I bought an albino male burm on Craigslist last summer. He would not feed on FT for a while but I eventually got him switched. He is really small for his age, probably 2 to 3 feet long, but body condition looks good, he is thick and full looking in my opinion. So I don't know why he's so small.

Anyway. He's the only snake who's ever bitten me, and he bit me the first time I held him. For a while, I was trying to just pick him up or touch him once a day, and it seemed to help a teeny bit, but I'm just not seeing much progress. He tenses up when I go to pick up, then will freak out and trash around to get out of my hands. He has not successfully bitten since day one, but has struck, and even last time was striking at the cage walls. I feed a small or medium rat once every 7 days.

What can I do with this guy to get him to come around? Is there hope of that? I'm a little worried about managing him when he's grown.

Just went to hold him to take a picture. Today, he was nervous, but let me pick him up and he stayed pretty still and calm, then I placed him back in his cage before it had been long enough to start making him freak out. I always try to make the handling end on a good note. This was a good day for him. Other days, he can be a different beast. None of my other snakes have such a varying mood. My retic is absolutely wonderful.