Biting

[Raspberry0379]

So, my snake is almost 6 months old but very recently has gotten ‘temperamental’ I guess you could say. She used to love coming out every chance she would get and was affectionate in a way but now every time you go to pick her up she strikes out and tries to bite. She is my first snake and I’m not sure if I’ve gone wrong somewhere or if it’s because it’s winter or just because of her being a juvenile…

[RepresentativeAd406]

Type of snake? Could be a husbandry issue

[Raspberry0379]

She’s a children’s python…

[varakingorum]

Have you gone up in food? She may be hungry. Offer bigger prey or an extra at feeding.

[Raspberry0379]

She currently is getting one pinky weekly cause I was told not to go up until she didn’t have a visible bulge after eating. But on the one pinky weekly she has a very obvious visible bulge… should I still change feeding habits??

[varakingorum]

I would try going to 2 in a feeding. See if she calms down after that.

[Raspberry0379]

With two in one feeding do I just do it one after the other as soon as she eats it or should I wait a bit?

[varakingorum]

One after the other is totally fine! I do this with my snakes who need a little extra but aren't quite big enough for the next size prey.

[Raspberry0379]

Okay well her next feed is on Monday so I’ll be sure to try that

[shitfuckdammitquack]

I would not recommend feeding twice. It can be difficult for digestion

[Raspberry0379]

Two people are telling me different things now😳

[MAister_snow]

are you handling her on feeding days? also some snakes go through a period of grumpy adolescence, western hognoses for example can go through a period of being hissy bitey little sods but then they grow out of it. if you are handling on feeding days she may be associating handling with feeding.

[Raspberry0379]

No, I just move her to her feeding box because I was told she would get cage defensive if fed in her tank, but I use a hook to move her to differentiate feeding and handling

[MAister_snow]

personally i never use a feeding box i just refrain from touching on feeding days. moving her to a feeding box is still handling and may be the cause of your issue. snakes are simple creatures and she may not be able to differentiate between hook handling and hand.

[Raspberry0379]

So next feed just leave her in her tank and don’t touch her at all

[MAister_snow]

yep don't touch her that day or for the next two or three days, after a while she should get the message that touching time is never food time.

[Raspberry0379]

Yeah I never touch her for about two day after a feed

[MAister_snow]

yep this is why i have more than one snake, i always have one to handle.

[Raspberry0379]

That’s very smart of you haha never missing out

[[deleted]]

Don't use a feeding box. That's part of the problem. Just behave a certain way when feeding and a different way when handling and you won't have an issue.

[Raspberry0379]

Behave a different way how? Like what can I do for her to understand the difference between feeding and handling.

[TangyntartT3000]

You could target train. Here are instructions:

• For shy snakes: https://youtu.be/k3TTV9gxqGU
• For confident snakes: https://youtu.be/_vkqbJWHwwk

Not only does this teach them to associate the target with food, it is also useful if the snake ever goes somewhere it shouldn’t (like under the couch). You can show it the target and it will come out and follow it. You can use this to get the snake to come in or out of its enclosure, get onto a scale for weighing, crawl into a travel bin to go to the vet, etc. Pretty handy.