Reptile & Amphibian Forums

A few months ago my young ball python delivered a bite to my arm without provocation. Since then I haven't enjoyed her or handled her nearly as much. She is a good feeder and when this occured her menu consisted of one large mouse which she readily accepted every week. She was only a few months old. After attending my first reptile show last weekend and handling some gorgeous animals I returned with renewed interest in her and determined to someday have an animal that I could enjoy to the fullest. I have never found an answer to why she bit that time but now wondering if she could have been hungry? Because now she is eating two rat pups every week and she is about to move up to weanlings. Is it possible that even tho feeding regularly she could still have been hungry? If so, how much do I feed her to insure she is content?

I had a similar situation with my younger female BP. I got her nearly a year ago as a hatchling, and since then, she has been really nippy and will even hiss at me when I pick her out of the cage! Maybe, like mine, yours has an inexplicable bad temper. This is supposedly extremely rare. I feed her two mice a week now and she is definately not starving; she just bites out of sheer terror. I suspect that she had maybe been abused before I got her; I went to a pet shop nearby and the worker said "do you want a mean snake, for free?" I couldnt resist and researched for a few weeks before taking her home. Turns out she was returned to the sore wice for biting people who bought her!
A year later, even after lots of patient hanling, she's still fearful when removed but does settle down after a few minutes out of the cage. I still love her for the cutie she is, but I recently got a new (big, adult) male who is so easy to get long with and never would bite me, and it is still fascinating to be that a BP can be so tame (though it is routine to most lucky snake keepers, hehe.)
Just don't reach for her face or head area when picking her up, or let her see your hand coming right at her, or you get bit. I could help ya answer any questions about naughty BPs; I have been through it with this little gal! That's why I call her "The B*tch!"

-----
*~Ginevive~*

if your snake is 2 1/2 feet and around 450-500 grams...switch to small rats once bi-weekly. works for my snake and shes around those measurements. also, when you free handle her without gloves touch her head, and if she gets startled and coils back to defend her head keep touching it, mine was a little hellion until i touched her head every time i got her out. it may scare you a little bit when they jerk back, but they will get tamed.

Bi-weekly is NOT enough food. One food item every two weeks? HELLO?! You'll have an emaciated ball in no time. Also, the reason you were bit was not your snakes fault, it was yours. Pay closer attention to your snake, they'll tell you they're gonna bite well before they do.

small rat dog. 110-120 gram rat in a 450 gram ball? trust me...its enough.