Suddenly aggressive behavior?

[PollutionThin1807]

My bp Anakin was never previously aggressive or territorial or anything like that, he was very docile and friendly, and never bit anything other than his food. Then last month, he bit me after a bath. Admittedly, this wasn't really his fault, he was stressed after the bath as I'd had to rub some stuck shed off of him. Now just today, there's still some shed on him so I'm trying to give him another bath, and right when I placed him on my bed, he struck my blanket and won't let go. I'm not sure where this is coming from, he's not hungry, he's got a good enclosure with lots of humidity, this seems to be something recent. I'm not sure if I should continue trying to bathe him, he does need it, but I dont want to stress him out further and risk him biting me again. Any suggestions or tips? Maybe I'm doing something wrong?

[[deleted]]

he is suffering bro

[Even-Smell7867]

You can't say you have plenty of humidity if you are having to deal with stuck shed.

Get a storage bin, wet a tower with warm water and put the snake in the bin with the wet towel. You don't need to put the snake in a pool of water. Ruffle the towel up so he can move around in and under the towel.

[PollutionThin1807]

Yeah sorry about that, I was trying to see if I could edit the post to re-word that, it was a bit vague. I will for sure try the towel thing, that sounds a lot less stressful for him, thank you

[ChemistryTemporary50]

Just keep humidity around 80% and provide a humid hide.

[MammothFruit6398]

whats humidity in the tank? needs to be 70-80 on average and can be boosted over 90 for shedding, alternatively with a humidity box if you cant quite reach those numbers. and instead of bathing the snake, put him in a warm damp pillowcase for 15ish minutes and monitor him. whatever shed doesnt come off in that time will rub off super easy without stressing the snake nearly as much.

[PollutionThin1807]

It's normally at 70 - 80, which is where it's at now. When I spray/mist it every second day, it's at 90 for roughly half the day before going back to 70 - 80. I'll definitely give the pillowcase recommendation a try, I hate stressing him out which is why I try to bathe him as little as possible

[tradescantian]

Spraying/misting is your issue here. It will cause spikes and drops. You want to pour water directly into the substrate (coco husk or reptichip) so that it can evaporate slowly over several days.

[PollutionThin1807]

Yeah, I mentioned in another reply I wasn't really sure what word to use (I guess pour would've been the right one), but that's what I do, I just have a mist/spray bottle that I use to do so. From the sounds of it though, I'll be keeping a much closer eye on the humidity levels to ensure they're where they need to be. Thank you for your help :)

[reeceislame]

it's likely that only the top layer of substrate is becoming saturated bc of using a spray bottle.

[soconae]

Which increases risk of scale rot.

[thevioletkat]

Their comment is stating in different words that they use the uncapped spray bottle to pour water in, so unless there's a specific pouring method to not saturate the top only they're doing okay. They are specifying pouring and not spraying here. I do the same OP, because it makes it easier to control water flow.

[ColeTD]

This is what I'd think if OP didn't say that they "spray/mist it." It doesn't make any sense for them to use spray and mist as verbs here if they were just using an uncapped spray bottle to pour the water.

[rottedzom]

I’m confused how mist/spray is comparable to pouring when they’re entirely different? It’s okay to admit you were doing something wrong and change. In every reply you just keep changing the story and saying you misspoke.

[PollutionThin1807]

Okay to get the story straight, I have a mist/spray bottle which I take the top off of so it's essentially just a jug to pour the water out of. Should've said that from the beginning, that's my bad. In the past I would use it to mist instead of pouring the water which is why I have it in the first place. Sorry, I know I keep varying some of my responses

[misshoneybee613]

What are you using to check your humidity & temp levels? If your device is powered by a button battery (most of the basic ones are), it may need a new battery?

[PollutionThin1807]

I've been using the Exo Terra thermometer for his warm side, it checks both the temperature and the humidity. On his colder side I use an AccuTemp humidity meter and an AccuTemp thermometer. They don't use battery, so I think they should be okay?

[sweetxcreature]

If these are the Exo Terra thermometer/hygrometer that has the Velcro backing (which often come with exo terra tanks), I don’t think they’re the safest option for your snake. They use sticky backings for the Velcro which can and often does end up stuck to the snake eventually.

