Hi all,

Greetings from the other side of the world Malaysia :-) . I acquired a 2 month old male BP yesterday. He seemed to be settling into his new home alright (he seems to enjoy his hide and last night he was busy checking out his cage - sniffing around the corners in particular. Earlier tonight I decided to pick him up. I noticed that as I stroked him (in the middle) he started to constrict and tension up. I was abut surprised but I continued to gently stroke him (although at times I did panic during the stroking session as he started to 'tightened' himself - was just afraid he would strike at me). Hedid move his upper body into an S curve shape. After a few minutes I picked him up and left him on my couch. He curled into a ball and I tried to stay behind his head so that I would not be struck at. Eventually he started to uncoil and began moving very fast on my couch. I admit I got kinda panicky so I quickly lifted him up and dropped him back. I moved him straight to his hide where he quickly went in and hid. That was about 45minutes ago. I just checked the cage and Elliot is out again sniffing his cage.

Any idea why he started moving very rapidly after uncoiling on my couch? It was quite nerve wrecking for me as this is my first time handling a snake on my own. I am usually more confident when people are around me but handling a snake when you're alone...kinda scary

Also when I picked him up after he started moving very rapidly I kinda just carried him rather fearfully back to his cage. Not sure if that added additional stress to him.