Reptile & Amphibian Forums

i posted the other day about my male biting me. well today my other adult female struck at me and the male is still being a little defensive. also my young male is hissing at me. im in florida and recently the weather dropped from 85 during the day to about 60 and 40 degree nights they are feeling a little bit of the change and i was wondering if that will affect their attitude. i cant keep these snakes if they keep this up because i have little sisters that are always around and interacting with them.im not a breeder i just love my herps and this isnt making it easy. sorry all ball lovers .

It can happen with any reptile or pet at that, I also live in florida and i keep about 40 snakes 80% balls its not the weather, the last time I was bit it was a sd retic female and it was 100% my fault during feeding time got careless check back on your husbandry maybe the snake does not feel safe in it enclosure add another hide maybe or one just big enough for the snake to fit.

I have a few pythons that will strike at me once in a while, I have so many that I must feed them in their cages, so they have developed a feeding response to the bin being opened. Once the bin opens, they are alert for some food to be appearing and that is when I am most likely to have them strike at me. Once I touch them or move them they can get themselves out of the feeding mode and then are safe to handle without worry. If you handle your snakes more they will most likely calm down, also if you have a snake tong to touch them with when you first open the cage they can usually get into a non feeding mode and be safe to handle. Ball Pythons are a wonderful snake and I would hate to see you give up your animals for this issue. Best of luck with your snakes.

along the lines of what viper said...
good interaction between pet and owner is often decided in the opening minutes of each episode.
it's important that you warm your critter up to interact and that you're able to identify non-contact situations.
gently touch or push your snake to initiate forward movement instead of just reaching in to grab it from it's bucket. or try taking the bucket from the rack and letting the animal crawl out at it's leisure before handling it. forward locomotion changes the animal's posture from ambush to search. if you're warm juicy hand shows up to greet it in the first mode, you're likely to experience the sharp, quick, release of some potential energy. if you give the animal a chance to evaluate it's situation, it will realize that this is not a feeding opportunity and will likely switch modes to explore. assuming you're not defrosting rats, haven't just handled your friend's pet ferret, the snake isn't going into shed, etc., it should be a pleasant experience for all. not sure how old you are, but i know when my kids want to handle their animals they are very conscious of the posture of the critter in question, and they have told their friends on more than one occasion that " this isn't a good time " when they've spotted a potentially bad situation.
spend some time observing your animals, you'll pick up some clues. don't expect even the most tolerant ball to come out of it's home everyday without getting retaliatory at some point. limit handling sessions to once or twice a week for each one at the most, and spend the rest of your goof-off time studying something useful.
good luck, don't quit, just be smart about it, especially when your little sibs are in the picture.

ck

If they're all suddenly turning on you, I'd look at yourself and how you're interacting with them rather than the weather. Like a couple previous posters mentioned, pay attention to the snakes and their body language. Snakes can have off days too, and your siblings should be able to understand that if the snake isn't acting friendly, they shouldn't pick it up. That kind of basic knowledge of animal behavior will serve them well with any kind of animal - especially dogs, since dogs can do far more harm than a ball python.

I would relax and not worry so much about being bitten. It doesn't hurt that bad, you're not going to die, it's going to suprise you, but you and the snake will get over it and not be so frightened of each other.

The bottom line is that anything with a mouth can bite, and your family members should know this. Would you get rid of a chihuahua that snapped at people? Most people wouldn't... So why get rid of your snakes for being a little cranky?

Good luck!

~jenny
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"Polysyllabism in no way insures that what you're saying is actually worth being heard." - Blake (an e-friend of mine)

"I have never made but one prayer to god, a very short one: "O lord, make my enemies ridiculous." And he granted it." - Voltaire

I posted a ehile back about my female biting my BF...well she strikes at anything that comes in front of the enclosure...never was like that before...but she has been breeding like crazy and i read somewhere that that they can get a litle agressive during mating...dunno how true that is though..we make sure we wear gloves when we reach in to take her out to feed...usually after she is in our hands she is ok...we also noticed she is MUCH MUCH fatter...folicle making maybe?...dunno...so we just leave her be till it is time for her to eat