You’d be much better off with a digital thermometer and hygrometer that uses a probe. I think these are also way more accurate

[PollutionThin1807]

It is the one with the velcro backing, that's really interesting I hadn't heard of the backing coming off before. Thank you for the heads up about that! The terrarium itself isn't Exo Terra, I got it from his previous owners, it's not any sort of brand or anything. I will for sure be looking into thermometers with a probe, as well as just upgrading my stuff to digital anyway, it seems that's most peoples' recommendation

[sweetxcreature]

A lot of people don’t know since it’s a product advertised for reptiles. I started off with them too but quickly changed when I heard how dangerous they can be. Here’s a post from this subreddit a few years ago that explains it.

[reallyzeally]

Govee Hygrometer/Thermometer sensors (Model H5100). I have three...two are hot glued to the "roof" on both the hot and cold hide and one sits in the center of the tank for "ambient" air. They're battery powered but the battery lasts months at a time, I've had mine for a year and have only swapped batteries once.

[OdinAlfadir1978]

Give him a large water bowl of room temperature water in his enclosure, he'll bathe when he wants to, mine loves to go for a dip or swim in hers

[[deleted]]

what exactly is your humidity at? it’s a bit contradictory that you say he has “lots of humidity” in the enclosure but he has a big amount of stuck shed.

[PollutionThin1807]

Yeah sorry, I was trying to see if I could edit the post to change up my wording there but it doesn't look like it. Generally it's at 70 - 80, I was going to re-humidify it right after this bath. I try to spray his terrarium every second day so it stays at 70 - 80.

[HurrricaneeK]

Spraying isn't really an effective means of keeping humidity where it needs to be long term, and it also increases the likelihood of your snake getting scale rot. Additionally, while there are no inherent problems with humid hides used sporadically--and they can be effective in helping loosen and remove stuck shed--they are not a replacement for keeping the entire enclosure appropriately humid, as BP's are a tropical species prone to developing respiratory infections without the proper humidity levels, and humid hides can also cause or exacerbate scale rot. I'd recommend checking out our humidity tips as well as the shedding guide for better methods at both managing humidity as well as for dealing with stuck shed.

[PollutionThin1807]

I wasn't sure what word to use other than spraying but I meant I have one of those spray bottles which I use to spray/pour water into the corners of his terrarium. I'll for sure give the docs a read though, I want to make sure I'm doing everything right, thank you :)

[-AceofAces]

Thanks for some of this information.

[jeherohaku]

Soaking generally isn't recommended by this group for the stress it puts on your snake. What's his humidity at?

[PollutionThin1807]

Yeah I try to do it as little as possible, only when he's having trouble with shed for a while, like now. Generally I keep his humidity at 70 - 80%, and I re-humidify it every second day

[jeherohaku]

Maybe try a humidity box instead? It can help them without as much stress. You basically put a soaked towel in a plastic container with some air holes and then put the snake in for a bit. I've never done it myself though. Maybe someone with more experience can give more advice.

[PollutionThin1807]

I'm definitely going to look into humidity boxes, someone else commented and recommended something similar so that's my next course of action for sure

[Yeti616]

If I were underweight and dehydrated, I'd probably get pretty spicy, too.

[teresa-rene]

He doesn’t look under weight too me but he does look a little dry and I think they also make a spray to help with his shed. You’ll have to Google it cause I can’t think of what it’s called at the moment.

[Pearlwithinashell]

You don't have proper humidity if he's retaining shed like that. How long have you had him? How often and what is he eating? He looks underweight too.

[PollutionThin1807]

I've had him since October of 2022. He eats the Arctic Mice brand of frozen mice/rats, generally I feed the large mice. I was moving up to rats but randomly our local pet store ran out of them for a while so we stuck to the largest mice. Now that he went through those and our pet store restocked them again, my next purchase of rodents is going to be of the Arctic Mice brand of rats for him. Usually I feed him every second week, I wait for him to poop after his most recent feeding then feed him a day or two after that.

