I'm new, and need veteren help!

[NCKarlov]

I am new to these forums, and to the world of owning a snake for that matter. I did some basic research and found that a ball python was my best bet as far as a new snake owner would be concerned.

So i bought a female baby ball from my town's most reputable pet store (not some corporate owned pet chain). Beautiful marks, bright skin, clear eyes, not aggressive, had been eating wonderfully, no scrathes or any problems.

I buy her everything necessary, her cage has been around 80-85 on the warm end, don't have a thermometer for the cool end, i suppose i should get on, i assume it's around 70ish. she has 2 hide boxes, 2 water dishes. No undertank heat pad, but has 2 dome lamps (a red bulb for night time and a regular 100 watt for day).

Ok now getting down to the part where i need help!!


first and foremost, i know i must be doing something wrong with my snake. Please take in to consideration i have never owned one before and do not believe i have a vast knowledge of them...if i am doing something extremely stupid or incorrect...PLEASE let me know so i can fix this problem.

OK my problem is that she is being more aggressive since i obtained her. When i first got her she was very very calm, a bit skiddish and scared, but very calm for the most part. Within 2-3 days she would let me handle her for a couple minutes at a time, no jumping or striking. She simply gripped tightly against my hand and peeked around. Well it came to thursday (when she was used to being fed). the pet store guys told me that she was much larger than the others and as such, was feeding on 2 mice each feeding. They fed pre killed mice. so i naturally did the same, bought 1 frozen mouse, used a pair of tongues to dangle it in front of her (i have never moved her from her cage to feed, and i am thinking this might be a cause for her aggression). anyways, she was a bit frightened at first, but did eventually strike and coil and swallow. Well they said to feed her two. so i go to the pet store much closer to my house, and they only have live. I think to myself "these snakes don't feed off dead things in the wild, what is a live one going to hurt". so i feed her the live one with no problems, she gobbles it up just fine.

Ok i know i have just wasted alot of time by talking about unimportant things, but i'm trying to let you guys know the exact order of events, to see if there is anything i'm messing up.

Well i believe it was 3 nights after her first meal in my room. That i am sitting on my computer (maybe 3 feet to the right of her warm side hide box) and i see her head sitting still on the ground, facing me as i'm just sitting here typing and occassionally glancing at her to see if she decides to move since it's now nighttime. her body remains in the hide box, but her head is maybe 4 inches out. I don't think anything of this so i just keep going about my business. I notice her water bowl is a bit low, and i don't wish for her humidity to go down, so i reach my left hand closer to her cage, maybe one foot, when she immediately strikes at the glass (mouth wide open) slams into the glass, and then quickly zooms into her hide box.

I am not afraid of snakes and never felt uncomfortable around her until this. I thought hmm maybe i was just doing something wrong.

But then last night, i come home and her head is in the same position. facing me. So i roll backwards in my chair to see what she will do. and sure enough she inches her head closer and lifts her head off the ground in the exact manner that she does before she strikes a mouse. i know that if i move close to her she will strike again, so i simply get in bed, turn my monitor and get out of her line of sight.

I am writing this at midnight (around the time she has previously been aggressive). and she is simply in her hide box doing nothing.

OK now that i have THOUROUGHLY explained my situation, here are some of the things it MIGHT be, and some things that might help you guys come to a conclusion.

1. She only does this at night, and on days where she fed earlier (but does not always do it on nights she feeds)
2. I have not handled her in quite some time (2 weeks), due to work and school and recently, this confusion she has caused me.
3. I do not remove her from her enclosure for feeding, i simply drop a mouse in the cage, and watch her eat.
4. I read that in some cases, female baby balls may need to feed more often, so i have been feeding her on wednesday and saturday (only one mouse each time now though, rather than 2 once a week).
5. my computer is very close to her cage, 3 feet, and i am on it quite often. i don't know if the lights or the movement of me typing could have any influence on it.
6. *may not be important but i figure i should include it*. i use coconut bark substrate (the guys at the store swore by it). she has two 12 pack soda containers for hide boxes, one at either end like i mentioned, she has a large tupperware bowl in the middle (6"X6") and a small round one on the warm end (3" diameter). she is in a 30 gallon L tank. and she is roughly 2 feet long. pretty beefy around her mid section as well (though not bloated and disproportional).


She is a beautiful and healthy snake, and i would love nothing more than to be able to hold her, let her rest on me, and keep her calm for as long as i have her. Needless to say, this has been very stressful for me, because lately i feel as though i live with a monster rather than a pet...

Pleaseee help me, i am in desperation!!

Forgot to add...I have been feeding her during the day...around 5 o'clock. they are nocturnal i know and i am not sure if this has anything to do with it.
I also might not have mentioned that my method of checking temp is one aquarium tank strip on the warm side...would it be wise to invest on a digital thermometer that measures both sides and humidity???