Biting snake

[katrina.hobbs.12]

When we bought her she looked hungry but the store said wait a week, she did bite my daughter the first day we had her but it was prob out of stress and we did feed her a few days later and she was hungry. I've been handling her every few days since Christmas when we got her, she's been eating well. We feed her 2 days ago 1 mouse, she's 3 1/2 feet long, she to me looked like she wanted more but I didn't want to over feed her. Today we were going to get her out, she seemed active like she was hungry, my husband was holding her when she opened her mouth and was going to take a bite out of his hand, we put her back and I'm on my way to the store to get more frozen mice, I'll let you know if she eats again. I was happy to see she did poop, the rule of thumb was right every third feeding.


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[Pyrate81]

Are you feeding 1 mouse per week? She might be nippy cause she is still hungry. At that size, you can easily up her to at least a small rat. Do you know your bp's weight and age?

[Wizard]

I know first hand about snappy snakes and they are no fun. But on the good side the BP's are one of the easier to tame the bite out of them. I tamed my ball by handling her every few days a couple minutes at a time. Make sure it's fully supported and when have to go near the head come in from the bottom.
Remember they have two basic reactions, fight and flight. It's best to get them in a submissive position. Here is a video from a very reputable breeder that worked well for me.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S7DQssbM0uk

[Tigerhawk]

Yes I agree. You should be giving her a medium rat or a little smaller. She should calm down, after she gets meals that are large enough to make her feel full.

[katrina.hobbs.12]

No, I bought her from a small pet store. Well I think I figured it out, she's opening her mouth and rubbing because she just started shedding, it wasn't real obvious to me at first now it makes since why she was being so active and acting strange. I'm still learning. How long does it take to shed? But ya your right she prob needs bigger mouse.


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[katrina.hobbs.12]

Thanks for all your advise, I love this site. I think she's great, will just take time to get to know her.


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[Pyrate81]

Snakes generally are not active when in shed. When they are ready to shed, you may see them roaming the enclosure rubbing their nose on anything they can find to get it started. Shed cycles last about 1-2 weeks.

[satomi325]

Biting is just a sign of stress or hunger.
It's certainly more common in insecure babies.
Most BPs do out grow out, so I wouldn't worry about it if you husbandry is up to par.

[DooLittle]

Just going back to the food thing... She looks a little thin to me. She probably is hungry. She can eat a prey item as large as her widest part. I would up the feeding. Guessing her size, I would say she could handle more than one mouse per feeding, or a appropriate sized rat. You can also feed her every 5 days.

As far as shedding, they get "blue" then a few days after the blue clears up, they will shed. Make sure her humidity is up so she has a good shed.

What is that substrate?

Congrats on the new baby!

[Annarose15]

I agree wholeheartedly with Doolittle that this snake needs to be fed. She is very thin, and likely dehydrated. Please, please, please ditch the sand you are using for substrate! Other options are aspen, cypress, and just plain newspaper. Her nippiness probably has a lot more to do with hunger and poor conditions than an "attitude problem". She also needs cave-style hides that only have one opening (not just that log), and plenty of fresh water to rehydrate.

Edit: Sorry, I just saw your new thread about your setup. I'm not familiar with crushed walnut, but the granular nature would still concern me as a bedding.