Personality change or other?

[TimmyG]

Yesterday I noticed my bp lingering outside his hide in the 'S' shape and it looked like he was in full ambush mode. since this was a day before his regular feeding I assumed he was hungrey so I fed him a mouse. But today I see hes still out in the same way and is quite reactive, like if I put my hand above the tank he can sense it and will fixate on it. He couldnt possibly still be hungrey could he? I also wonder if recently switching him to feeding in his tank is the cause of this and hes now more agressive? Also, I wonder if I should try to handle him anyway when he's like this just to show it wont make me hesitant to handle him? thanks

[Inknsteel]

I very seriously doubt this change in behavior is due to feeding in the enclosure. That is a common myth about ball pythons. As far as trying to handle him, wait 48 hours after feeding to handle, or you increase the chance of the snake regurgitating. My question to you would be what is the weight of the snake and how big was the feeder? It may be that the meal was too small. I wouldn't try to feed again today. Wait 5-7 days and try a bigger meal, or multiple prey items.

[anendeloflorien]

Well there's a lot of questions that need to be answered before we can really tell whats going on here.

What size mouse are you feeding him? How often do you feed? What size (weight would be best) is the snake? What are your warm and cool side temps and your humidity at?

I have seen some of my snakes go through "moods" where they just get really strikey. Usually I take it as an opportunity to get a couple otherwise picky eaters to eat since they'll hit anything I put in the tub lol. Seriously though it's not really anything to worry about sometimes they just get a 'tude for no freakin reason.

[TimmyG]

Thanks, I go by the size of the widest girth rule and at that I would say the last mouse was slightly larger than the others I've feed for a while, temp in the center is just above 80 and humidity is at 50.

[anendeloflorien]

Thanks, I go by the size of the widest girth rule and at that I would say the last mouse was slightly larger than the others I've feed for a while, temp in the center is just above 80 and humidity is at 50.

Just curious... Do you have a temp on the warm side and the cool side? Do you allow for a temperature gradient. If that is the warmest part of the cage that it far too low for a ball python. It should be more like 90-94 degrees for proper thermoregulation.

[TimmyG]

yes, I have a CHE on one end and a nightglow on the other end, I know CHEs eat up humidity but in Canada I think they are nessisary. The temp I gave was central becuase I dont have probes ect for both ends...yet!

[anendeloflorien]

As long as the humidity is around 50% you should be good. What are you using to control the CHE? Those can get EXTREMELY hot and should always be used with some sort of thermostat. Do you have a digital thermometer/hygrometer set up? The dial type are notoriously inaccurate.

[Somed00d]

yes, I have a CHE on one end and a nightglow on the other end, I know CHEs eat up humidity but in Canada I think they are nessisary. The temp I gave was central becuase I dont have probes ect for both ends...yet!

even in canada ceramic heat emitters are not necessary with the proper setup.

[jimmyfoxca]

even in canada ceramic heat emitters are not necessary with the proper setup.

I guess that may depend on the temp of the room you house the snake in. Yes, No? Please elaborate.

Jimmy

[Somed00d]

I guess that may depend on the temp of the room you house the snake in. Yes, No? Please elaborate.

I am not going to debate racks versus tanks vs pvc cages but generally people with tanks use CHE's or light bulbs because tanks don't hold heat well. A tank is not an ideal enclosure for ball's. To make a tank more efficient you can cover the screen top with aluminum tape, insulate the sides and back with foam insulation etc. etc. there is a good sticky I think that helps people with tanks make them work.. I am keeping 30 snakes warm with under 300watts. and that 300watts is only running at 10-20% according to my thermostat so really its only drawing 60 watts.