Stupid question - Do snakes have "bad days?"

[Spoons]

So I've had my ball for about a week and a day now - he's a little guy, only about 6 months old and small/underweight. All last week he was pretty great about handling, would curl up and hide at first and then poke out and start to slowly explore my hands. He would draw away from my touch a bit, but nothing extreme. I fed him Thursday, and today I went to take him out because I've got a larger cage I'm setting up for him. He was not letting it happen easily. He hissed at me and coiled back, when I touched him he jerked his whole body away from me and when I scooped him out he's SUPER twitchy and sensitive. He didn't ball up at all, he immediately started trying to make his way out of my hands. He's extremely reactive and will yank his head back if I move too fast or touch too close to his head.

I put him in the deli cup he came to me in for the duration of the cage switch (I have to move the stuff in the cage and the thermostat and stuff) and while I'm giving it 20 or so minutes to monitor the temp of the new UTH he's in there trying his best to get out, hissing when I touch it, etc. I know once he's out and in my hands he's not likely to actually bite (and if he did it wouldn't even hurt, he's tiny) but he is sure putting on quite the show.

I'm hoping he's just having a bad day. Is that a thing with snakes? Maybe that's a dumb question, I want to say yes, but he's still new to me and I miss the calm (if timid) snake I had last week! And I can't decide if I should hold him until he's calmer before putting him away in the new cage (reinforce the "I'm not going to eat you" thing) or put him away and let him calm down until tomorrow (the option I'm leaning towards).

[Cowtipper]

Yes they do. They will, in a way, let you know when they are having one of those days; nothing to worry about.

[bcr229]

Well look at it from his point of view. He got moved to somewhere new just over a week ago, and was just starting to settle in and feel comfortable in his cozy little home after having a meal and a few days to digest, when Godzilla came along, scooped him up, and put him down somewhere else. Yeah he's going to be cranky.

I would leave him alone, except for spot cleaning and changing his water, until after he eats again and has a few days to digest his meal so he has time to acclimate to his new home.

[Spoons]

Very true. i try to be gentle and slow and rub his sides a bit and not just pull him out, but it's still probably very startling to have your nice hidey cave suddenly disappear and a hand bigger than you reach in.

His new tank, at least, is much better suited for him and being bigger the ceramic heater heats it to the perfect temps rather than too hot. The new UTH works better too. So I hope he is content. I'll leave him be for a while.

[auhsojnacnud]

Yeah, my snake has those days. Sitting in his hide, with 6, 7, maybe even 8 empty bottle of beer laying on the floor. He stares blankly at his tv, watching whatever tv show comes on next. Hasn't shaved in weeks.

Im kidding. but honestly, my snake has never shown aggression towards me. I think it would be neat to hear it hiss.

[Karokash]

I'm not experienced enough to give advice but it does sound like he's just a little nervous. He's still a new snake to you and has had a lot of big changes plus he just ate so it makes sense that he'd be edgy but the fact he hasn't actually bit you and is just acting antsy is a good sign. Just keep his area kept up and let him adjust and i'd imagine he'll be right as rain in a week or so. Side note: is that the snake in question as your avatar photo?

[Spoons]

I'm not experienced enough to give advice but it does sound like he's just a little nervous. He's still a new snake to you and has had a lot of big changes plus he just ate so it makes sense that he'd be edgy but the fact he hasn't actually bit you and is just acting antsy is a good sign. Just keep his area kept up and let him adjust and i'd imagine he'll be right as rain in a week or so. Side note: is that the snake in question as your avatar photo?

Yes, he is, caught a photo of him as he went to drink last week. I'm just going to let him be, maybe try seeing how he's doing tomorrow evening (He gets fed Tuesday, and I'd like to weigh him beforehand.) He's still crabby, I went to check the thermostat just now and he coiled up and raised his head at my arm next to the cage, in that "S" shape and coiled tight as a spring. Usually he sees my movement and retreats to hide!

Another maybe silly question. Are snakes like other animals in the sense that when you're teaching them to accept handling, if you go long periods of time without handling they'll go backwards in their progress? Like if I leave him for a week and don't touch him at all save for feeding, will he get even more timid? My parakeets I used to own were like that, if I went a few days without touching them they would be more afraid of me when I came back to handling than they were when I stopped.

[Karokash]

In that case he has a cute face

From what I've heard you can over-handle snakes so people tend to think they should just be left so they don't become overly stressed and have their health suffer for it. However the more I read (a large portion of it from this site) I hear often that it's only partially true. They are timid and shy so they can definitely be over-handled to the point of stress related health issues but on the same coin, if you plan to have a snake you want to handle, establishing contact with them on a regular basis is necessary. It's simply that snakes, BP's especially, just require that regular basis to be a little more spread out. I've heard ranges from once a week to 10-15 minutes a night (nocturnal) to be safe for teaching him to respond well to handling. All that is simply to say that I believe your way of thinking is correct in that, like any animal that you train to let you handle them, the longer the snake goes without being familiarized with you, the more hesitant he will become of letting you touch or come near him. In my mind, it's a simple matter of progressive disassociation. Familiarity requires attention. Just don't overdo it

But all this is coming from a green owner, as previously stated I do not have extensive experience. I'm just speaking from my own opinions.

[Spoons]

He was SO MUCH BETTER today. I popped off his hide and he curled up a bit, but the moment I picked him up started cruising around in a non-stressed out manner, checking stuff out. Totally relaxed and curious. Not tense at all. Definitely an improvement over yesterday, I got to get my weight on him and generally socialize. I put my hand in the tank to let him crawl down into his hide and he actually turned and went back up my arm, so I take that as a plus.

[TheSnakeEye]

Mine are cranky when they don't get their morning coffee.