Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Mine hisses when she/he is in a hiding spot. i can tell right away that it doesnt want to be picked up, even after it hisses, i pick it up to let it know i wont hurt it nor am i scared. (even if i do wear heavy duty lawn gloves if she strikes )

is this normal? i mean, i love my snake even though it gets aggressive somtimes...it hasnt bitten me once on the skin, but on the glove. Im not scared of being bit, i just want to know how bad it hurts also.

*** How can you tell a male and female apart without probing? anal claws?***

Do you have a wild caught ball? I have a captive born one, and she has never striked at me once. i have had her for about two months and i have only heard her hiss at me twice. Cant help you on the sex thing, i found out what mines was when i got her. i not goin to wear gloves for mine
lisa

captive bred. im 15, and kinda scared to get bit though, btw...once i get it out and feed it, its like nothing happened.

For me it's more the shock of being bit than the actual pain. The only times I've ever been bit by my balls is during feeding times. About a month or so ago I got bit by my 8' boa on the elbow and didn't see it coming at all. This actually wasn't a feeding mistake but for some reason he just gave me a quick bite right after I picked her up. I bled like a pig. With balls, the bites have never really bled that much. It's more like little needle marks in the shape of their mouth, with just tiny blood droplets coming out. I wouldn't worry about it that much, but at the same time wouldn't go looking for it . With regular handling, this hissing (really more like heavy breathing) will go away. Good luck, Scott.
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Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.
Martin Luther King, Jr.

"In any civilized society, it is every citizen's responsibility to obey just laws.
But at the same time, it is every citizen's responsibility to disobey unjust laws."
—Martin Luther King Jr

My daughter ended up buying the only Ball Python that ever bit her, AFTER she was bit by it
it has never struck at HER since, it once struck blindly out of her hide when she was opening the tank cover (hand was not even in the tank yet)
she even said the only upset she had was what had SHE done to upset the snake so much
the snake is downright cuddly now, we can be watching TV in my room, laying back on the pillows, and she will just crawl on us (seems to like armpits, warmth)
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Elizabeth (ecb)

Make this world a better and more beautiful place that You have been in it
*Edward W Bok*

Tokay geckos you need to worry about, ball pythons are like getting two allergy shots. Let them know who's boss. Remember, if someone picked you up, and you didn't want to be lifted and you bit them, and they put you down, wouldn't you learn that biting will get you a trip back to your nice cage? I had to tame a very very aggressive kingsnake by letting it repeatedly bite me until it learned that I just didn't care.It would relentlessly hiss, strike, and bite at me, yet I still picked it up until it became calm. Point being, don't be intimitated, own it, don't let it own you.
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1.1.0 Ball Pythons
0.0.1 Rough Green Snake
1.5.0 Leopard Geckos
1.0.0 Veiled Chameleon
1.0.0 Viper Gecko
1.1.0 Pictus Geckos
0.0.1 Columbian Tegu
1.1.0 Collared Lizards
0.0.1 Blue Tongued Skink

I have heard from a lot of different sources that if the BP has a relatively smaller head compared to its body, then it is most likely a male. If you have nothing to compare it to, then look at the underside near the cloaca, aka butthole, you will see the "spurs" on each side of it. If they seem to be curled and semi-long (which is still pretty short, but more then just stubs), then it is probably a male. If they aren't very noticable, and they look sort of like little stubs, then it is probably a female. Just FYI: I am not an expert, I have only read these things from several sources.

My BP's have never hissed at me, although my younger one did when I misted her...LOL...she was pretty ticked off about that! Just continue picking her/him up regularly and don't let all the bluster bother you. They adapt pretty well to handling once they realise you aren't going to eat them.
I have been bitten by my youngest after I first purchased her at the WP show. I'm sure she was bred to be sold, and not handled excessively, spending her life in a rack and getting fat on mice. It felt like getting hit by a warm cotton-ball. No blood from her bite at all. My 1 1/2 year old struck at me (totally my fault-didn't wash hands very well after whacking a rat)and it left a mouth shaped pin-prick pattern of little blood droplets on the webbing between my thumb and forefinger. It didn't hurt at all, but was more of a shock as he had never even nipped me before. I think it scared him more than me, as he balled up and acted pretty upset after that, to the point of being hesitant about striking the rat when it was feeding time. Just making sure he was aiming for the right target that time. That was the one and only time he has bitten and balled up on me since owning him.
As far as sexing them, have them probed (or popped when young). That is the only sure fire way to tell what sex they are other than putting a bunch together and seeing which lay eggs... There is no sexual dimorphism between the spurs of BPs.
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1.1 Ball Python
0.0.1 corn snake
1.0 Bearded Dragon
0.0.2 fish
1.2 cats
3.1 kids
1.0 husband

Usually, bites are due to Stupid Handler Tricks (SHTs). These include: startling the snake, hands smelling like Food, grabbing the head, etc. Some snakes are just nippy.

I have a nippy snake who is treated with great respect. He's only connected with me once, but he's struck at me repeatedly. Before I got him, he was only used for breeding and lived in a drawer, so he didn't get much socialization. He's gotten better, but I still use the cage hook to get him out and control his head while I handle him.

The bite was about 4000 pounds of pressure in a nanosecond. I bled profusely, THEN it hurt like holy heck. I immediately washed it with an antibiotic wash (Band-Aid brand) and smeared it with Neosporin (after securing the snake, of course). It throbbed for a week but healed with no scar.

I would HIGHLY RECOMMEND getting a cage hook. Go to tongs.com or some other place. It's indispensible, even if your snake is docile. Snakes are still wild animals and can be unpredictable.

Calm, deliberate movements with gloved hands are the way to go. You may also want to wait to handle the snake when you notice that it's already in motion - BPs are "twilight" hunters, active in the early evening.

It's been a year, but I've gotten Frank to the point where he accepts being tailed. The hook goes under his neck while I hold his tail. I can move him around quite easily, and the hook keeps his head where I want it (away from my hands and face).

>*** How can you tell a male and female apart without probing?

No way for sure without probing or observing the animal laying eggs. Even two males may mate with each other, so mating behaviour is no guarantee. Get an expert to teach you how to probe.

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2.0 Ball Pythons
2.0 Bettas
1.1 Pekingeses
1.4 Rats (for breeding)
1.0 Mouse (for scenting rat pinkies)

My 4 month old Ball has never hissed at me when I go to pick him up or put my hand in his tank. He is never really defensive when I handle him, and has always readily crawled around.

well, it only happens like once every couple months. and its always been in the same spot (under the big drift wood peice) so maybe this is like a sercurity blanket for it, and i startled it. But once i hold it, it cools off and looks around and curls aorund my hand and crawls on the key board.