Anyone ever have a baby do this?

[Lana's_mom]

Dumb question I know. I was changing out the water in my new pied's tank, and lifted the hide to just check on him. And noticed that his sides looked really pink, so I wanted to make sure that he wasn't burned or anything, the UTH is on a thermostat and I have a thermometer on the Mat too. So I picked him up and was looking to make sure everything was ok, and he struck at me so hard that he threw himself out of my hand and hit the shelf his tank is on, and than hit the floor, from about 3 and half feet off the ground. Will he be ok? I hadn't had a baby strike that hard before. He is a very defensive baby. Hoping with time and gentle handling he will calm down. Thanks for any input.

[Archimedes]

He probably just got overwhelmed. How long have you had him?

[Rickys_Reptiles]

He'll be fine.

[Annarose15]

He's going into shed. Since they have all that white, "pink belly" applies all over. My pied girl scared the bejesus out of me the first time I saw it! Explains why he's being testy, too.

[Lana's_mom]

I have had him a week, and have not been handling him except for cage cleaning. He has eaten once for me. I hadn't intended to handle him, but wanted to make sure the pink wasn't a problem, since he is normal solid white with no pink, and it was up on his side. I Normally don't handle new snakes other than cleaning until they eat 3 times.

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Thanks everyone

[Don]

I love it when they have that kind of response. Usually, those types are great feeders. Pieds, BELs and other white snakes will frequently show some pink when very young. When they are older, you will continue to see pink before they shed.