Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Ok. So I've tried everything I can think of to "tame" my beast of a ball. He's just plain nasty. What I don't understand is how his sister is the sweetest thing ever and he's so darn hateful. He will bite-or try to bite every time I go near him. He bites when I take him out to feed, he bites when I clean his tank, he strikes at me through the glass when I walk by. Is he a lost cause or is there something else I can do to try to calm him down(ie. bite his little butt back) . He's still small right now, but I am afraid of what he might do when he gets bigger.
Any help would be appreciated.
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annjaret

"When I die, I want to come back as one of my animals."
0.2 Cats - Cordelia and Chloe
1.0 Dog - Jake R.I.P. I miss you little buddy.
1.0 Leopard gecko - Joey
1.1 Ball Pythons - Niame and Nala
0.0.1 Snow Corn - Gandalf
1.0 Aberrant Cali Kingsnake - Cicero
1.0 Husband - Shaun
(Not always in that order...but sometimes)

I have one that is a year and a half. He was very sweet and shy for about the first year. Then he started biting at feeding times, so I stopped taking him out to feed him and o feed him in his enclosure (frozen/thawed). Then he bit me while I was holding him, he was wrapped around my arm and just latched on! He's bit me a couple of times (or tried to) taking him out to hold him. Now whenever he is out cruising his cage if we walk past he gives us quite the show....striking. I have to keep the kids away because they think it is cool and I don't want him hurting himself by striking the plastic. Now I simply don't hold him. I don't know if I should find him a home where he will be paid more attention, but I figure as a snake, he's probably just as happy to be left alone. Good luck to you.

The "t-shirt trick" has worked for me with a cal king...
Take a t-shirt that you no longer want to wear in public, wear it for three days, or sleep with it under a sweatshirt overnight, or do heavy duty physical manual labor in it, then toss it in the cage with Mr Nippy without washing it. After a couple days the cal king was using my old t-shirt as a hide, and just had to get accustomed to being touched again.

My little guy was striking a the glass when I walked by, now he is realy sweet! All I did was hold him a lot, even if he was striking!
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0.0.1 Chrysemys picta picta (Eastern Painted Turtle)
0.0.1 Teliqua gigas (Indonesian Blue Tongue Skink)
0.2.0 Eublepharis macularius (Leopard Geckos)
0.0.1 Nerodia sipedon (Northern Water Snake)
0.0.2 Rhacodactylus ciliatus (Crested Geckos)
0.0.1 Python regius (Ball Python)
?.?.? Assorted goldfish, minnows and guppies
1.0.0 Ferret
1.1.0 Cats
1.0.0 Aussie Cattle Dog/ Border Collie Mix

Here are two ideas:

First...don't take him out to feed. Feed him in his enclosure. I'm not really sure how much of a difference this makes, but I've heard it argued often.

Second...pick him up anyway. I purchased a beautiful little guy a while ago, and he was pure evil. I could just walk by the rack and he'd start striking. I'm not really worried about bites, so I'd pick him up anyway. This was very difficult (at first) with all his thrashing about, but I made him a deal -- when he stops striking or thrashing, I'll put him back. This worked wonderfully. After about a week of handling (3-4 times per day) he would squirm a bit and recoil, but would seldom ever strike. He would usually just wait patiently for me to put him back. Unfortunately, my wife decided that it still wasn't worth the risk with our daughter in the house, so I had to sell the little guy. I miss him. =(

Hope This Helps,
Chris
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"I don't know about you...but I find comfort in that." -- Cowboy

I have one like that and I finally gave up and decided he is one that wants to be left alone. I tried all the tricks too. I now only handle him to clean his cage and I wear a glove just in case he decides to bite. hope you have better luck taming yours than I did mine.

Evidently you have a female that is docile and a male that is aggressive. Who knows why, but what is, is what is. Anyway, in the case of the male, you are fighting against his instincts for self preservation. He is warning you with all the striking; balls really don't have much defense against larger predators, which you are perceived to be. He is not being mean, just trying to survive. He will need a lot of holding and time to calm down. So, if you want to pursue this choice you'll need some gloves and long sleeve shirts. Let him bite to his hearts content. Be patient with him and don't jerk around and don't touch his head. Eventually, he may be conditioned to respond to being handled without biting. But there is no guarantee. If you don't want to go through this ordeal, then sell him and get another that is docile. I'll be glad to take his off your hands, I like the aggressive ones.

He's a demon. I tried handling him last night, did the long sleeved shirt, but don't want him hurting his teeth on gloves so just decided to "take it like a woman." He's a demon. I was very slow moving picking him up, got struck twice, held him for about 15 minutes, got struck 20 or so more times. While all this was going on, the other python was hanging out watching the whole ordeal like I was nuts. I don't really want to get rid of him, but I don't want to be his snack anymore either. Did I mention that he's a demon?
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annjaret

"When I die, I want to come back as one of my animals."
0.2 Cats - Cordelia and Chloe
1.0 Dog - Jake R.I.P. I miss you little buddy.
1.0 Leopard gecko - Joey
1.1 Ball Pythons - Niame and Nala
0.0.1 Snow Corn - Gandalf
1.0 Aberrant Cali Kingsnake - Cicero
1.0 Husband - Shaun
(Not always in that order...but sometimes)

Have you tried the t-shirt trick yet?
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Charles Glaspie

yeah, I tried the t-shirt trick. He pooped on it. Guess that wasn't a good sign. He's a demon.
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annjaret

"When I die, I want to come back as one of my animals."
0.2 Cats - Cordelia and Chloe
1.0 Dog - Jake R.I.P. I miss you little buddy.
1.0 Leopard gecko - Joey
1.1 Ball Pythons - Niame and Nala
0.0.1 Snow Corn - Gandalf
1.0 Aberrant Cali Kingsnake - Cicero
1.0 Husband - Shaun
(Not always in that order...but sometimes)

He said "to hell with YOUR smell" ehh?
Sure it isnt a Retic hybrid ? lmao

good luck
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Charles Glaspie

Sounds like the little "demon" has a real strong instinct to survive. You will have to have patience for this to have a chance and I say this because there is no guarantee that it will work. To work against an animals instincts (to strike) and condition a response that's more amenable to humans (docile)will take a lot of work. It's not a one time shot. So......what's your pleasure? One word of caution. If all this work begins to affect his feeding response, then I would stop the attempts to handle. That would mean that he is too stressed by the handling. If he's eating OK, then continue, if you have the stomach, or, uh, the hand or arm. LOL Sorry, couldn't resist. Probably should rename him Bad to the Bone.

feeding...that's just it. The one thing he won't strike at is food. He eats about every three weeks or so and that's when he's doing well. His "sister" eats every week and is now more than twice his size. Maybe instead of scenting his food with gerbils, I should just rub it on my arm. He sure likes the taste of that.
I think I may have a new "morph." Anyone heard of the Satan Ball? Maybe someone bred a cobra, nazi and a ball python and that's what I have now. Hey, it could happen.

Thanks for all of your suggestions. Looks like he is gonna be my problem child for ever.
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annjaret

"When I die, I want to come back as one of my animals."
0.2 Cats - Cordelia and Chloe
1.0 Dog - Jake R.I.P. I miss you little buddy.
1.0 Leopard gecko - Joey
1.1 Ball Pythons - Niame and Nala
0.0.1 Snow Corn - Gandalf
1.0 Aberrant Cali Kingsnake - Cicero
1.0 Husband - Shaun
(Not always in that order...but sometimes)

give him time, he will get better. Alot of baby Balls are nasty lil B's.
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Chad Bachman