The feeding process

[bsumpter]

Hey fellow herp friends. I recently started moving my 8 year old male bp into another cage for feeding in an attempt to break him of his cage aggression. I heard somewhere that after feeding they are in a kind of zone and they should be left alone for a while to slip out of feed mode. How long should I wait before returning him to his full time cage? Or, more importantly, is this transfer process even necessary?

[Stewart_Reptiles]

The aggression is not due to being fed in his enclosure, it could be very well stress related.

Also keep in mind having a strong feeding response does not me being aggressive.

What do you call cage aggression exactly? Does your BP strike every time you try to pick him up? Do you make him aware of your presence before picking him up?

What is your husbandry like?

What type of enclosure do you use (size?)?

What are your temps?

Humidity?

Do you use a digital thermometer/hygrometer?

What kind of hides do you provide?

What do you feed your BP and how often?

Etc?

[bsumpter]

I keep him in a 40 gallon screen top terrarium 36x18x16. His temps are currently 84 cool side and 91 hot side. Humidity is at 49 percent (really hard to maintain high humidity with the screen top). I use only aspen bedding and I switch his water out with fresh water twice a day. He has two hides both are clay planters. He only acts like he's ready to strike for a while after he feeds (medium sized rats by the way). Most of the time it's like he couldn't care less about sticking your hands into his cage. I just read somewhere that moving them into a new tank every time you feed them can help prevent what the site had called "cage aggression." This is the first python I've had in quite a few years and I didn't have my last one long because I had to move for my job, but that one was only a hatchling anyway. He struck at me once and got his teeth in which hurts like hell and I'm trying to avoid that with this big fella (whose teeth are signifigantly bigger) lol. I've done a lot of research on the husbandry and such but I'm no expert and there's no replacement for experience.

[blackcrystal22]

I keep him in a 40 gallon screen top terrarium 36x18x16. His temps are currently 84 cool side and 91 hot side. Humidity is at 49 percent (really hard to maintain high humidity with the screen top). I use only aspen bedding and I switch his water out with fresh water twice a day. He has two hides both are clay planters. He only acts like he's ready to strike for a while after he feeds (medium sized rats by the way). Most of the time it's like he couldn't care less about sticking your hands into his cage. I just read somewhere that moving them into a new tank every time you feed them can help prevent what the site had called "cage aggression." This is the first python I've had in quite a few years and I didn't have my last one long because I had to move for my job, but that one was only a hatchling anyway. He struck at me once and got his teeth in which hurts like hell and I'm trying to avoid that with this big fella (whose teeth are signifigantly bigger) lol. I've done a lot of research on the husbandry and such but I'm no expert and there's no replacement for experience.

Well your husbandry is on par. Is this ball python new? If so, you need to leave him be for a while so that he can adapt to his new enclosure.
Are his hides tight one opening hides (NOT log hides)?
A ball python bite in my experience doesn't hurt more than a pinprick unless you pull away.
How often do you feed? For a full grown adult bp, you could probably feed a medium rat every two weeks, but if he shows a more common feeding response, he may need a small rat every week.

He could just be aggressive. But moving a snake into another enclosure is a bad idea and won't work for this 'cage aggression' that doesn't exist. If a snake is just an aggressive snake, it's going to be aggressive anywhere, no matter where you feed it.
Moving from the enclosure is stressful and unnecessary. How often do you handle him?

[hondo1967]

Just sounds like hes still in feeding mode after his meal leave him be for a while after his meal.

[kid_mustango02]

Yea, my bps don't get bothered at all for a couple days after feeding, unless there's a good reason. Sounds like he's expecting another rat and your hand looks tasty...

[bsumpter]

Thank you all. Yes he is new to me. A friend gave him to me because he didn't have the time for it anymore. It makes a great deal of sense to me that moving him like that would be stressful. I'll give him a day or so before I move him back into his good cage. I think it's human nature to pull away if you're struck at so I, more than likely, jerked back when struck but like I said, that was quite a few years ago. I do try to handle him frequently but I am somewhat apprehensive because the only other bp I've owned was only a few months old. I love the smoothness and majesty in how they move and interact but when he draws back I do get skittish. I'm warming up to him and hopefully visa versa. lol Also, he gets a medium sized rat about every 8-9 days or so. He is between 9 and 10 years old and is about 4 or 4 1/2 feet long. Should I feed him more or less or don't change it? And, by the way, his hides are totally closed except for the one opening each. I had to make them from plant pots because I haven't found any cave like or natural looking pre fab ones big enough for him.