6 months away, got attacked by my girl :-(

[Diaspora]

Hey everyone,

I just got back from my exchange program of 6 months and I was excited to see my babygirl Kaliya again!
During my time away, my brother and mother were the ones to feed her. My mom occasionally let her out but only like a couple of times in 6 months.
When I got back for 5 days in June I tried to get her out of her tank but she hissed at me, for the first time in 2 years. I eventually succeeded to take her out the next day.

And this Sunday when I opened her tank to take her out, I approached her slowly and she struck at me.. twice.
Then when closing the tank she struck again, but against the glass.

I'm thinking that she acts like this because she's not used to having me hanging around her tank anymore (she's in my room, on my desk).
What do you guys think ? I'm planning on leaving her alone for a week or so and then try to handling her again day by day.

Thanks for you advice!

[CloudtheBoa]

It's possible your family also didn't feed her quite as much as they should, that's a common problem I see in these sorts of situations, and the only times my bp strikes at me is when he comes out of a fast and starts eating normally until he gets used to eating again. This has only happened the last two times he's fasted.

When I was young, I might have held my bp 2 or 3 times in several years because children get bored easily (seriously don't buy a 12 year old an animal don't do it, Bud was lucky), and that didn't make him grumpy, generally a docile animal stays docile unless something else bothers them. Generally, not handling a snake doesn't cause it to become defensive if the snake is already docile, in my experience.

I would wait and see how she does when you next handle her, and see what she does after eating a few meals, and see if her mood changes any. If you just got back and she hasn't really been handled, and is being defensive, giving her some time to cool off probably isn't a bad idea. If she continues to be bitey, just be sure to handle her consistently, but not too often, and with some work she could calm down. Make sure her husbandry is still on point as well, as I'm not sure how experienced with reptiles your family is and 6 months is a long time to be away.

It's promising that she was calmer the second time you took her out, too, could have just been startled.

[Hannahshissyfix]

I don't think bp aggression is usually the result of not handling. It's more likely cranky from something being off with its needs. You said it's in a tank and lack of humidity and heat are big problems with tanks unless you've made modifications to it. Did your family keep it clean? I'd give everything a good scrub, check your temps and humidity and then try to handle again after a few days. Just scoop up from behind and they usually don't strike once picked up.

[Diaspora]

I left some instructions to be sure her husbandry stayed on point. And since my family always showed her to me on FaceTime I was always able to control everything (or sort of): Temp and humidity were always as they should be, her moisture box was never dry & changed every now and then, her water bowl was always cleaned up and she was fed every week.
She's already putting her head more often out of her hide to check out who's always hanging around, so I guess that's already positive :-)
She has shed a couple of weeks ago also

i'll give her a mouse tomorrow and next week I will start to handle her again

Thanks for the answers !

[redshepherd]

What's her feeding schedule like and what are you feeding her/how much?

[JodanOrNoDan]

^^^ Yeah, what red said, how old is the animal? A single mouse I am guessing is not cutting it.

[Diaspora]

She's 2yo and she gets live mice
I've tried to give her rats but she refuses to eat them
she was getting 1/week with my family
she's so picky she often doesn't want a second one (my family didn't try two mice a week though)
should I try again maybe ?

[JodanOrNoDan]

She's 2yo and she gets live mice
I've tried to give her rats but she refuses to eat them
she was getting 1/week with my family
she's so picky she often doesn't want a second one (my family didn't try two mice a week though)
should I try again maybe ?

Most of my two year old females are already on medium rats if that tells you anything. I have a few picky ones that are still on smalls. She is probably very hungry. I would definitely try another one.

[Diaspora]

Most of my two year old females are already on medium rats if that tells you anything. I have a few picky ones that are still on smalls. She is probably very hungry. I would definitely try another one.

Did you switched to rats easily ?
I've red that sometimes you have to put a rat and a mouse together to mix the smells as that can be the issue but since mine is getting live ones.. Not that easy

[melcvt00]

When you offer the 2nd mouse, do it right after the first one is all thwle way down the hatch. Tail disappears, there is a little more pushing it down, and then she should "snap out of it" and be looking around again. That is the time to offer a second one. Of course, this is if she doesn't take a small rat - she might be hungry enough right now to take one.