Yeah, I have the same problem. My girl was sweeter than honey when I got her. In fact, that was the chioce breaker to getting her. I cannot begin to describe how calm she was. Now, however, I have to cover her head and pick her up around the neck--like one might do with a venomous snake.



I don't know what caused it. One day, I was holding her like I did so many times, and then, bang, bang, bang, she starts getting all defensive and biting--and not just striking, biting, i.e., grabing and holding. I always wash my hands before handling my snakes, so it had nothing to with mouse scent. Besides, it was days after and days before the next feeding.



I had two normal. black rat snakes do this with me also, after about a year or two of being angels, they turn and become Satan's Daughters, to barrow a phrase. No amount of handling broke them of this behavior. Anyway, I had to get rid of them. Surprizingly, I have a male corn snake who has recently started this behavior as well. My theory is, some individual snakes 'snap' after a while and go back to the basic wild-caught defensive behavior.



Why do they suddenly start acting like it was the first time we met? I don't know. Hell, I'd love to know how I would go about testing my theory, but I don't know how I would go about that either, being as lazy as I am. Maybe through collecting and examining reports like ours. I guess a good avenue of investigation would be to study whether or not this behavior becomes permanent, or is temporary. We could see if changes in husbandry, e.g., cage environs, photo period, and so forth, have any effect on behavior. Keep us informed of your attempts to win her back, okay?

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