Newbie - Reassurance reqd

[Tonka]

HI Everyone,

We have recently bought a Royal Python , it ate its first meal on Thursday evening which was great , hopefully its means its happy and settling in well.
However since then he has stayed in his hide and has not moved , i have handled him in the past with no problem but when i went to check on him this morning to see if he was ok he went for me. Actually quite aggressively , i suppose he just wants to be left alone. Any thoughts??

[Adam_Wysocki]

i suppose he just wants to be left alone.

Exactly.

-adam

[Tonka]

That was quick , thanks for that , i feel a lot happier

[Tonka]

Stayed in his hide for nearly a week , I saw him wandering around and tried to feed him , struck at ME half a dozen times before my wife took over and he took the pup first shot , the little sod hates me!!! Whats the best approach to handling him again without getting bit , suggestions welcome.

Thanks in advance

Denn

[iceman25]

If your husbandry is correct and you've given him plenty of time to get accustomed to his environment, you can start to handle him with gloves(snake handling gloves) for about ten minutes a day, except on feeding/digesting days.
Hope this helps some

P.S How did you try to feed him(Hemostats or hand) and are you feeding in the same enclosure? Are you feeding live or FT/prekilled?

[Adam_Wysocki]

If your husbandry is correct and you've given him plenty of time to get accustomed to his environment, you can start to handle him with gloves(snake handling gloves) for about ten minutes a day, except on feeding/digesting days.
Hope this helps some

P.S How did you try to feed him(Hemostats or hand) and are you feeding in the same enclosure? Are you feeding live or FT/prekilled?

Gloves??? For a ball python? ... LOL ... too funny!!!

Feeding in the same enclosure does not make a difference when it comes to an aggressive snake. It's all about the stress ... give your snake time to settle in and feel secure and it will calm down.

-adam

[Schlyne]

Btw, sometimes you've got to just let them bite you once. Once they realize you're going to do stuff with them anyway, some will stop. (This has not happened with my ball, I had to do with with my male IJCP, and I'd already had him in a cage full of crumpled up newspaper for three weeks.)

[iceman25]

Gloves??? For a ball python? ... LOL ... too funny!!!

Feeding in the same enclosure does not make a difference when it comes to an aggressive snake. It's all about the stress ... give your snake time to settle in and feel secure and it will calm down.

-adam

I do not use gloves myself and I've been bitten plenty of times. However when I give advice on the subject of handling, I always recomend that people wear gloves Plus, he did specifically say that he did not want to be bitten

Adam, I used to think that feeding outside the enclosure was the "right" thing to do and pretty much held it as gospel truth till an experienced keeper like you said otherwise. Can you please elaborate on the subject a little more when you get sometime?

[alexrls]

im no where near as experienced as adam and i only have one snake but i my experience i have NEVER had a successfull feeding outside his tank

sometimes when he's cranky enough he wont eat if ive taken a hide or the water dish out of his tank

[Tonka]

Thanks for all your helpful replies , In reply to Icemans questions I use hemostats with f/t rat pups and I feed in the same enclosure , I guess he needs to settle in a bit more.

I would like to thank you all for replying and for your advice , I only hope I dont ask too many questions , just want to be a good Dad to Ozzy. LOL

Thanks again.

Will post pics of his set up and of Ozzy when I can