Ball Python Suddenly Aggressive (please help)

[gowoshusnake]

so, some background—
i’m seventeen. i had my grandpa watching my snake for about a year until i was here to take care of it. i don’t know the sex, although it’s suspected to be female. we got it when it was small, so i’m suspecting a couple months old. by that logic, it would be around a year and a half/two years old now. it has always eaten fine (one particularly horrible shed had it refusing to eat for a month, but that’s the Only instance it has ever refused to eat).
im working on making its sheds better, because they’ve never been in one piece. i feed it one medium rat every one and one half or two weeks.

my issue is—
my snake is aggressive now. it’s NEVER bitten anyone or struck at anyone. i moved it into a new enclosure in my closet a couple weeks ago and it was doing fine. i fed it yesterday and today it’s huddled in a corner acting like it’s going to strike when i get close to the tank. it was acting disoriented when i fed it too. i don’t handle my snake after it’s eating for 24 hours. i only needed to replace the water. instead of reaching in, i poured water into the bowl through the top.

can someone help me figure out why it’s suddenly rearing up at me?
is closing my closet door and leaving it in the dark all day messing with its head? am i feeding it too little?
typing this im realizing that i cleaned in there shortly after it was fed— could the cleaner fumes make it act like this?

im concerned and my heart hurts to think that im harming this snake. any help is appreciated.

[Aaron_S]

Originally Posted by gowoshusnake

so, some background—
i’m seventeen. i had my grandpa watching my snake for about a year until i was here to take care of it. i don’t know the sex, although it’s suspected to be female. we got it when it was small, so i’m suspecting a couple months old. by that logic, it would be around a year and a half/two years old now. it has always eaten fine (one particularly horrible shed had it refusing to eat for a month, but that’s the Only instance it has ever refused to eat).
im working on making its sheds better, because they’ve never been in one piece. i feed it one medium rat every one and one half or two weeks.

my issue is—
my snake is aggressive now. it’s NEVER bitten anyone or struck at anyone. i moved it into a new enclosure in my closet a couple weeks ago and it was doing fine. i fed it yesterday and today it’s huddled in a corner acting like it’s going to strike when i get close to the tank. it was acting disoriented when i fed it too. i don’t handle my snake after it’s eating for 24 hours. i only needed to replace the water. instead of reaching in, i poured water into the bowl through the top.

can someone help me figure out why it’s suddenly rearing up at me?
is closing my closet door and leaving it in the dark all day messing with its head? am i feeding it too little?
typing this im realizing that i cleaned in there shortly after it was fed— could the cleaner fumes make it act like this?

im concerned and my heart hurts to think that im harming this snake. any help is appreciated.

It's an animal backed in the corner after eating, it likely just doesn't want to be disturbed and backed up further. Didn't strike at you so doesn't make it aggressive.

Your new enclosure could need more hiding places that are snug as a bug.

You can also resort to using a snake hook as a way to bring the snake out of the enclosure and then place it into your hands once it's out.

[phenyx]

Please don't leave your snake in a dark closet 24/7. They need a proper day/night cycle.

[Sid07882]

It is probably just a but defensive due to not having enough hiding places, it's uncommon for a ball python to sit out in the open if a better option exists. Secondly it sounds like you need to increase your humidity a bit if it's she'd is coming off in pieces. Let us know what substrate you are using and the size of your snake. If your ball python is a year old I feel a medium rat is too large a meal for him/her that's why I'm asking for its size.