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  1. #1
    Registered User Crawdad's Avatar
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    Handling my BP - Don't laugh!

    Okay, so I have had my BP for 12 days now, and have not handled him yet -- we waited a week, then fed, then gave him 48 hours to digest. The problem is (and I hate to admit this) that I'm afraid to pick him up.

    Now, I know how silly that sounds. I'm a 6'5" 350lb man, and this little snake is seriously about as thick as my thumb. I've never had snakes or other reptiles before and when I was growing up, my dad was terrified of them. Before anyone says "well, why did you buy a snake if you're afraid of them?", please realize that I'm not really afraid of the snake itself. I've handled our BP before, at the pet store, and I've briefly handled a corn snake, and an adult BP. Every one of those times, though, the snake was handed to me by its owner. I'm not really afraid of holding the snake, I'm nervous about the part where I actually reach into the tub, take the hide off of him, and pick him up. I have no idea how he's going to react

    I did make progress tonight, I pulled the hide off of him, stuck my hand down into the tub about 8 inches from his face, and then put the hide back on top of him, haha. He just sort of sat there, although he did flinch and start to coil up when I started to put the hide back down over him.

    I don't really know what I want anyone here to tell me, but I figured you all would get a kick out of the thought of a big guy like me getting antsy about picking up his little hatchling BP.

    Y'all don't laugh too hard, ok?

  2. #2
    BPnet Veteran twistedtails's Avatar
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    Re: Handling my BP - Don't laugh!

    Quote Originally Posted by Crawdad View Post
    Okay, so I have had my BP for 12 days now, and have not handled him yet -- we waited a week, then fed, then gave him 48 hours to digest. The problem is (and I hate to admit this) that I'm afraid to pick him up.

    Now, I know how silly that sounds. I'm a 6'5" 350lb man, and this little snake is seriously about as thick as my thumb. I've never had snakes or other reptiles before and when I was growing up, my dad was terrified of them. Before anyone says "well, why did you buy a snake if you're afraid of them?", please realize that I'm not really afraid of the snake itself. I've handled our BP before, at the pet store, and I've briefly handled a corn snake, and an adult BP. Every one of those times, though, the snake was handed to me by its owner. I'm not really afraid of holding the snake, I'm nervous about the part where I actually reach into the tub, take the hide off of him, and pick him up. I have no idea how he's going to react

    I did make progress tonight, I pulled the hide off of him, stuck my hand down into the tub about 8 inches from his face, and then put the hide back on top of him, haha. He just sort of sat there, although he did flinch and start to coil up when I started to put the hide back down over him.

    I don't really know what I want anyone here to tell me, but I figured you all would get a kick out of the thought of a big guy like me getting antsy about picking up his little hatchling BP.

    Y'all don't laugh too hard, ok?
    I think it is good that you are confronting your fear as long as you take care of him. A lot of pythons will huff and puff at you until you have the in your hands, once you do he will most likely calm down. By the way, a baby snake bite doesn't even hurt. When you go to pick him up, scoop him up in one solid and confident move. If he hisses and you move, he will most likely take more of a stance because he sees that he is scaring you. As long as you pick him up quickly and hold him firmly he will see that you are no harm. If you are that affraid use gloves until you feel comfortable. What ever you do, don't drop him or he will most likely not trust you again(at least not for a while). If you do get bit, don't pull away. It will be hard not to because it will most likely scare you but you could seriuosly hurt him. Let us know how it works out for you.

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    Crawdad (10-23-2009)

  4. #3
    Steel Magnolia rabernet's Avatar
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    Re: Handling my BP - Don't laugh!

    Ok - I laughed a little!

    It's just going to take some time for you to learn to read your snake and become more comfortable with him.

    I was at Petsmart today picking up some crickets for my leopard geckos and they all know that I breed ball pythons and the gal said "we have this EVIL kingsnake that tries to bite everyone - we're afraid of it!"

    I asked if I could see it, and she's like "ok - but it might bite you - I have to warn you!"

    I reach in and scoop him right on up, and other than a little musking that young kings do, he never attempted to bite me and settled down. She goes "whoa....you ARE the snake whisperer!" I cracked up!

    Honestly - just be confident - there's nothing wrong with putting on a pair of gloves if it makes you more comfortable the first few times you go to pick him up.

    I just gently pick them up close to the middle of their bodies and support the rest of their body once I have them out.

    You're going to be fine!

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    Agent Earl (10-21-2009),Crawdad (10-23-2009)

  6. #4
    BPnet Lifer Kaorte's Avatar
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    Re: Handling my BP - Don't laugh!

    Hahaha......erm

    Just get in there, pull the hide off him and scoop him up. The faster the better. Don't sit there and wave your hand in his face, it will just give him more time to go "Ah scary thing trying to eat me! panic!!".

    Once you get him out, he will probably stay curled up for a few minutes but should start to relax.

    Judging by the reaction you described when you pulled the hide off him, I doubt he will try to bite you.

    Don't be nervous!
    ~Steffe

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    Crawdad (10-23-2009)

  8. #5
    Don't Push My Buttons JLC's Avatar
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    Re: Handling my BP - Don't laugh!

    Hehe....don't feel bad! I've handled tons of snakes....been bit a couple times...and I still get an antsy, nervous feeling when trying to pick up a wild baby corn or garter. I tell myself that I'm afraid I'll squish the tiny little worms....but the fact is, it's a knee-jerk reflexive reaction that is difficult to control when I'm not 100% confident about the snake's docility.