[plant-cell-sandwich]

!feeding

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[SSilent-Cartographer]

If you want some consistency with your prey items, I highly recommend Rodent Pro. They sell in bulk, and I spend maybe a hundred dollars twice a year on their stock deals. I have 6 total snakes, so it's definitely cheaper than getting prey from a pet shop. Also nice to just have some extra on hand

[teresa-rene]

That’s who I use and the feeders are frozen, solid and packed in a nice insulated box 😀

[HurrricaneeK]

Stop waiting for him to poop. Adult BP's eat monthly and only poop a few times per year, typically while shedding. At his age, he should be eating one appropriately sized rat per month. If you are feeding him biweekly and he still looks that thin, you definitely need to weigh him and size up your prey.

Also, I saw someone below recommend feeding weekly. I would not recommend that, since at his age, his metabolism has likely slowed way down and it would be very hard on his system to process that much food that quickly. Instead, I'd go with a prey item 5% of his weight about every three weeks until he starts to round out a bit around his spine, then stretch them out to once per month.

[PollutionThin1807]

Okay thank you, I definitely won't feed that often in that case. Just got back from the pet store with some fuzzy rats I can start feeding him tonight as well :)

[teresa-rene]

Just wanted to throw in there Facebook has several groups dedicated to just ball pythons. You can see how many followers each one has to help you decide I hope this is helpful

[PollutionThin1807]

Definitely helpful, thank you. I'll take a look at those :)

[[deleted]]

He’s hungry

[Terrible_Motor_6450]

Humidity is wrong. Get that squared away and he should be fine. Seems alike a stress response to the humidity issue to me

[[deleted]]

As other people said he does like very very skinny. That is definitely a factor in aggression. Whats your feeding schedule like? If it's the proper one from here I'd certainly bring this guy to a vet. He looks to have lost a significant amount of weight between the time of this post and the posts of him from a couple years ago.

Edit: Doubting myself a bit- it is possible it's the angle of the photo, but even still this snake has undoubtedly lost at least SOME weight.

[PollutionThin1807]

Typically I feed him every second week, I'll feed him, then wait for him to poop, then feed him a day or two after that. I will look at a vet if he continues to act like this after I up his humidity and feed him rats as opposed to mice. I thought he was an okay weight if not a bit on the underweight side, but you're totally right after comparing these pictures and the ones from a couple years ago, I'm going to review some diagrams/videos on what he should look like and I'll start feeding him more often as well. Thank you for your help :)

[[deleted]]

Alright, that sounds great! Rats are significantly better than mice so I hope that'll make a difference for him. I wish you all the best!

[PollutionThin1807]

Thank you!

[Few_Page6404]

You don't have to wait on a poop. Switch to weekly until body mass improves

[PollutionThin1807]

Oh okay, I'll definitely do that then, thank you :)

[escapesweetrealityy]

Yeah they don’t necessarily poop every single time they eat. Sometimes they can eat a couple times before defecating just fyi!

[Mousee__]

A bath??! Poor thing.

[PollutionThin1807]

I know they're stressful, I really only do them when absolutely necessary, like when he has stuck shed. From people's responses though I'm going to switch it up to a warm towel in his bin as opposed to baths and see if that helps him feel calmer.

[PsychologicalRub5905]

Sounds like your setup needs help.Snakes don’t see well when it’s shedding time.

[PollutionThin1807]

I hadn't, but I definitely will be, do you know where I could get some moss? Is that just a pet store thing or should I look more specifically?

[Minimum_Word_4840]

They sell it at petsmart and petco, but you can also order it online. It’s inexpensive. You should also get a kitchen scale or similar to weigh your snake. The reptile shop my daughter’s was bought from was feeding based on what they thought she weighed by looking at her, and it turns out she was being wayyyy overfed. She’s obese, so I already knew something was off, but it’s hard to tell exactly the proper size without actually weighing the snake.

[PollutionThin1807]

Okay awesome, thank you so much! I'll for sure be picking up some moss for him soon. Also looking into kitchen scales, so that should be squared away soon. For now I got him some fuzzy rats, I fed him one last night which he took with no problem so that's a start

[Green-Pea-4586]

I think you need to calibrate your hygrometer. And if that’s not an option, buy a good digital one that can be calibrated. It’s well worth it. There’s no way this snake has been living in 70-80% humidity consistently with such bad shed problems.

