Reptile & Amphibian Forums

My juvenile ball python is one of the new morphs I recently got. She is eating well and usually very easy to handle. Then all of the sudden last nite she went nuts. My boyfriend gave her a fuzzy and then another and then he went to put her away (after washing his hands) and WHAM!! she clamped onto his hand. So we gave her another fuzzy thinking she was still hungry but she swallowed a few times and then spit it out. So thinking she was finally done we tried to put her away again and again my boyfriend got nailed. I've never been bitten and I've always loved my balls for being so calm and gentle (even if shy). What is going on with this snake? She's housed alone and has a large enough enclosure with hide boxes, water dish, and lots of fake plants. I don't know what to do. Please help. Thanks
Sera
S and M Reptiles and Exotics

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3.6 ball pythons
1.2 king snakes (1 chocolate, 2 albino)
1.1 columbian red tail boas
1.1 pueblan milksnakes
2.2 african house snakes
2.2 striped albino applegate gophers
1.0 watersnake
1.2 burmese pythons (1 albino, 2 hets)
2.1 pygmy rattlesnakes
1.1 dumeril's boas
3.3 corns (miami, okatee, snow, caramel, 2 creamsicle)
1.1 jungle corns
0.1 american alligator
0.2 ferrets
0.2 degus

She was probably stressed from being handled right after eating......why are you not feeding her in her enclosure??? But I wouldn't worry about it......balls can have psychotic episodes too......not intending to be a smarta!!, but even a calm/shy bp is still a serpent and will bite if they don't want mucked with.

I do not feed my snakes in their own enclosure because then they tend to associate your hand coming in with food and will strike every time you try to reach in their cage. Not fun. My ball goes into a feeding tub and boy if you do not get your hand out pronto he will nail me and he has. I use a hook and/or glove to take him out and put him back in his cage because, again, he associates it with food and does strike. It does not hurt them to pick them up just to place them back inside their cage right after they eat.

I don't feed mine in the enclosure either, for the same reasons. He goes into a bin and when he's done, I just hold up the bin and let him slide back into his enclosure. He's always gone straight back in. Works great for me, but I don't think I would want to put my hand in after he just ate either.

Chris

I am not posting this out of attitude or anything.Just an observation.

Mine are all fed in their enclosures.
Once they are out of the cage they are no longer thinking about food.So i think that they associate the hook with play time,and not dinner time.
Only once,have i had one bite me,and it released me even faster(knew i wasnt food).That was a SFE which was entirely my fault,with the first Bp i aquired.

..again.Just food for thought.
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3.12 Ball Pythons
0.1 Viper Boa
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Looking for 0.2 Phelsuma madagascariensis madagascariensis

if you regualr change water clean cage and handle your bps than they will not associate your hand as food. You only should open the enclosure for feeding every 5-7 days at the most if thats all your opening during the week than yes it might however most only see you as food when a it smells it on you or sees the food but likes your heat better. some bps wont eat if moved before or after feeding.
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0.1 Leos
1.1 Corn snakes (1 Lav & 1 Ghost)
0.1 Banan California King
0.0.1 Childrens python
1.1 Brazilian Rainbow boa
1.0 Rat (as pet not food)
1.2 Ball pythons (1pastel 2 normals)
"whats with you and all those dang reptiles?"

Snakes are not the most intelligent of species..they are however very instinctual. . most snakes feeding response is insinctual. this is why some snakes will eat something they know might make them regurge just because they dont want to pass up a good meal. snakes can stay in feeding freezy mode for a while when fed. If you feed in a seperate enclosure just watch your snakes attutude and dont surprise him..should be ok..now if hands are on the menu all the time than well thats the fun part of taming..lol
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0.1 Leos
1.1 Corn snakes (1 Lav & 1 Ghost)
0.1 Banan California King
0.0.1 Childrens python
1.1 Brazilian Rainbow boa
1.0 Rat (as pet not food)
1.2 Ball pythons (1pastel 2 normals)
"whats with you and all those dang reptiles?"

Sounds like he still had rodent-scent on his hands. I have a very gentle and handleable male, who nonetheless bit me last week; I was an idiot, and still had rat-scent on my hands after cleaning my rat cages, so I truly deserved to get bitten!
Are you feeding outside of your main enclosure?
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2.1 Ball pythons: Goblin, Ashes, and Bela
1.0 Boa Constrictor Imperator: Apache Fog
0.1 albino Cranwell's horned frog: Bene
1.0 Tiger salamander: Slasher
1.0 black kittycat, Inky
A bunch of Oscar cichlids, one giant pleco, huge breeding lot of "fancy" (read: deformed) goldfish, and me an' the boyfriend.

I have a female that has a huge appetite. All I have to do is walk into the room with thawed food and she starts looking around frantically. She goes in and out of spurts of crazy feeding behavior. I feed in the tank and I used to place the lid back on while she eats. Once, after eating one rat, she saw me walk over by the tank and struck at the screen cover. She got her teeth stuck in it!!!!! I had to remove her so she would not hurt herself. Anyway my point is, that sometimes they behave more aggresively than others. She has never struck at me. I have a question about your incident. Did your boyfriend have cologne on or were there any other different odors? Incense?
Sometimes they are not used to these smells and don't like them. My male ball bit me once and only once. I had just applied scented lotion without realizing it might confuse him.

Cheers
-AS