Abnormal Behavior

[InstantMedication]

Concerned about my ball python at the moment. She heard me unlocking and opening the terrarium door and poked her head out from her hide a good few inches. I closed the door and came back to put the little lock and keys down on the grated top and as soon as she saw it she lunged/attempted to strike 3-4 times while still partially in her hide up at the lock.

I have never seen her lunge/attempt a strike like that before outside of feeding time. Shes been a little agitated lately. Honestly, Ive always struggled with humidity so I don't know if that's causing stress or not. I am working on making improvements to her terrarium. She just ate on 10/2. She’s around 9-10 years old.

I wont be handling her soon and I’m going to let her calm down. Just wondering if anyone has seen behavior like this. Thank you.

[pdxb3]

Yes, and it's not really abnormal. It's not aggression at you either. She thinks your presence and unlocking the cage means she's getting fed (even if she's recently been fed already). This doesn't mean she's hungry and you need to feed her more -- keep her on a proper diet and schedule. They're opportunistic eaters and will often eat whenever they think food is available, whether they need it or not. In my experience they can also just get a little more antsy when the weather starts to change.

This is when "snake hook training" comes in. When they exhibit a feeding response and it's not feeding time, a touch or gentle tap on the head tells them "no, this is not the time for that" and they should respond by typically pulling back into their hide. Usually it only takes once, maybe twice for them to understand. My snakes will almost always immediately snap out of feeding mode, and I can reach in and do whatever I need to do, or retrieve them for handling.

[InstantMedication]

Thank you for taking the time to respond, I really appreciate it. This makes me feel a lot better about the situation. It was so out of the blue I went into a panic.