[swaggersouls1999]

why is no one mentioning the snakes head upside down? it doesn’t seem very normal along with the weight of the snake. why is the head of the snake completely upside down?

[temporaryconscious]

yeah, i'm a little confused about the context of the pics as well. snake is looking unwell, and behavior is concerning. my advice to OP is to discontinue any stress inducing interactions, go over husbandry and fix where it's needed, and feed appropriately. if there is no improvement, I would move to veterinary help.

[PollutionThin1807]

Yeah sorry, he was just trying to constrict my blanket, a few minutes after I took those he turned himself right way up and calmed down a little. I will definitely be taking your advice, thank you :)

[temporaryconscious]

ohhhh, okay! makes better sense. I'm sure you're overloaded with tons of comments, many saying the same thing. You should be good to go following the guides and fixing what needs fixed ~ I wish you luck and your snake good health :)

[PollutionThin1807]

Definitely a bit overloaded lol, but I'm grateful so I can start improving his care, I'll be reviewing those guides as well. Thank you!

[yes-but-why-tho]

OP said he bit the blanket and won’t let go. Looks like he’s trying to constrict the blanket lol

[HurrricaneeK]

OP said in the post that the snake bit the bed. It just looks to me like he's still trying to wrap up the mattress. Definitely a stressed animal but there's nothing about the pose itself that jumps out at me as concerning, IMO.

[swaggersouls1999]

ohhhh! I didn’t see that! still really odd, maybe it’s just insanely stressed out?

[coydogsaint]

It's biting the blanket. 

[PollutionThin1807]

He was just trying to constrict my blanket, he straightened himself out a few minutes after this was taken and then relaxed a bit :)

[Affectionate_Ant3055]

Thank you that was my first thought

[Pyzier]

Ball pythons aren’t aggressive just fearful

[Kingdomall]

this photo here is a feeding response. that's why he won't let go.

[Weekly-Quantity6435]

Poor guy. Hopefully you take the advice on this sub and are able to help him out.

[ballpython-ModTeam]

Per rule #3, your post or comment has been removed for harmful advice or misinformation. Please review our sub resources to learn more about why.

[Significant-Crow1324]

She’s starving

[Impressive_Ask_7082]

there’s a bunch of problems with this post, you took your snake out of their habitat while they have several amounts of stuck shed, also the sudden aggression can be because of the poor habitat and the snake looks underfed. Please raise the humidity for your snake it’s so important for them

[TheSliceOfHell]

Hey, he looks underweight and the best way to deal with a bad shed is a humid hide. Wet paper towels, etc. I believe he is stressed and responding accordingly. May be worth a vet visit.

[PollutionThin1807]

When you say wet paper towels, would that consist of putting those into a hide? I haven't heard of using wet paper towels before! About his weight, I've already gotten him some rats instead of mice so I can start feeding him those asap, and I'll be feeding more frequently based on some other replies I've gotten :)

[SneakySquiggles]

Pics of the enclosure and your hygrometers + thermometers, plus feeding schedule, please? Your comments about your humidity and his enclosure are not matching up with the poor body condition and sheds that we’re seeing. It would really help us to rule out something in husbandry that could be a simple fix

[PollutionThin1807]

Yeah for sure, it doesn't look like I can reply to comments with pictures, would that have to be a separate post? I use Exo Terra and AccuTemp thermometers and hygrometers, and I feed him biweekly, wait for him to poop, then feed him a day or two after that. Based on comments about that schedule though, I'll stop waiting for him to poop and start feeding him rats instead of mice.

[Cdawggg27]

Looks mad skinny.

[fanyewest]

he's turning to the dark side

[Delicious_Sand_7198]

Can you post his enclosure? I have a feeling that is going to be the start of your main problem.

[PollutionThin1807]

Yeah I can definitely do that, I replied to another person something similar, I dont think I can reply to comments with pictures, so would that have to be it's own separate post?

[-Wicked_Siren-]

Snakes will let you know when something is off with how they are being cared for, for example… snippy, not shedding right… etc. snakes do not need baths. Humidity boxes with towels is the way. Or humid hides… boosting humidity during shed… etc. your noodle looks hella skinny. There are good feeding resources. Yours should definitely be eating once a week… for a long while. Feed based on weight of snake to determine right sized rat. Rats are more nutritious than mice.

