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Help! I got a biter

W

wvglarin

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About two weeks ago my girlfriend came across a ball in her house. They don't know where it came from. The ball is about 32 inches. It was very shedding in pieces pretty bad, but was still personable. I got it set up in a cage and he seemed to be doing well after i soaked him and got most of his shed off. He maintained his eyecaps but I wasn't worried about it because he still had to shed the rest of his head anyway. Then he bit my roommate out of no where but didn't wrap him up. I fed him two large mice and he seemed alright. A few days later I was handling him as he nudged my finger and bit it and coiled around it. So I fed him two more mice. I soaked him again to get the rest of his scales off and put Vaseline on his head and eyes to ease the shedding. He did fine for a few more days. The local pet store with a wide variety of snakes asked me to bring him in to take a look at him. Then he bit and coiled the girl working there. So I fed him 4 large mice in one sitting. Please give me some advice on why he might be so ill tempered. I was also wanting to know about getting his eye caps off (I soaked him, put Vaseline on him, and even though its not great used scotch tape to try to take them off.).
 
Ha! I have a biter too, well actually a few. Good though that the snake is eating so well. I have noticed that CBB snakes will go wild if let alone for a long time, which it seems the Ball is doing for you, if it was ever cative breed or long term captive. I would upgrade the snake to rats, bigger meals would be good also. Handle a lot and watch those teeth. Good luck.
 
I think you've already answered your own question. The eyecaps must go. A snake that can't see is more prone to biting.

Soak the snake overnight in about 1.5 inches of water and keep him in a warm place. Those eyecaps should come off easily in the morning.

I bet once those eyecaps are gone the snake stops biting.

Good luck w/your snake.
 
Thats what I was hoping to hear. I guess I'm just going to wait until the next shed to see if he loses his caps, if not by then I probably going to take him to a vet to get them removed. Thanks for all the help.
 
please don't use tape to get the caps off! just soak him good for a few hours. don't do anything to his eyes that you wouldn't do to yours.


vaughn
 
Soak him for a good 8 or 10 hours. Put him in something he can't get out of. Keep him warm. That will take care of the eyecaps.
 
Good news, I soaked my ball in a styrofoam box in about 1.5 inches of warm water while he was in a pillowcase. I put some Esu Shed Ease in the watter and on his head. I left him in there for about 4 hours and he shed completely. I had to massage his head and eye caps off but he's completely shed and hasn't bitten anyone for a few days and we have been handling him a couple hours a day. Thanks a lot for the help.
 
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