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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?

Maybe it did not behave this way before because of malnutrition and so it now shows its true colors.LOL!
Seriously, I am sure you will get plenty of suggestions on how to tame it down from this forum.
Personally I keep/breed way to many snakes to take the time to get certain individuals to settle down. However I am usually very happy if any of my snakes are ravenous feeders.
Bluerosy

Hmmmmm....it certainly sounds to me like she is horny, lol. I think your little girl has indeed become a woman =) The 'twitching' movement you mentioned is something you usually see often from horny and/or mating snakes, and usually indicates a state of arousal or just plain excitement. My husband calls it 'The jerky jerky dance', lol.
I have had similar experiences, one with a female and a couple of times with males. I actually still have the 2 males in question, one of which the story is almost exact. He was very small when hatched, and still is for his age. He's a beautiful snake though and continues to grow, despite being over 5 yrs and at last measure was 3'11". When he reached sexual maturity his attitude hit the toilet, seriously. This year was the first time I cycled him, made no difference. Unfortunately I tried to breed him to my main female and she decided he was lunch all 3 times. I do not know if it was because of the size difference (because I have bred smaller males to bigger females successfully before) or she just didn't like the way he smelled...maybe it was his nasty attitude, or the fact he's an albino? Who knows. He has been nasty for almost 3 years now, and we have tried and tried to calm him down to no avail. This guy is one of those who thinks he's a cobra...rears right up at you and weaves, while rattling away and hisses the whole time when you go to take him out..heck, sometimes he does it when you walk by the tank. When held he musks and rattles and whips and squirms, but doesn't outright bite..he gets you by surprise like yours does.
The other male is actually a big snake now, and although still has attitude it seems to be calming with age, he was a rescue, and I think he was just maltreated before I got him.
The female I had like that was a few years ago, she escaped from her enclosure somehow, ate my rosy boa and a few months later unfortunately got fried on our furnace motor. It's weird because her sister turned out to be one of the best and nicest breeders I've ever had. And you know what's even funnier? The small bad tempered albino male in question is her nephew...I've often wondered if he somehow inherited his aunt's attitude. All other snakes in that litter did well from what I know, and he was indeed the runt.
My best advice to you, if you are interested in breeding, is to try it. Get a nice male, cycle them this year and try breeding next year. It may calm her, but be warned it may make her worse.
Simply smelling another snake, a male, in the house may do the trick, but this also may backfire and make her worse. Just be prepared, I think it's worth a try.
In the meantime continue handling her on a daily basis, she may eventually just get tired of the biting, at least we can hope!
Good luck to you.

It may get alot more tame in years to come, but understand that Cals are apt to behave like that at some point. Sounds like the Cali is doing great.
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Mark