Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I'm not a snake expert, so I was wondering if anyone could shed some light on my problem. I've had my ball python for about a year and a half, and he's barely bit me before. But recently, he has bitten me several times, when I reach into his cage or feed box. I haven't acted any different around him... do ball pythons become more aggressive as they get older? If not, then what could it be?

Normally the longer you have a snake the tamer it should get through handling over time and the only time you should see the snake getting aggressive is around feeding (which is what you should want). So, if the snake is biting you more often I would think it is most likely something that you might be doing by accident like for example: the snake is shedding and you startled it, the snake is getting larger and older and you are not feeding it enough, you are not handling the snake enough and have conditioned it to know that when the cage/tank is opening it is feeding time, or something along those lines. I would recommend to make the snake aware of your presense before picking it up and also to feed it in a different location than his/her cage so it gets accustomed to being handled when its cage opens. Hope this helps.

Thanks,
Mohamed

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1.0 Piebald
1.0 66% Het Pied
1.0 Pastel
0.1 Spider
1.2 100% Het pied
1.0 Albino
0.2 100% Het albino
1.1 Normal Bp
0.1 Normal Bp ??
1.1 Albino Nelson Milk Snakes
1.0 Pekingese
0.1 Himalayan

Ok thanks, I think it is because I'm not feeding him enough. One more question about the food, I'm assuming it should be consistant size every week. I think my snake is confused because sometimes I give him one mouse, and sometimes I give him two. Is that bad?

Could be a lot of things -too hot, cold, stress, your bothering him, he's hungry ..... But if your snake is a year and half old or more(?) - one mouse a week probably isn't cutting it - I'd give him a small rat or a few (2-3 maybe even 4) mice a week depending on his size.
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Tosha

"Nihil facimus sed id bene facimus"

7.33.0 Ball Python (Harry and Fluffy and gang)
1.0.0 Angolan Python (Anakin Skywalker)
0.0.1 Green Tree Python (Verdi - yeah I know but my kids love the book)
0.2.0 Feline (Pippen and Pandora)
0.0.1 Desert Tortoise (Pope John Paul aka JP )
2.2.1 Fish (1,2,3,4)
0.0.2 frogs rescued from pool skimmer

I had a yearling that would only eat mice and that girl would eat like 6-8 mice on wed and eat that many again on saturday(not budget friendly)(also depends on the size of the mice).

So you need up the amount or the size, like time to move up to small rats and such. I try to feed when possible till they are full, they won't eat if they aren't hungry.
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Misty Sprouse Ball Pythons