Enclosure to tub behavior change

[bcr229]

While the plural of anecdote is not data I've taken in several snakes who used to live in sub-optimum environments, and their personalities changed from chill and laid back to hissy, pissy, and defensive once they were moved into a decent enclosure.

A lot of people state that their snakes get "aggressive" or "defensive" if given a hide (e.g. adult boas or retics), or if they live in a tub/rack setup versus a tank (ball pythons).

I think there is a good reason for the difference. If a snake is not secure or comfortable, it really doesn't care if it's moved out of that environment. A snake in an open enclosure or without a hide feels exposed, and thus isn't happy or secure in its home. So, when you come along and take the snake out of that environment, it really doesn't care because it wasn't in a good place to begin with.

[anthropomorphization on]
Suppose you live in the ghetto. Your apartment is never comfortable - too cold in the winter, too hot in the summer, and it's always so dry your skin cracks. It's also dirty and it stinks like raw sewage. The food you're given smells nasty, you can hear your neighbors fighting through the walls, and last week the lady across the hall got robbed. If you get pulled out of there you may fuss a bit but you're not really unhappy about leaving that environment.

Now suppose you're dropped into a five-star hotel. Your temperatures and humidity are perfect. You have a comfortable bed, cable tv, gourmet meals, and top tier security in the building. If someone tries to pull you out of there against your will, of course you're going to fuss, try to hide in a closet, grab whatever you can on the way out, or even bite whoever is fooling with you, because you REALLY don't want to leave.
[anthropomorphization off]

So, my opinion: if your snake is defensive or fussing about being removed from its home, it's because your snake is happy, comfortable, and secure in its home.