Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I have a three year old JCP who suddenly is afraid of me. She has never struck at me until the other day, she was full body lunging and now will not eat. It has been over a month now, she has never refused food before, except rats, and seems to be scared of me. I can handle her just fine, it's when I'm not handling her that she hisses and strikes. Nothing has happened to warrant this bahavior and I'm starting to get worried. It may seem like normal snake behavior but is really a 180 compared to how she's been since a hatchling. I can tell that she is really hungry, she is constantly hunting and trying to get out of her cage. Her temps are fine, and nobody else has had access to her. Any suggestions or comments would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance, Eric-

Is it housed with any other snakes?
If it is by itself, it sounds like you may have yourself a male. Male Carpets will often refuse food and get pretty restless this time of year.

-Yasser
SR

-----

she could be ready to mate and is acting that way towards you because of you being "unsuitable" for her.
-----

1.0.1 Redtail boa
0.1.1 blood python
1.0 dumeril boa
1.0 carpet python

My JCP was acting simular a few weeks ago. Not with the lunging/striking but with the restlessness and not eating. I got some input that my JCP was a male instead of a female like I thought I had. Then with her recent shed she turns out to be a HE since the shed revealed some sperm plugs. So you could have a male too. Just a suggestion.
After a few weeks my JCP calmed down and started to eat again and is his normal self again. What I did also when he was so restless was let him out for some excercise time but since yours in lunging/striking I don't know if you want to do that.

No "it" isn't housed with any other snakes. I ignorantly assumed it's a female because of her size, almost 8 feet as of this weekend. There are very few vets in the area that treat reptiles and the one vet "it" has been to didn't have a probe so I really have no idea about the sex. I don't have any intentions to breed so the sex really wasn't an issue. That does make sense though that it is a male, I have heard of that in the past. I really appreciate everyone's input, and she/he has eaten since. But, she is still very weary of me, hissing and acting like a wild snake. For the last three years she has been the most docile easy going snake I've ever had, it was just so out of character I wanted to be sure that it wasn't symptomatic of something more serious. Thanks again, Eric-

you may want to try the old "t-shirt trick" if it is still giving you trouble. also, how often did you get it out before? ive seen some tame snakes revert to their wild defensive ways if left in the tank too long without any human interaction.
-----

1.0.1 Redtail boa
0.1.1 blood python
1.0 dumeril boa
1.0 carpet python

I've seen that too, but prior to that she was being held every other day or so. I'm not afraid to get hit, and have experience with aggressive snakes so thats not so much my concern, I was just so surprised I thought maybe something else was going on. Thanks everyone, Eric-