Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I've got a wild caught that's not eating yet. She's less than 1000 grams I believe and she's VERY aggressive!

I slid her rubbermaid container from the rack and looked in there to inspect the conditions. STRIKE!!!!

I jumped back and approached her again a few times and she continued to strike! She must have struck at least 8x before conceding back in the corner of the container. Her speed is just INCREDIBLE!

Has anyone else had similar encounter? If so, why do you think your bp struck at you?

thanks!

I have this male het albino that just wants a piece of me everytime I approach it. But when I throw a towel on him and pick him up he tends to be okay. He's just very aggressive until he's being handled.

I suppose experience does have something to do with it. The wild caught may have had some bad predator encounters.

I also think there is a genetic basis to aggression. All the bull snakes that I caught on the family farm growing up where very mellow and calm within minutes of being picked up. I've caught ones at other locations that never really calmed down.

My first het albino male ball python was a striker. I put it off on coming from a big breeder where he was probably rarely handled (he was about a year old when I got him). However, 2 of his 4 daughters where also strikers until they where about a year old and hissers for another year (both have learned to tolerate me with mild agitation now). Could there be a single gene that can cause aggression? What would one with two copies of that gene be like?

I've heard breeders comment that aggressive animals might make better feeders and perhaps better breeders. Even if that is true I would hate to see the stereotypical calm ball temperament go by the wayside through selective breeding for bad tempers.

humm... my male ablino is a striker too he took 3 bites out of me two weeks ago and has struck at me a few times in the past. I too thought maybe since he was hardly handled when he was at the breeders (6 months)that was the problem.

I took him to the vet the first day I had him, and he was alittle agressive towards the vet and the vet said he found it strange since most balls don't strike and he too said it just might be a trait with the albino.

So maybe I will never get him to calm down, I don't handle him all that often because sometimes when I do handle him he (hard to descripe) kind of starts shaking, I also wear a glove to pick him up so I don't get any more bites taken out of my hand.

do some of you guys with het albino or albinos find some of this to be true?
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Misty Sprouse Ball Pythons

People used to speculate that albinos have poor eyesight and hence are more defensive. Of course this wouldn’t explain a het with an attitude since their eyes seem normal.

There is also the principle of selection. You get what you select for and tend to loose ground on everything else. When every example of an expensive morph is bred (i.e. the only selection criteria is that they show the morph) then you would expect to be loosing ground on other possible selection criteria such as good temperament or good growers. Presumably the best breeders are also working on selecting for other desirable traits and not keeping back for breeders the really nasty ones that no one wanted to buy.

I don't really know that anyone is intentionally selecting for aggressive ball pythons hoping to improve feeding response. I could just see it happening with someone who is used to working with more aggressive and better feeding species - they wouldn't see the aggression as a high price to pay for improved feeding.

I also have a het/albino male that gets defensive quite often. He was breeding stock before I bought him and he is content to be left alone. Mainly he gives "warning" strikes, but as a result of his aggression I named him "Bugsy". My 4 year old daughter likes snakes ( she does have my genes and Bugsy popped at her once. Luckily I was holding him and drew back quickly. I do not take him out anymore while she is in the room.

Todd
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1.1 Balls - Male het/albino, Female 66% het/albino
***Fingers crossed for next season!!!***

We have around 80 balls......but one is a female 2003 ch female. I'm about ready to perform an exorcism on this girl. She will nail you every opportunity she gets. It's a personality thing........

Jim Perron
Python Passion Reptiles

One time I was changing the water in the tank of one of my non-agressive BPs and no problems as usual, but when I was done I had my hand in the tank and I was tapping my fingers thinking if I should re arrenge and then ---STRIKE, (It was only when I taped my fingers, mabie he thioght my hand was prey my fingers moving aroud were like little legs, It was shocking but funny at the same time ..

Is this animal ridged when you handle him?

One of my males (50% chance het pied) is always ridged when I handle him. I didn't really think much of it until he finally got brave enough to tag me. Feeding strikes are certainly possible but with a rigid ball python I'm thinking defensive is more likely. I’ve come to the realization that the rigid ball pythons are the ones that are just too scared to strike. My pet store girl started out like that but finally got comfortable enough with me to strike at every opportunity (maybe she has two copies of the mean gene ).

I have one thats the same way! I have to really watch myself when cleaning the cage or she'll tag me every time. My opinion is since they were taken from the wild they think everything bigger than them is going to eat em so they defend themselves the only way they can. (by biteing your ass) I don't think mine will ever calm down. Oh well, thats ok with me. Puts a little fun in my cleaning. Good luck with yours!

i have a female het albino that wasn't very friendly but she's calmed down thank god. Her mate was fine but I noticed with him if I stop playing with him for a little while. He kind of goes back in time to not trusting me..lol I find that really weird, most balls I've owned once you get passed that part i've always been golden as far as their temper but this one turns back into a skittish, freaked out ball. He's het albino.