Hi, ive got my retic in a temporary viv just now while im waiting on her 6x2x2 arriving (got it ordered months ago, when it eventually came pieces were broken, still waiting on another), shes in a 4ft just now with a heat bulb on a dimming stat during the day and a mat on a mat stat at night (bear in mind this is only temporary, new viv will have ceramic). The other day when i had her out she was acting a bit strange, ok at first, then quickly and very tightly wrapping round my arms, then when i managed to get her off she would not go back in and then wrapped round my legs! She has bitten me before when i failed to notice she was in feed me mode, but this somehow worried me more. Anyway, this morning when i turned on her bulb she struck at it, and did the same just now when i turned it off! She had a large rat 5 days ago, has recently shed, and seems otherwise healthy, so i dont know why she has started behaving this way - she just seems on constant alert and mostly aggressive, which she never was before. Shes only just 8 feet at the mo, but 8 feet of angry snake is enough to put me on constant alert! Anybody any ideas why shes suddenly like this?

not sure...still doing like that?

I keep a female jamps.

Will you show me some pics of yours?

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Still doing like what? Sorry i dont understand what you mean. Ive not got my memory card with my pics on it just now, posted some on here a while ago not sure where the thread is though.

whats the temps and humidty
what size food and how do you feed her and how often
and whats the size of the viv shes in now and whats in the viv
and how much do you handle and for how long aprox

thanks

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plz excuse my spelling in posts i am dislexic

Bear in mind it is the breeding season, she may be just aware of this and think that your trying to handle her is an attempt to mate her, sounds weird but it's the kind of base instinct that affects animals. Retics generally change temperament during the breeding season, particularly males. Are you sure she is a she?

She might need to go up a size in feed if the rats are disappearing in her tummy over night she may be hungry more of the time.

i would have the mat on 24 hours on a thermostat for a hot spot of just under 90f and have the light on a timer, no need for stat if you use the right wattage bulb to heat the air in your viv to high 70's low 80's. Turning off at night so you get a slight drop. If your viv is in your house it should stay in the 70's over night. Always check temps with a high/low thermometer.

Keep us posted.
Don

It sounds to me like you don't handle her enough?
Retics are quick to learn that opening doors means food. You can either start "hook training" her (which i'm not keen on) or simply get her out 5 days a week.
You don't have to get her out for ages, just the physical act of picking her up and removing her from the viv is enough.

I wouldn't change anything temps wise, purely because it's not causing any problems.

I certainly wouldn't feed her anymore frequently, perhaps even less would be a good idea. Feeding her with 2 sessions worth every other week will enable you to get more "hands on" time and help calm her down again.

When it comes to actually getting her out, for now let her do it herself. Open the door and let her wander out on to you. The nature of these animals is inquisitive not aggresive (despite popular opinion) so she wont be able to resist.

As for her grabbing you, that's just for her own security. You may have been a bit rough putting her back and she just wanted some safety.

On of the biggest problems with retics has always been that they are naturally tempremental, they are easy to spook. Unfortunately this combined with the inquisitive side makes them look outwardly aggressive.

You are also likely to find that moving into a bigger viv will cause her to get highly defensive. She's only small still so may try to establish the viv as her territory. You can deal with that later though if you need to, it's easy to solve.

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Thanks for all the replies, my handling has been less frequent recently, since she bit me infact - so 5 days a week? Ive only been doing it once or twice. I just tried to get her out there, placing a hook on her first for a few seconds like i usually do, and she flipped and tried to grab the hook! She just kept striking forward again and again, coming out the viv, so i had to just lift her front with the hook and put her staight back in. I need in there tonight to change substrate so i dont know what to do now, as obviously i have sufficiently spooked her. Should i let her take another rat, change the messy area, and see if shes calmer in a couple of days? I forgot i never mentioned before - i gave her to a reptile store to board for a week a few months back. Prior to this she had never shown any signs of aggression, and when i went to pick her up the first thing she did was strike when i opened the viv she was in. When i think about it she hasnt really been the same since then. Anyway, who thinks thick gloves are a good idea?

I think that last bit of your post probably confirms that she needs to be out more. In the store she wont have been handled, just fed.

Once you have her out she will soon settle, just don't restrict her movements too much. I know it'll be hard but if you're going to get past this you'll have to run the gauntlet of getting bitten until she's settled again.

I know it's not fair but you are both trapped in a viscious circle. You are wary of her because she's started snapping and she's only going to get worse because you're wary of her.

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Sorry, meant to say, she was fed before i took her there, and although i asked them not to mess around with her, i got the feeling they had