My BP hates me!

clmclark · 03-19-11, 07:30 AM

Ok so I know she's an animal and rationally it's not personal... but I swear she hates me. I finally have her eating but unless I take her out when she's hiding she's really snippy. Aside from feeding her I don't handle her at all. I wanted to wait until she's eating routinely before I start handling her. She hasn't gotten me yet but she's tried a few times now and I'm a little gun shy. She's still small so I know she can't do any serious damage but I'm finding get nervous when I try to pick her up. A little jumpy even. I still love having her and happy that I got her. I just want to make her happy and eventually be able to handle her. I'm pretty patient and in no rush.

Generally she hides in her humidity box. Half the time she pokes her head out and lays it on this lid. I initially thought it was cute but now I fear she's just on the defensive. She has 3 hides and room to get under her water dish for another one. She climbs at night, especially when she's hungry.

I am looking for any advice on how to make her happy and not strike at me. Or is that just something I have to get used to?

Her temps are where they should be hot side/cool side. Aside from trains going by she's relatively undisturbed.

Lankyrob · 03-19-11, 07:37 AM

She will pick up on your nervousness - when you pick her up do it in one smooth movement, no jerky half hearted movements or that will make her more likely to strike.

Over a couple of months of gentle handling and you increasing in confidence you will find that she should settle down to being handled - she will always be a wild animal tho so if she does get you remember the Bite Club Thread and ensure you get pictures!!

Reptile_Reptile · 03-19-11, 12:20 PM

be calm and dont make any jerky movements. a lot of their predators come from the sky and your a big red dot. my advice is go to petco and get a snake hook and hook your snake out of the tank and that should eliminate a lot of stress and overall problems. hope i helped

kenchenzo · 03-19-11, 12:36 PM

The more you feed her & don't handle her the worse she will get. As said don't make any sudden movements. She I scared as well. I would strongly suggest using a hook to move her & aid in getting her out. The bites don't heft anyway mate.
Good luck.

citysnakes · 03-19-11, 01:02 PM

she will calm down on her own if you just give her some time. i wouldnt handle her if she clearly finds it a stressful event because doing so may just work against what your trying to do.

kenchenzo · 03-19-11, 01:26 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by citysnakes

she will calm down on her own if you just give her some time. i wouldnt handle her if she clearly finds it a stressful event because doing so may just work against what your trying to do.

I do agree with that but if she is only handled when she is fed then will never learn to trust.
I leave lizards alone and let them learn to trust me in there vivs because I am in them almost daily.

Lankyrob · 03-19-11, 01:42 PM

is her viv front opening or top opening? Top opening vivs can cause problems where the giant hand comes toward the snake from the sky and in this case a hook could be helpful. My vivs are all front opening so i try to come at the snake at its level rather than above.

**Aaron_S** · 03-19-11, 02:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kenchenzo

The more you feed her & don't handle her the worse she will get. As said don't make any sudden movements. She I scared as well. I would strongly suggest using a hook to move her & aid in getting her out. The bites don't heft anyway mate.
Good luck.

I personally disagree with this. I have bought a number of ball pythons and some were very gentle from the start and some just had to settle in and grow up a bit more. I don't have any that "snap" outright. I have only one snake who isn't a baby that still is very skittish, she's never tried to bite me.

I would go with what Julian said. Just keep feeding her and growing and she'll start to calm down once she's no longer very small.

clmclark · 03-19-11, 03:58 PM

She's currently in a front opening tank. I was advised that it's not best as it's just as tall as it is wide... but I do try to approach her from the side rather than from above. I have another tank that I plan to move her too eventually (again, when she's eating regularly). But that one opens from the top.

Not sure if I should keep her in her current- she seems to like to climb.

She was born in June so still fairly young.

My intention was to get her eating on a regular basis before I handle her. Having her eat is a higher priority to me than handling her. I haven't wanted to stress her out by handling, for fear she wont eat. Once she's eating I planned to start slowly handling her.

She didn't eat last week so I imagine she's hungry again. I'm pissy when I'm hungry too.

I like the idea of a hook. Well, I don't like it. I would LIKE if she liked me. But I appreciate the suggestions. Keep 'em coming. All I want is a happy snake.

Do any of you think the "peek a boo" behavior is abnormal? Half the time she has her head poking out of her humidity box. Not sure if she's on alert, hunting or just naturally curious.

dshin963 · 03-19-11, 04:11 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by clmclark

Do any of you think the "peek a boo" behavior is abnormal? Half the time she has her head poking out of her humidity box. Not sure if she's on alert, hunting or just naturally curious.

Mine does this too I am also curious as to why..

clmclark · 03-19-11, 05:20 PM

Did some more research:
Peek-A-Boo!
Take notice of your ball python when you approach its tank or cage. They will oftentimes peek out at you or extend their heads somewhat to get a better visual. This behavior can mean that the ball python is hungry (believe it or not). Our ball pythons let us know when they want to feed by exhibiting this type of behavior. When either I or one of our staff members approach a cage, we look for this type of body language gesture. It’s very apparent if we bring a bucket full of rats or mice in the room or have just fed the animal. Some ball pythons will eat more than one food item and this simple gesture of them peeking from their hide is a pretty good indicator that they’re still hungry so we’ll offer them another meal. Once they’ve had their fair share, they will stop peeking and completely ignore us while they digest their meal (or meals).

Researchers find that Ball Pythons can actually SPEAK!

clmclark · 03-19-11, 06:44 PM

This is her peeking. She was just doing it again and skipped her dinner this week. Trying again now. I hope this means she's hungry.

mykee · 03-19-11, 07:21 PM

You are correct, you ball python hates you.
It will always hate you and your handling will always be a stressor.
Always.
Ball pythons, had you done your research, are very anti-social snakes.
You cannot "teach" your ball python to like you.
You cannot "teach" a ball python anything.
You ball python will also never "trust" you.
These are emotions.
Snakes don't posess the chunk of brain for emotion.
I hear dogs are better pets for someone looking to anthropomorphize.
My dogs love me.
Snakes are not dogs.

clmclark · 03-19-11, 08:21 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mykee

You are correct, you ball python hates you.
It will always hate you and your handling will always be a stressor.
Always.
Ball pythons, had you done your research, are very anti-social snakes.
You cannot "teach" your ball python to like you.
You cannot "teach" a ball python anything.
You ball python will also never "trust" you.
These are emotions.
Snakes don't posess the chunk of brain for emotion.
I hear dogs are better pets for someone looking to anthropomorphize.
My dogs love me.
Snakes are not dogs.

I love how you assume I'm ignorant and didn't do any research. At what point did I indicate that I was looking for a dog replacement, best friend of critter to pal around with? Other than teasing in the title to the thread I don't see where I've personified her at all. Mentioned flat out that I'm aware she's an animal. Not a person or "trainable" creature. Simply trying to get her less stressed so she's not striking at me. I've bred, trained, showed and owned dogs my whole life but gosh, thanks for pointing out the obvious. lol. My family had a BP before so this isn't my first rodeo. This snake is much younger and the one we had before never showed signs that he had a problem with being handled. You can read until you go blind but when you learn the most from experiencing. Thats the point I'm at now. I'm assuming you didn't learn how to drive simply by reading the manual.

**Aaron_S** · 03-19-11, 10:36 PM

I think you need to realize you've been given advice. Don't handle it. Boom! Done. Sometimes no amount of handling will change a snake.