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Strange biting issues out of nowhere???

joseydiann

joseydiann

S&S Dragons
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Hi guys we have a normal ball that has all the sudden starting biting, it bites every-time my brother gets in the tank.

Not sure of the sex, we have had it a few months and it has never hissed or struck before.

But my brother has about 8 different bite marks on his hands from the last 3 weeks.

He brought it back to me today because he is tired of being bit, he fed it a med live rat today before coming over.
I told him I think it is because it is wanting more food and still hungry, well I tossed it another rat and after it ate it was fine and did not offer to bite.

My bro changed his mind and took it back home for now.

Oh and the snake is 5-6 years old so any idea why it has starting biting?

He feeds it in a feeding tub, it's in a 40 gal tank with a heating pad and nice hide, a water bowl big enough to fully soak in, ect..
He spoils it but for some reason it has started biting ALOT..

Thanks
Amanda
 
joseydiann said:
Hi guys we have a normal ball that has all the sudden starting biting, it bites every-time my brother gets in the tank.

Not sure of the sex, we have had it a few months and it has never hissed or struck before.

But my brother has about 8 different bite marks on his hands from the last 3 weeks.

He brought it back to me today because he is tired of being bit, he fed it a med live rat today before coming over.
I told him I think it is because it is wanting more food and still hungry, well I tossed it another rat and after it ate it was fine and did not offer to bite.

My bro changed his mind and took it back home for now.

Oh and the snake is 5-6 years old so any idea why it has starting biting?

He feeds it in a feeding tub, it's in a 40 gal tank with a heating pad and nice hide, a water bowl big enough to fully soak in, ect..
He spoils it but for some reason it has started biting ALOT..

Thanks
Amanda
Click to expand...

Hi Amanda,

Well, number one a snake that starts biting could have alot of different reasons for this. Check for mites or any other diseases/infections/etcetera..also be sure that his temperatures and humidity are correct as well.

If all this checks out, then I'd double check to make sure there have been no changes in his environment what so ever recently. This can make the snake more nervous, or jumpy. A lot of times biting is a defensive move rather than a "I'm hungry" move. And even the slightest change in the environment for the snake can be something they are 'spooked' by, or made nervous by.

The fact that he spoils his snake is great however a snake really doesn't care about that type of behavior..its more for the owner rather than the snake. He'll poo on an expensive enclosure item just as quickly as a cheap one...
 
Thanks, I ask him about all of that just to make sure. He says nothing at all has changed or even been moved around.

I even checked the snake today for a mouth problem, and there were no mites, ect..
I weighed her/him too (I think female) and it weighs 1,250 grams..

Temps are good during the day, I'll have him check at night and let me know.

He says it bites him when he moves it to the feeding tubs then bites again when he goes to put it back in the tank. His hand looks bad..

However after it ate a 2nd rat for me today, we handled it just fine. It seemed really calm and sweet to me.

So could it be that the heating pad is making it digest pretty fast and maybe the one rat is not big enough and it is hungry?

I really can't find anything else that would be a problem..
It should be really happy in that setup, it always had been anyway.
 
At 1250 grams that's not really very large for a 5 to 6 year old BP especially a female, I think it probably needs a bigger rat on the menu. Also, honestly if she bites when he's moving her to the feeding bin...feed her in her enclosure?
She may be hungry and in feeding mode, and he may not be recognizing her signals.

:eek:
 
Yeah I'm not sure she is a female but do males get that large?

It has gained a little weight actually, since we have had it..

I'll let him know about the feeding thing.. Thanks!
 
joseydiann said:
Yeah I'm not sure she is a female but do males get that large?

It has gained a little weight actually, since we have had it..

I'll let him know about the feeding thing.. Thanks!
Click to expand...

I have a few males that are well over 2000 grams, while that may not be the norm they are healthy boys. The others in my collection that are a bit older are more in the 1600 to 1700 range, so I would say that would be about normal in my experience but I am by no means an expert on that.

Yw!
 
I'd like to know what over feeding means to most people! I am afraid of feeding mine too much or too often. But then I am worried that I might not be feeding them enough or the right size lol..

Well I guess it could be a male then. I can't pop a snake that big and don't have a probing kit.
 
joseydiann said:
I'd like to know what over feeding means to most people! I am afraid of feeding mine too much or too often. But then I am worried that I might not be feeding them enough or the right size lol..

Well I guess it could be a male then. I can't pop a snake that big and don't have a probing kit.
Click to expand...


I think the approximating the girth method helps alot (girth of rat is approximately about the same size as the girth of the snake) or weighing the rat and the snake. The snake can take between 15 to 20% of their body weight.


So your snake at 1250 could generally manage a rat about 188-190 grams to 250 grams-- that's a large rat once very 7 to 10 days or so. That wouldn't be overfeeding him at all in my opinion and would allow for growth. (Some would argue for every 2 weeks frequency)
 
Ditto to what everyone else said. It sounds like it is a female on a feeding binge. Right now my females are eating everything in sight. This time of year they always pig out. I think it is the heat that puts them into binge mode so they pack on as much weight to get them through winter and breeding.

As long as temps are correct, If it wants another rat after eating one, I'd move it up to the next size rat, or give it 2 of whatever size it is eating now.

Any chance you have seen sperm plugs? you could go through the motions of popping and see if a sperm plug pops out.
 
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