New to Snakes; worried about new guy?

[katdog]

Okay, so bear with me, as I am brand frickin' new to the whole snake thing. I've done my research, but of course the first time you have any issues, it doesn't matter how much you've read, I guess? So anyways,

Midas is my 2 year old male ball python. I got him from a breeder at a reptile convention in my city a week ago-- and I chose him because he was the most handled, tame guy they had. He's the snake they got out when kids/anyone wanted to hold a snake he was so steadfastly tame and un-head shy.

So I get him home Sunday after holding him for hours at the show-- he was adventurous and sweet and seemed to seek out attention from people. Now, I understand totally that he needs time to settle into his home. I tried to feed him about 3-4 days in and he just struck at the mouse but wouldn't eat. (understandable, it's all new. I was offering as a litmus test of how adjusted he was more than anything.) Now, it's almost been a full week, and I've handled him for the first times today since I brought him home-- when I held him this morning (10 minutes) I slowly touched his back and he like, jerked/lunged backwards and scared the crap out of me. I scooped him up and put him in his cage to stop any stress he was experiencing. This evening I had him out and he was contentedly sitting beside me on my bed for about 20 minutes, then when i reached down to pick him up and put him in his terrarium he started hissing at me! He just seems to be getting crankier and crankier.

His normal eating day was Tuesday, and we completely missed that with the housing transition and his unwillingness to eat. I've noticed he's getting adventurous and rooting around in his cage at night. Could this be a sign it's time to try to feed him again? Also does anyone have any advice/thoughts on him turning into a kindof cranky snake? or does that have to do with him being hungry? He's such a beautiful creature, I just want him to be happy and to be able to occasionally handle him without fear of him flopping backwards out of fear or hissing!

Any advice at all is appreciated here.

[katdog]

and now he is rubbing his face on the top and sides of his tank so intensely... he looks like he's dancing. He keep smelling the grate at the top. It's like he's looking for a way out. another sign of hunger?

[Eric Alan]

All of this is more likely to be a sign of stress from being transplanted into a completely new environment after two years. Tell us more about your setup. Maybe take some pictures if you can.

[SRMD]

Make sure all your husbandry is correct temps humidity etc. If your snake hisses at you, don't put him back or leave him alone.. carry on handling him so he doesn't associate hissing at you with you leaving him alone. Give him a full straight week of no touching or handling. After the week try to feed him then.

[bcr229]

Make sure all your husbandry is correct temps humidity etc.

This. What are the temperatures on the warm and cool side? What are you using for heat and how is that heat regulated? What kind of thermometer are you using to measure the temperatures - some are wildly inaccurate. What is his humidity?

Also most breeders keep their snakes in tubs/racks due to space and easy-of-care considerations, if you take an adult that has lived in a tub since pipping and put it into a tank environment it's not going to be happy.

[katdog]

Ok! He is in a 20" by 20" terrarium with half an inch of aspen shavings substrate. I was told to go bigger after he adjusts to this since he is coming from a rack system to a normal "pet enclosure." The temperature of his terrarium is measured by 2 digital thermometers-- the hot end under the basking lamp stays around 89-91 during daytime and at night when the lamp is off his under tank heater keeps it around 85. The cool side of the tank stays about 78-80. His humidity has been at the most 55 and at the lowest 48, and I spritz and keep his water full to maintain that. He only has one hide at this time, as that is what the breeder recommended, and that's what he's used to, and he doesn't have any plants to hide in. (Which didn't stop him last night from throwing his party, but I can understand is a possible issue!)

did id I miss anything else needed?

[SRMD]

You don't need to drop the temperature at night unless you're planning to breed, I am pretty sure.

Also how secure are your hides that you have for him? and do you have plenty of places for him to go where he can't be seen?

Ball pythons like to feel secure, safe and hide away.

Could you take a picture of your whole set-up and show us, maybe we would be able to help you more.

[katdog]

I'm at work, so I can't take a picture at the moment, but I will at home. His half log hide is nice and snug the way they like it. No he doesn't have much cover besides that. Hangon I may have a picture in my phone-

[SRMD]

You should probably consider a better hide than a half log, as they don't offer much security.
http://www.reptilebasics.com/hide-boxes

You can even buy things like those, they are more secure than a half log, try to find a hide that has only one exit/entrance, and is a nice tight fit.

These are my preferred hides:
http://www.bluelizardreptiles.co.uk/...s/015561228534

I have two, one on the cold end and one on the warm end.

[katdog]

There's the setup before I added heat lamps and such. It's super simple atm, I wanted to kinda transition him from the Tupperware he was living in, you know?


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