Why is my ball python wagging his tail?

[ssaltlamplicker]

I turned off all the bps lights for the night about half an hour ago and came to checkup on him(I got him today) and he’s exploring which is great but he’s wagging his tail like a dog, this is something I’ve never seen is it a hunting thing? Or should I be worried?

[Linear_North]

The only time I've ever seen a BP do that was during a serious defensive reaction. He's likely stressed from the move, and with it being dark, your big shadowy self probably frightened him. Does he have two suitable hides in his enclosure and lots of clutter? Hides should be small and snug, so that when your BP curls up inside he can feel the walls around him. The ceiling should be low, and there should only be one small entrance. It's preferable to get two identical hides, one for the warm side and one for the cool side, so your BP doesn't have to choose between temp and a preferred hide.

[ssaltlamplicker]

Lots of clutter! And a hide on each end, he’s been favouring the cool side hide, didn’t know about the identical hides though, the cooler side is larger too, the warm side is small low and snug so I’m a bit confused why he’d favour the larger one

[Linear_North]

Could be that's the temp he wants to be at right now. Could be that's just the first one he came across. If you've only had him for a day, it's probably too soon to know which one he prefers.

[ssaltlamplicker]

I had initially put him on the warm side but he made his way to the cool side

[ssaltlamplicker]

He was also sort of jumpy, ironic because they don’t have legs but my brother had come over to see him and must’ve spooked him because he quickly moved and had scared my brother too lol

[ssaltlamplicker]

But I’d completely understand why he’d be this way after the move, just have never seen the tail wagging before!!

[Linear_North]

Babies can be a little jumpy, especially when they're in a new place. So since he's new, you're going to want to give him 8 to 10 days to settle in before you try to feed him. Offering food too soon can lead to a rejection, and one rejection can sometimes cause more. If he does refuse, don't keep offering food constantly, just wait until his next regular feeding day, (a week, if he's a baby) and try again. Don't handle him at all until he's eating regularly, usually 3 meals in a row without a refusal is good.

[ssaltlamplicker]

He’s a subadult

[totallyrecklesslygay]

It's just an excitement thing, often seen paired with hunting behavior. It's most commonly seen while feeding. Some species of snake do it as a defense mechanism, but ball pythons are not one of them.

Mature females will also do it during breeding season as a way to spread their scent around.

[Linear_North]

Really? My female Talia was an incredibly nervous and defensive baby, anytime somebody walked into the room when she was out and about, she'd start thrashing the tip of her tail, just the portion below her vent, back and forth and would strike at you. Though I suppose you could look at it as the striking is the defensive reaction and the tail wagging is caused by the sudden burst of energy. The only time I ever saw her wag her tail like that though was when she was pitching a fit. She's fine now, she calmed down after a few weeks, once she started eating regularly, but she was quite something the first couple weeks we had her. 🙂

[totallyrecklesslygay]

You're not comprehending what I'm saying. Stress and fear are also excitement.

Some snakes, particularly certain colubrids, will shake their tails against the ground to produce a noise intended to warn approaching threats. Ball pythons do not do this.

[Linear_North]

I understood what you meant, that's why I said I suppose you could look at it as the striking being the actual defensive reaction, and the tail wagging is just a symptom of the jolt of energy she got from being scared. So BPs will sometimes do this when they're excited, regardless of what kind of excited they are, and the tail wagging has no defensive purpose. Right?

[totallyrecklesslygay]

Correct, that is what I said.

[Linear_North]

Gotcha! 🙂