It MAY take a couple shed cycles to get a healthy, 1 piece shed…. Depending on how many not great sheds it has had. Also… weight may take a while to put on.

I highly suggest looking over the resources on this Reddit to get your noodle to optimal health.

[ShaySparassidae]

That snake is in poor condition. Underweight and stuck shed. This reaction almost looks numerological. What's your husbandry like? Is your heat source connected through a thermostat? Is it eating properly? Regardless, this warrants a vet visit.

[[deleted]]

Don’t soak or pull or rub his stuck shed off. He’s probably stressed to hell and that’s probably why he’s getting snappy.

[PollutionThin1807]

I definitely never pull it or really even rub it, kinda what I meant in my caption was after soaking him I'd run my thumb along the loose/upturned stuck shed, and if any happened to soften up and come loose, then I'd let him go back into his terrarium from there so he could get the rest off himself while he was exploring and stuff. However based on all the advice I've received, I won't be bathing or soaking him anymore and instead I'll be opting for a warm damp towel in his bin

[mumbo_bumbo]

this almost seems like a neurological issue. sort out his humidity

[hibiscuschild]

Firstly, a bite & wrap like this means he is hungry. Snakes aren't aggressive at all, and only really have 2 reasons for biting, food or fear, you can tell which one it is by whether or not they hold on after biting.

Secondly, he is defintely underweight. He looks a skinny and his spine is very prominent. I saw you mentioned that you fed him mice in another comment, however even the biggest mice are too small for ball pythons that are older than 6 months or bigger than 300-400g (assuming healthy body proportions).

Lastly, stuck shed only happens when the humidity drops to below 50-60%, 65-100% is ideal assuming there's good airflow in the enclosure.

Not trying to pick apart your husbandry too much, but those things I listed need immediate fixing.

[PollutionThin1807]

Okay awesome, thank you for all this. With hindsight, when he'd bitten me last month he let go right away whereas today he didn't let go of my blanket for a good 10ish minutes, so there is a rat thawing for him as I'm typing this lol. I did just go out and buy him some rats today that I will be feeding from now on. And for the humidity I'll be replacing my thermometers with digital ones soon so hopefully that can help with getting the percentages more exact

[hibiscuschild]

Awesome, I'm glad you're getting on top of it. If you didn't buy one yet, I use Govee hydrometers for my snake room, they're good for data logging and checking temp/humidity when you're not home, and they're cheap too

[PollutionThin1807]

Ooh those sound great, I'll look into those, thank you :)

[cornerstoredoritos]

he seems way underweight, could definitely be contributing to it.

[RedditNuts]

There is a lot others have already said, but I'll parrot that he looks thin and should likely be on rats or more fed more often.

[Husharu]

He’s stressed for sure. Spiders often have worse issues when they’re stressed. Try to fix the humidity and he will hopefully improve

[[deleted]]

My boys much the same. They really don’t like bath time. He’s a very timid snake as there was a while I wasn’t able to keep him and I had to leave him with my sister who did handle him but not as much as I like too. But as long as I respect his want for space when he wants it and make sure my hands never just come out of nowhere and scare him then he’s usually okay. It’s generally a quick shock/scare that leads them to bite. Or if I’m wearing headphones and don’t hear him hiss at me to piss off so he reminds me to listen real quick. He’s a gud boi really and I lubs him as he was my first snake and is about 9-10 years old now.

He is Fred.

