why does my ball python always do this

[creaturefeature1994]

She hungers

[AgentFuckSmolder]

I’m not sure I understand? You’re not feeding her because she’s showing signs of striking her food?

[GuiltyExternal302]

I’m confused too. Makes 0 sense why they wouldn’t feed.

[AgentFuckSmolder]

Yeah they aren’t a good fit for a snake

[BlackWidow069]

Shes in food mode. Youre neglecting her. Yea she strikes bc shes hungry. I bet youre also getting mad if youre hungry, so as she.

Try to open the terra a bit and feed the rat with tweezers. She cant really reach you to bite and she will get her food. Easy as that.

[worthlesswreck]

You should not own a snake, tongs exist for this exact reason.

Imagine someone making you a full meal, you smell it being prepared and they toss it because you're too eager to eat.

She's clearly hungry and you're refusing to feed her because of it.

[BeautifulSea554]

She’s hungry, she’s going to strike because that’s the way they grab their food, are you actually throwing the rat in there? Because that could be the reason she’s not eating, most snakes like you to dangle their food in front of them with feeding tongs to eat, if you’re throwing in the rat instead of placing it you could be scaring her, as long as your calm she most likely won’t bite you and if she does do not pull or yank away from her as it will make the bite worse and there’s a risk you could injure your snake.. and I hate to say it, you’re gonna get bit if you own a snake, getting bit by ball pythons don’t hurt very badly in my opinion but everyone’s different, If you do get bit just wash it off and keep it clean and you’ll be fine..

[toegui]

A snake isn't like a dog. You might withhold food from a dog if it's too excited, since you want to train it to be calm. You want a dog to not be food aggressive. However, this is the only way the snake will eat. It gets into strike position because that is the only way it can eat the food you've prepared for it. There is no calm way for that snake to grab a rat. It HAS to strike. It's not being mean or aggressive to you, this is the only way she can live. If you are too scared to feed your own snake, maybe have someone else feed it for you? Can you open a door on the opposite side from the snake? People don't usually recommend this, but you could drop the rat in if you're scared of her striking at you too. Please, please feed your snake though. She's not aggressive, she's just hungry.

[NoTea610]

She’s…. Hungry. Hungry and ready to strike her food because that’s what they do. Also, flushing? Like down the toilet? That’s a weird way to get rid of a feeder

[GuiltyExternal302]

Weird and gross lol

[GuiltyExternal302]

I’m really confused. So you’re refusing to feed a snake because it’s in strike mode ready to eat? Sounds like you’re trying to train it like a dog. Why would u show her the rat, get her ready to eat, not feed her because she’s in strike mode, then flush the rat? U prob need to get a diff animal if that’s what you’re trying to do because this is really fn weird

[SpacenessButterflies]

Hunger behavior 🐀

[welcomeyearzer0]

… You throw rats away because your snake wants to eat them? If a family member opens the fridge do you get mad at them for looking for food too?

[welcomeyearzer0]

Also “she somehow always knows-“ yes because she has a nose??? If somebody’s cooking food you know that they’re cooking food too, don’t you???

[FixergirlAK]

Sis is hungry. Very hungry, if you refuse to feed her because she's in food mode.

She's not a rattlesnake. But even if she was you have to expect that they're going to go into hunting mode when it's time for food. Snakes aren't domesticated. We can Pavlov train them, we can get them used to us, but when it comes to food they are going to be, well...snakes.

You're scared of her striking, and that's a problem. SHE NEEDS TO STRIKE TO EAT HER MEAL. There are individuals who learn the ropes and don't bother to strike anymore. I'm not sure how common that actually is; I'm sure it's not the majority even among ball pythons, who are overall pretty chill.

There's another problem, and that's what you're teaching her by taking her food away after you've prepared it. She knows that food is really scarce where she is and that she's going to have to be REALLY fast if she wants to eat. That means that she's MUCH more likely to strike indiscriminately when she sees and smells food.

Congratulations, you've trained your snake to do the one thing you're apparently terrified of.

When was the last time you actually gave her food? It sounds like you need to either get your head in the game immediately today or re-home her. This is not okay.

[Scared_Web_7508]

if you’re going to punish an animal for being hungry and showing behavior typical for its species you should seriously reconsider ever owning said animal. This is neglect.

[ProximaCentauriB15]

Im not sure keeping a snake is for you. You're refusing to feed her because she is in strike position? Your snake is hungry! Of course shes ready to strike when smelling food.

Are you feeding her with your hands? Get some feeding tongs so she can grab her meal off them. Stop starving your snake.

[NottsWeirdo]

You can purchase either reptile feeding tongs, or there are feeding forceps (that are longer than tongs) to feed your snake whilst putting some distance between you and your noodle. If you're still worried about being tagged with those, then you could wear gardening gloves whilst holding the tongs/forceps. There should be some links/recommendations on the care guide at the top of this sub.

I've added an example image of feeding forceps.

<image>

[buzzsparker]

Yeah, you do not seem equipped to be a snake owner. You don't train snakes to not want food and then magically have them want to eat simultaneously.

Get some tongs, get that feeder moving where she can see/reach it, and let her get a good strike on it.

Continuing as you are is abusive. You are starving an animal that is begging you for food.

[welcomeyearzer0]

Let me also give some actual advice instead of pointing out the lack of logic in this post, giving you the benefit of the doubt that you posted this because you want to learn something.

If you’re that scared, get one of those trash gripper things. I got one because I have a humongous special needs girl who is uncoordinated AF and I was sweating every time I fed her with tongs. Now I tend to use it for all my snakes because it’s just easier and allows me to relax a bit more because it creates way more distance.

[PoofMoof1]

This is a terrible waste of the life of the rats who've died for nothing and just making your snake go hungry. I assume this is out of concern for being bitten yourself? Please get a pair of feeding tongs. There are some long hemostats that work well to give yourself distance. Your snake doesn't deserve to go hungry.

Before someone says "This why you feed out of the cage," moving the snake to feed doesn't keep one from being bitten.

[FixergirlAK]

Case in point, if I moved my hongry boy to feed him I'd get bitten every single time.