I bought a 0.1 CB 99 Desert Phase Cali in the fall of 2000 from a breeder at a show. It was the runt of the litter and not much bigger than the 2000s being sold. He said she just didn't have much of an appetite but since she was one of the most strikingly colored deserts I had seen in while I bought her at a great price. Well the appetite thing turned out to be true, she would completly fast from Oct or Nov to about March and in the summer months she would have a fairly typical cal king feeding response. Temps weren't the issue as she is always kept warm and I have never actually cycled her for breeding (yet). During this time she was never a great one for handling either. Rarely if ever bit but would thrash and rattle and musk like a typical cali hatchling only she kept doing it. If I would make a point to handle her often she would calm down to a managable level but was certainly no cornsnake but the musking would at least stop for awhile. Well now this spring rolls around and she 31/2 years old and still small. Once March comes along it is like someone flipped a switch, she is RAVENOUS. I can't get enough food down her, she would feed everyday if I let her. She has also been very active day and night. I figured she was just hungry coming out of pseudo-hibernation so I gave her about as many mice as she wanted, but that wasn't working so I switched her to rats (no problem there she didn't even look, just nailed it before it hit the cage floor) Now she is hammering small rats and looking for more. She has shed 4 times since early march and each shed is noticably bigger. She is now about 31/2 ft long and as thick as a $.50 piece. That's all fine and dandy the problem is now she BITES. It's not a defensive bite, no coiling, rattling, thrashing or musking and it's not a feeding error. I will be handling her without any problem and after about 5 minutes of easy handling she will put her snout up to my hand or arm and chomp me. It almost seems like she's just trying to get a taste to see if I would make a good meal or not. Sometimes prior to chomping me, I have notice that her body will start twitching. I've seen horny males do this during mating, could she be trying to score a piece off of me? LOL As I have never raised a Cali to maturity before is this normal behavior for a snake her age? Has she just finally reached "womanhood" and if I get her a boyfriend will she settle down. I like the appetite and that she is finally starting fill out (I realize I am over feeding her now so no need to lecture me there) but the biting is getting old. I have 16 month old that is in love with her and always wants me to get her out so she can touch her tale. I always have to manage the "buisiness end" while doing this and usually come away with teethmarks. Is this something that will end as soon as the hormones go down or is this just the way it's going to be? I do try and handle her for a few minutes every day and if it weren't for the biting five minutes into it you would think she was a perfectly tame, handlable snake. Any ideas?

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