Snake struck my face, again

[u/jeherohaku]

I don't know what the hell I'm doing wrong handling my BP. This is my first and only snake. I've had him a little over a year, about 15 months. He has a nice big bioactive enclosure, husbandry seems on point from everything I know.

Every time I handle him he has no chill. Constantly on the move, trying to get down to the ground. It doesn't read as stress to me, he is constantly tongue flicking, he just seems really curious and wants to explore. I redirect his head/neck as he moves through my hands so he doesn't get to the floor. Eventually he decides to try going up instead of down and tries climbing my arms. And almost every time he goes to my shoulder area it's like a switch flips and he suddenly realizes I'm big and scary and goes in for a strike. Sometimes I can catch this body language shift and put him away without incident. Sometimes, like tonight, as I was trying to reach around and redirect him, he struck at me and actually got my lip. He's struck in the general direction of my face 2 other times that I remember but he drew blood this time. I waited a few minutes after his strike to put him away because I don't want him to associate striking with getting to go home.

Why won't he just chill out? I don't know what I'm doing wrong or how to avoid whatever leads up to this striking behavior. Is it just his personality? I'm starting to get nervous handling him because of this.

[u/AlienPTSD]

That’s terrible but his face is so funny to me. Why so serious little noodle boy?

[u/Old-Chapter-5437]

Fast tongue flicking doesn't mean they're not stressed.

Now for the fix. Try the spin method. When holding said boopis, if it begins to get into that "Gotta go fast and scoot away" mode or might seem like it will go for a bite, hold it up and out away from you and slowly spin in a circle and watch the magic happen.

So far I have 100% success rate with it. Works on Bloods, Balls, and Carpets.

[u/IcyReception8903]

As another commenter stated, he looks mean for a Ball Python. 😆 Ball Pythons always have those cute faces and yours has a really grumpy one. Also, I never had any Ball that's been aggressive. Hope that spin in a circle technique works for you. Also the boop of his nose might work to just reset him back to a resting state. They use this method for food aggressive snakes.

[u/CherryChristmas → u/IcyReception8903]

My golden retriever lab mix also has a resting B face/bombastic side eye whereas most golden retrievers and labradors are super friendly and happy looking 😂 sometimes you have an odd one out like OPs BP

[u/Silver_Dragonette]

Anything wrong with letting him explore the floor? My lil guy also likes to move to the floor so I find a safe place for him to free roam and hide if he likes with close supervision. I just accredit it to his personality, he's always been curious and likes to explore new objects and smells.

[u/CherryChristmas → u/Silver_Dragonette]

Question; are you not scared he’ll get ‘stuck’ under a cabinet? (Aka does not want to come out anymore)

I’m asking because most of my cabinets are quite big, like deep in space, hight enough for by BP to get under but too low that I cannot stick my arm under to get them out. Would that still be okay? Like I wouldn’t be able to out her inside the enclosure during the night that way and there are def unsafe areas she cannot be exploring (like my kitchen), so free roaming the floor would be fine as long as I’m awake, but I am scared I wouldn’t be able to get her out from under (or behind) my furniture if she chooses to hide there

[u/jeherohaku → u/Silver_Dragonette]

I have let him on the floor a couple of times just to satisfy his curiosity but it isn't super snake proof. He also has a puppy play pen I can put him into with some fake clutter for explore time if he's feeling particularly flighty.

[u/all-the-wastedwords]

He might not like being handled. And if that's the case, then that's a snake you should only handle for health check ups and emergencies. Or look into choice based handling. 

[u/Imnotspartacuseither → u/all-the-wastedwords]

One of mine is this way. Absolutely hates being handled and has struck me a few times.

[u/Hext666]

Gorgeous fella, does have a trickster looking mug though