Aggressiveness.

[Hammer2576]

My usually sweet and docile ball python has become more aggressive and jumpy lately. I handle him pretty regularly and he gets fed the same day every week. But lately when I've gone to get him out of his tank he will be jumpy and lean his head back like he's ready to strike. He actually struck at me today through the tank from his hide for the first time since I've had him(about 5 months). What could be the problem?


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[MJT_23]

Maybe he is going/ in shed and is grumpy?

[Stewart_Reptiles]

It can be a few things which are hard to determine without details.

Stress, details on your husbandry would help, even if the husbandry has not changed a BP can be become stressed over time.

Food, knowing how much you feed prey size and frequency would help, an animal that is underfed may display what you perceive as an aggressive behavior.

Shed, while in shed they are more vulnerable and are better left alone.

[Hammer2576]

Well last time I weighed him he was around 123 grams. I feed him medium size mice now. And his husbandry looks like the pic.


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[MJT_23]

What are the temperatures, and humidity? He also probably doesn't feel to safe with all glass open and no real hide in there. Probably just stressed out

[Saber402]

I would say that medium sized mice are too small unless you are feeding two. I have two BP's that are just under 100 grams and they do fine with rat pups. Try a pup but you may even need to go one step bigger with yours.

[MontyPython22]

My snake is a little over 4 months old and is at 230g. How old was he when you got him? Im feeding a large mouse every week you might want to see if you need to bump up the food size.
If you want to keep the tank I would spray paint 3 out of the 4 sides (that's what I did to mine) or use cardboard, white paper, tape, or whatever you want to cover 3 sides of the tank. You may also want to get him a smaller hide so he feels more secure, especially because that one is open on both sides. Hope that happens.

[Hammer2576]

The temps stay around 80-85 in the whole tank, and around 90 over the uth. The humidity stays between 55-65 %. And his hide is the tree not the log in the middle. That's just something for him to climb on and through.


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[MontyPython22]

The temps stay around 80-85 in the whole tank, and around 90 over the uth. The humidity stays between 55-65 %. And his hide is the tree not the log in the middle. That's just something for him to climb on and through.


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Didn't see that, do you have a second hide? A cool side hide might help out but other than that the husbandry sounds good.

[Hammer2576]

Alright. I haven't been able to find any good like medium sized hides around. The log is just two big and two sided. The tree seems to be getting to small for him now but he still uses it regularly.


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