Include

[hazzard]

Originally Posted by craig.a.c

So it is normal for a BHP to bite repeatidly like its injecting venom?
When he is fiesty he will rear up in an S position and open his mouth, flatten his neck and jerk his head back and forth.

He doesn't just grab the fuzzy rats and coil around them like every other python I have.

1 in 5 will do this in IMO. The really fiesty ones have the fron't of their enclosure covered with black cardboard. This helps settle them down and avoids the damaging their mouths on the enclosure. It's a great sight when they are 9ft long launching 3 ft out of the enclosure at you in the exact posture you describe. I have one huge female that lunges when you enter the herp room 3 metres away. At 7 plus kg it's a fantastic sight.

This is definitely a defensive pose as others have said. Generally this is only in the cage. Place a towel on it's head, lift it out and generally they settle down in a few minutes.