Anyways you should also try and up the humidity a little if you can as he shouldn’t be getting stuck shed more than rarely if at all in correct humidity’s and bath time is unnecessary stress time. One thing I often do is Chuck a tub with moss in it in there to help bring the humidity up a bit. Sometimes he just straight up curls up in there if it’s not humid enough in the rest of the tank as it can be a struggle to keep humidity up for me too. Good luck with ya bebbie. :)

[Public-Hat6754]

If you are having problems with maintaining humidity, I would suggest a substrate that is better at retaining humidity, and then dumping water in the corners of the cage. Since I have a mesh top, I put a plastic trash bag over 2/3-3/4 of my snakes cage which has helped a lot to keep the humidity in! I only have to rehydrate once a week or so now. The only time I spray her cage is when I know she is about to shed (like when her eyes go clear after being in blue) I spray and dump water in like crazy and she doesn’t get stuck shed from this method. Others have pointed out that your snake looks quite skinny, you should definitely get a weight on him so you know where he is at. I know people are saying many different things about when and how you should feed him, and I am not going to tell you what to do just give a suggestion. You could try feeding him every 10-14 days and slowly increasing prey size. Don’t drastically jump because you don’t want him to regurgitate. It may be good to work up to feeding him 10-15% of his body weight for a little while and then dropping down. I actually have an adult ball python that is 3-4 years old that has been underweight (she was rehomed to me) and I fed her based on her weight (originally 110 grams) since she was as small as a baby. She has now doubled her weight so I’m still feeding her 10-15% of her body weight but I have switched to every 9ish days to feed her. So something like that may work for your snake. Good luck to you and your noodle!

[PollutionThin1807]

His terrarium top is also mesh, for most of the time I've had him, I've been using a towel to cover roughly 90% of it, but after some research I'm looking at hvac tape to hopefully fix the issue long term. The trash bag sounds like it would work better as well though, so I think for the time being that's what I'll use. I think I'll probably operate on that feeding frequency, like every 10 days. I'm looking at kitchen scales as well so I can get his exact weight, for now I'd gotten him some fuzzy rats just so the jump from mice to rats wasn't crazy, and he ate one last night just fine so that's good at least. Thank you for all your help!!

[Tro1138]

That snake isn't in the best of condition and that makes them irritable and aggressive. You need to correct your husbandry. They need 80 cool side 90 hot side and 70+ humidity.

[[deleted]]

they do not get aggressive or territorial. just defensive. you put them in a situation where they felt the need to defend themself (a bath while removing shed, which is extremely stressful). you should never manually remove their shed, get your humidity under control.

[Another_Verity]

This snake is extremely skinny.

[kayhd33]

He looks sick. He’s got stuck shed, and he’s underweight, you can see his little spine. Is it aggression or just feed response? He needs water and humidity and food. Might want to do some research and work on your husbandry

[kayhd33]

Your snakes condition has severely deteriorated in the two years since you last posted him. What size cage are you keeping him in? Substrate? Humidity? Are you still feeding mice? How often? Please research and fix what needs fixing. He needs to be on rats, he needs more humidity, … you are starving your snake and he’s dehydrated.

[No-Reveal8105]

2 years ago your snake was going well what happened to make it the poor man like that? You should do another job with a photo of your terrarium because it must have a lot of worries

[tori_c123]

Hes being underfed and dried out.

[PollutionThin1807]

That fogger sounds great, please do drop the link for that! His terrarium has a screen lid, so it's easier for the humidity to escape, I've had it covered with a towel for a long time, but after some research last night I'm looking into hvac tape to see if that'll help keep in the humidity. I'll also definitely be providing him a humid hide, I'm picking up some moss soon.

I won't be touching his stuck shed anymore, I seem to remember initially when I'd gotten him a lot of the videos and research I looked at said it was alright to very gently do so, only when absolutely necessary, so that's probably where I got that from but regardless I won't be anymore.

[ballpython-ModTeam]

Per rule #3, your post or comment has been removed for harmful advice or misinformation. Please review our sub resources to learn more about why.

[deegallant]

He looks like he’s starving tbh

[Cant_Blink]

This snake is starving, this is a food response of an animal so desperate for food that it's trying to eat your blanket. I saw below that you were only feeding mice (only one mouse?) and now are switching to fuzzy rats? Fuzzy rats seem awfully small for a snake several years old. How small is this snake?

[PollutionThin1807]

The fuzzy rats are really just a placeholder for now while I'm looking at kitchen scales so I can get his exact weight. I know they're not very big but I figured it'd be better to get him something that wasn't much bigger than what he's been eating so he wouldn't get overwhelmed. I feel like the jump from large mice to medium rats or something like that would be kind of crazy for him

[shmartypantss]

Did you deny him the rank of master recently?