Recently (past few months) a six year old presumed male normal had a massive uptick in appetite. He’s constantly searching, constantly hungry and will strike at anything remotely warm and rat-sized (including hands)
He will display hunting behaviors almost immediately after a feeding too. He lives in a modified tub enclosure, 79 degrees ambient with a 90 degree hot spot. Eats an adult thawed rat every ten to fourteen days.
Is this a common theme in ball pythons? Up until a few months ago he was the safest snake to handle out of all of my pythons. Now he’s a holy terror because he’ll try to eat you if you so much as reach in to clean his water dish. He was hook trained but it isn’t convincing him now.
Any tips on how to re-train him? I’ve started using a spray bottle as a cue that he’s not getting fed but wondered if anyone else had more experience.
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I’ve only had one BP be such an aggressive feeder like you describe, and she has been that way consistently since a hatchling. Sometimes once the tub is opened just enough for her head to fit out she’s leaping out jaws wide open towards my face. But I see it more as a blessing than a curse because she never misses a meal unless she is deep in shed.
I usually shut down the behavior by getting my hand over her head from behind. Usually that moment of defensiveness snaps her out of it and she is easy to handle afterwards once she realizes I’m not actually the biggest rat she’s ever seen.
As far as the change in appetite goes, I’ve noticed that right after breeding season my males have gone from finicky to feeding machines. So perhaps that could explain the shift.
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It happens. Some seem to change over night. We have had some go from great feeders to not great feeders. Some go from liking live to only want FT and vise versa. You could always hook him out of the tub and sit him down and maybe he will chill out. He may not be hungry, just turned into an asshole lol. That happens also.
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I fear as such, I hope it isn’t true given he was a gentle fellow his entire life up until now. If I have to handle him with gloves I’ll do it though.
I actually tap all my bins on feeding day to stimulate them. Soon as they all feel that tap everyone is immediately pacing the front of their tubs lol. I have 2 like you described when it comes to feeding. She paces her cage waiting for dinner usually starts 2 days before her feed. Same with my bee. They are both my flyers actually. Feeding day better move that hand lol. I feed both of them a medium rat every 10 days.
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@scosta56 That’s such and interesting concept! To tap on the bin prior to feeding. I’ve actually developed a theory with mine that I learned… kinda together with the snake. If i present a F/T near the opening of his hide, he will strike and take it right there from inside the hide! (he’s a great eater in general). but when i remove his hide and expose him completely, its like he knows that means its not feeding time, it time to be handled. lol. never gets defensive or in a striking position. I’ll have to give that “bin tap” a try for a bit! see how that goes.
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I try to keep all my animals on a routine. Especially on feeding day. I’ve had really good luck with it. I even go as far as feeding all of them in a specific order. I’m also over the top , and extremely ocd lol. I accept my flaws 
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