a cell phone. =P


I'm curious though, is it normal for her to hold on when she bites? The few times she has bitten me, she wouldn't let go. Is that normal for them if they bite when they are aggravated?

Dang, I can't keep up with all these comments. I finish writing a reply to one comment and then realize there are three more. xD

[LadyWraith]

I'm wondering... what room are you keeping her in your house that has an ambient temp of 88? Just curious really cause that's flippin' hot lol. Is there another room you can move her to that is cooler maybe? My office/now reptile room is kept at a constant 80 by adjusting the flow of A/C via the floor vent. That being said, my snake enclosure only fluctuates between 80-82. I also have a 75 watt infrared heat lamp that keeps the hot spot at 90-92. You really do need a way to measure the ambient, hot spot, and humidity. Most people on here suggest the Accurite thermometer... Walmart carries these for $12. The box part measures the ambient temp/humidity and it has a sensor that can be placed on the hot side so everything can be monitored by one device. Sounds like you only have the one hide on the one side.... might be a good idea to get to identical hides, a hot hide and a cool hide for each side of the tank. They're not huge fans of the hides like the logs; one way in, one way out hideys seem to work better. Leave the heat lamp on one side. Hides don't have to be fancy or expensive... pots for plants, shoe boxes with a hole in the side, etc work fine. Mine currently has 2 identical terra cotta pots that were like $1.50 at Lowes. Just chiseled the drain hole larger and smoothed the edges with sand paper. There is even a hidey project in the DYI part of this forum that's pretty cost effective. Good luck to you.

BTW, waiting 2-3 days for handling after a feed seems to be the standard advice to keep the snake from getting too stressed.

[Andybill]

I'm curious though, is it normal for her to hold on when she bites? The few times she has bitten me, she wouldn't let go. Is that normal for them if they bite when they are aggravated?

Dang, I can't keep up with all these comments. I finish writing a reply to one comment and then realize there are three more. xD

Lol! I have only been tagged by my babies and they only bite and let go all quicklike. Maybe she just likes how you taste?

[Solstice]

@LadyWraith
AC doesn't work upstairs in our house, so all the rooms up here are around 88 degrees. She is not the only one who is suffering from the heat.
I would move her downstairs where it is cooler, but my dad doesn't want guests to get scared when they see her.


Does anyone know if she might get annoyed by wind? I can move her beneath a ceiling fan, that might cool her down some...

[loonunit]

@Lefty
I'm curious though, is it normal for her to hold on when she bites? The few times she has bitten me, she wouldn't let go. Is that normal for them if they bite when they are aggravated?

Yeah, that's a hardcore feeding bite, not a defensive bite. Not even a feeding "mistake", because even my stupid George lets go after he bites me instead of his rat. Sorry, man those suck. I've only really gotten the latch-and-wrap once, from someone else's ball python. The animal was basically starving because some vet had told the owner it was obese and needed to be fed a single rat once a month. That's fine during winter, but then the poor snake was going out of its mind with hunger in the summer.

So, I'm going to go out on a limb and suggest that she's hit her summer pre-breeding growth spurt, and she's just SUPER hungry. Ball pythons get dumber the hungrier they are, and they really only do a bite-and-latch if they're ready to eat an entire rat colony. I would keep feeding weekly, but I would start offering multiple prey items. Try two or three rats. That's pretty typical for a female getting ready for breeding. If she downs those, consider offering four.

She'll get fat, and then she'll stop the crazy eating abruptly in October or November or December. She might even fast for a couple months, which is ANOTHER way ball pythons drive their owners bananas. But let's cross that bridge when we get to it...

ps. How old is she? Or if you don't know, how big is she?

- - - Updated - - -

Oh, what kind of water bowl do you have? I have some big ceramic ones, and the females will wrap themselves around them or even park themselves in the water when they get really hot. Not as good as getting the A/C fixed, but it's better than nothing.

[loonunit]

Oh, hey! I just got a latch-and-wrap bite 30 seconds ago from the world's nicest piebald male, as I was moving him from his girlfriend's tub into another one, while carrying a rat in my other hand. Stupid. Ow, ow, ow.

Yeah, it's all summer hunger. Just feed her multiple items.

[tsy72001]

I feed in a separate tank, put snake in first then the mouse!


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[MrLang]

I think a gradient is important. You want to mimic the natural habitat as best you can. If you don't have a thermometer, how do you know it's 88 degrees up there? With a heat lamp it could get way over 100... not ok.

This is what you're aiming for, never below 70 and never above 90:


Source:http://www.ghanaweb.com/GhanaHomePag...hy/climate.php