    What has helped me to get over that sort of irrational reaction to a harmless snake is to visualize the "worst case scenario" and go with it. The animal is going to bite me. It's going to strike and bite, no matter how slowly or carefully I move. Will it hurt? No. Will it surprise me? Not if I'm expecting it to. I just decide in my own head that I'm going to pick up this little snake that IS going to bite me.....rather than trying to figure out how to pick it up so I won't get bit.

    So far, I haven't been bitten by anything I approached in that manner.

    I have been bitten by an 8' burmese that held on for 20 minutes or so before finally deciding she wasn't going to get to make a meal out of my hand....and I still handle her a couple of times a week. HER, I approach differently, and don't try to picture myself getting bit. But for anything harmless that can't do anything worse than startle and maybe draw a few drops of blood.......just decide you don't care if it happens and you'll find your confidence building quickly.
    -- Judy

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    Crawdad (10-23-2009)

  10. #6
    BPnet Veteran Dianna's Avatar
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    Re: Handling my BP - Don't laugh!

    aw lol, cute story
    I think you two will be fine once you've both built up some trust

    Just a small tidbit to add- Its best to be sitting down when you're ready to handle him. Since he is so small and perhaps scared, you wouldn't want to run the risk of dropping him from such a height. Not saying that would necessarily happen, but you can't be too cautious

    PS - would love to see pics of your new baby

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    Crawdad (10-23-2009)

  12. #7
    BPnet Veteran nixer's Avatar
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    Re: Handling my BP - Don't laugh!

    CHICKEN!
    just put your hand in there it cant eat you and its not going to kill you.
    if your lucky you might get bit and bleed, which doesnt happen much.
    just look at bite pics or the bite club thread

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    Crawdad (10-23-2009)

  14. #8
    BPnet Royalty OhhWatALoser's Avatar
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    Re: Handling my BP - Don't laugh!

    Well if it makes you feel better, My first time handling a snake, which was a ball python, i was 100% fearless for about 2 minutes until it yawned.... then i put it down on my lap and it sat on my lap for the next 20 minutes until it crawled off. I was not touching it after that.

    In my defense, I had no idea why it opened its mouth and wtf it was thinking, didn't know jack about snakes back then. but looking back, yea it was just yawning.

    in my experience with all my ball pythons, they ball up as babies when their afraid, not bite like other snakes. which for us keepers makes them conviently easy to pick up. really just pick em up, its a ball python and it most likly going to duck and move really fast to hide its head, not too many ball pythons bite. its gotta get used to you, just like i guess you need to get used to it lol.

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    Crawdad (10-23-2009)

  16. #9
    Registered User jjc's Avatar
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    Re: Handling my BP - Don't laugh!

    I'll 'fess up to being a big sissy about my snake, if it will make you feel any better. I know, in my head, that a baby BP can't really do anything remotely exciting to me. For the first few days (after we started handling him), my BF had to take him out of the cage because I was somehow always "busy" fiddling with his heat sources, washing his water bowl, etc. I would hold him after my BF picked him up, but I was convinced the BP would sense what a freak I was being and bite me if I tried to pick him up myself.

    If you think it will help, watch some SnakeBytes and other videos that show people getting bitten by snakes. If nothing else, you'll see that it's really not that big of a deal, even with snakes much larger than your baby BP. It helped me realize that, even if the little guy did bite me, it certainly wouldn't be as exciting as anything I'd imagined.

    It's also nice to watch the experienced herpers handling their BPs as casually as I'd handle a house cat. If you haven't taken him to the vet, that might help, too. I took him to the vet by myself (without the BF who has no worries about the little guy), and I was dreading the moment when the vet would ask me to take him out of his bag/box. I was terrified that I'd be the laughingstock of my exotic vet for buying a puny little BP and being too scared to even handle him. Luckily, the vet just grabbed him up, examined him (including opening his mouth and probing him), carried him all over the clinic for various things, and pretty much did whatever he wanted with Simon. This was a guy who knew nothing about this particular snake's temperament, and I'd been observing him for close to a month and had no reason to believe he had an aggressive bone in his body.

    I've been bitten by dogs, cats, ferrets, rats, guinea pigs, horses, cows, chickens, parrots, rabbits, and stomped/kicked/scratched by a good number of them, as well. I've worked in shelters and a vet hospital. I've sustained broken bones with the horse thing. There's absolutely no reason I should be worried about a snake.

    Like you, I've never had a problem handling snakes that were *handed* to me.

    At this point, I've gotten much more confident with picking him up and can't wait to get another snake. I'm also halfway looking forward to getting bitten by ANY snake, just to get past that particular hurdle.

    I agree with the poster who said to just slap on some gloves and grab him, if it will get you over the hump.
    Jen C.
    1.0.0 Ball Python (normal) - Simon
    0.2.0 Cats
    1.1.0 Ferrets
    2.0.0 Rats - Stan, the feeder rat I bought when I spent too much time staring into the rat enclosure while waiting for someone to bring me my f/t rat pups - and Oscar, the other feeder rat I later bought to keep Stan company

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    Crawdad (10-23-2009)

  18. #10
    BPnet Senior Member FatBoy's Avatar
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    Re: Handling my BP - Don't laugh!

    Quote Originally Posted by Crawdad View Post
    Now, I know how silly that sounds. I'm a 6'5" 350lb man, and this little snake is seriously about as thick as my thumb.
    6'3 330lbs here my friend...you need to come over and join our crew!!!!!!

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