Nippy BPs

[Kettennatter]

First, I have to say that I know very little about ball pythons, as I personally always preferred boas, but that is a different question.

The family went to a pet store, and we saw three young BPs, maybe a foot in length. We asked if we could handle them, and got the okay, even though the clerk seemed nervous. We picked them up without a problem, and the BPs appeared calm.

The clerk explained that the BPs were "nippy" and that they were afraid to handle them. Sure enough, two of them tried to strike, although not at the person handling them, but in the general direction of movement. We were able to put them back into the enclosure without the slightest problem.

I couldn't help wondering, because such a behavior in any of my snakes would have rather indicated a hungry snake. Any thoughts?

[StudentoReptile]

I think its could a case of a nervous, apprehensive pet store employee who is too scared of getting bit by baby snakes inadvertently creating the situation he is trying to avoid = an overly defensive snake that is very eager to bite.

See this thread for a similar discussion: http://www.ssnakess.com/forums/general-python-forum/92948-handling-aggresive-snake.html

On the flip side, though, there are always a handful of BPs that are a little more ornery than the rest. Baby snakes, in general, are always a little more on edge than adults. After all, everything bigger than they are is a potential predator, so you can hardly blame them for being defensive.

[alessia55]

Baby snakes are just more nervous in general sometimes. To them, we are large predators, so any movement might look threatening to them. Some babies are more calm about it, some are more jumpy, like you experienced. When they are settled in inside a proper enclosure with the right husbandry, and gentle handling, they will calm down. Pet stores are particularly stressful for snakes, since usually the husbandry isn't correct, and they are forced to live in small quarters with other snakes (ball pythons are solitary snakes)... making them more jumpy and more likely to "nip".

[Kettennatter]

@Student

I don't think the BPs were defensive in their behavior. They were easy to pick up, and I wouldn't hesitate to handle them again. I think that Alessia is onto something that they might be overly stimulated in their small pet shop enclosure. Otherwise they were the cutest and healthy-looking little guys.

[StudentoReptile]

@Student

I don't think the BPs were defensive in their behavior. They were easy to pick up, and I wouldn't hesitate to handle them again. I think that Alessia is onto something that they might be overly stimulated in their small pet shop enclosure. Otherwise they were the cutest and healthy-looking little guys.

Perhaps.

I spent the better part of 10 years working in pet stores, so I can definitely concur that they are stressful environments for all animals, not just snakes.

I still maintain that some individual specimens adapt/acclimate to the environment better than others. And there are many pet store grunts out there that simply...well, they are not comfortable being around snakes to know how to handle them properly and their own nervous gestures inadvertently stimulate the snake(s) to be more nervous, creating a vicious cycle of: is the snake nervous and bitey because the keeper is always jerky/flighty when trying to get it out of the cage, or is it the other way around?

[Kettennatter]

Oh, I'm sure the clerk had something to do with it. The BPs were calm when we picked them up, were just laying on our palms for 10 minutes, struck at some random movement in the distance, and then were completely calm when we put them back. (The clerk wouldn't handle them.) So yes, an inexperienced clerk could also be at fault.

[DeesBalls]

Baby snakes are just more nervous in general sometimes. To them, we are large predators, so any movement might look threatening to them. Some babies are more calm about it, some are more jumpy, like you experienced. When they are settled in inside a proper enclosure with the right husbandry, and gentle handling, they will calm down. Pet stores are particularly stressful for snakes, since usually the husbandry isn't correct, and they are forced to live in small quarters with other snakes (ball pythons are solitary snakes)... making them more jumpy and more likely to "nip".

I can agree with this... the husbandry is probably just making the stressed and a little more nervous than normal. i have 11 BPs and only 1 is nippy.. so they are generally laid back snakes... maybe a hiss here and there, but they usually just ball up, rather than nip...