Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I've owned Curve, my 7 year-old Ball Python for 3 years, she's usually mellow, hand raised, likes to be held. She's a healthy, regular eater. I feed her 4-5 adult mice every 2-3 weeks -pre-killed- by transfering Curve to a big paper bag and dropping mice in. She's bit me twice, once was my fault by stressing her out and trying to show her to visiting friends, and once when she struck my hand as I was dropping a mouse to her. Each bite was about a year apart. Last week I fed her after 3 weeks, it was really hot that night, she was very active and bit my finger hard as I tried to transfer her from tank to feeding bag. After carefully wedging a wooden spoon in her mouth I unclamped her, but she was stressed and tried repeatedly to bite me as I returned her to her tank. The bite was hard, and bruised my knuckle pretty good, not to mention pretty painful. I think the unusual heat made her twitchy.

I'm now a little nervous about handling her. Any advice on how to approach this? I'm thinking of getting thick fabric gloves, not leather or suede. Anything else I can do?

thanks
Alex

seems to me this is mostly feeding response related.
That time she bit you while you were dropping in a mouse, she obviously mistook your warm hand for the prey.
What happend recently probably had something to do with feeding also.
You said it was hot, which might have increased her metabolism and she was REALLY hungry.
Could it be that she smelled the food in the air, before you tried to take her out?
Maybe she anticipated and smelled the food, and then your warm hand reached in.
I don't like gloves but if they make you feel more comfortable, i guess you could try them.
What you should do is try to handle her a bit more, as long as she doesn't get to stressed to eat.
Make her see that she is being taken out for other reasons then just to eat.
IMHO a hook would be your best bet. By the time you have taken her out with a hook, she should realize it is not feeding time, and you can then handle her a bit.
Well, these are just some thoughts....

i wear Thick yard gloves when i get done feeding my BP. for some reason it has the look in its eyes that its going to strike, only somtimes though. BP's are aggressive when feeding is going steady.

sorry, i meant to say that when food is around them, they will look for it, and mistake warm things for the prey (hand, finger, etc..) they have an excellant feeding reponse when healthy.

Not sure a hook would work, as she usually coils around her log when I take her out, and she does'nt like anything touching her neck or head area. I'm gonna try the gloves, and handling her more. Maybe she smelled mice but I try to keep them in the fridge till ready to heat them up and serve. thanks for the help

First off is your Ball wild caught or captive bred. I have mainly delt with captive bred and they are almost always docile around feeding time unless they have been starved for a good period of time. Wild caught are alot more finicky and nervous around humans even the older ones. And they do have the tendencies to strike at warm movements. Also make sure you wear come type of gloves whenever you feed them so she cannot sense your heat as well. During feeding it is always best to throw it in as quick as possible. That is any snake. Normal, gentle handling and keeping her fed on a regular basis should help alot. Hope this helps.

Chris