How Dare He!!

[Benson_and_Hedges]

This evening i got the urge to take out Esteban and play with him but when i went to touch him he opened his mouth and started hissing.. really really loud. He looked as though he had no intention of striking but was obviously very agitated by me bothering him. He's never done anything remotely like this before. I'm just worried that now since he's in a 100% proper environment that his true side is coming out, and that he secretly is a jerk.

I know there's other hissing posts on this site, i read some but they all had different conclusions. Maybe he has to poo like this guy http://www.ball-pythons.net/forums/showthread.php?t=25928&highlight=hissing

Whatever it is i'm praying he gets over it..

[mr~python]

was he being kept to cool before?

[Benson_and_Hedges]

yes.. for the first week we had him in a 20 gal. Because that's all we could afford at the time and the temp. never went over 79 degrees. But since i got rid of the balls i was able to move him into the 55 gallon tank in my room and now the temp never drops below 81.


Also, the store that i got him from had him in a 15 gal. So yes, this is his first time being in a suitable cage.
I just noticed that his eyes are turning blue, though. Maybe that's why he's angry, 'cause he's shedding. I just touched him again and he's not hissing. So i guess he's feeling better now.

[mr~python]

i would think it's the shedding, but it could be because he finally got warm for the first time.

i saw on AP a burm that was neglected with NO heat at all was confiscatated and once it was in a suitable enclosure with proper heating it became aggressive.

[JLC]

i would think it's the shedding, but it could be because he finally got warm for the first time.

i saw on AP a burm that was neglected with NO heat at all was confiscatated and once it was in a suitable enclosure with proper heating it became aggressive.

Pure speculation on my part: Usually, people who can't/won't/don't supply the proper heat and husbandry for their snakes generally also don't handle them often enough or properly to "tame" them. (Using that word very loosely.) I would guess that the low temperatures keep the snake (like the burm in the story you saw) docile simply because it doesn't have the energy to be more actively defensive. Once it gets into the warm, proper environment, it now has the energy to be as defensive as it feels it needs to be...and given the apparent neglect it's been through, it's not the least bit surprising that it would behave that way.

So, I don't think it's the heating that caused the snake to become aggressive...more that the proper temperatures simply made it possible for the snake to behave how it would have anyhow.

In B&H's case, it sounds like the snake was just being "moody" because of an impending shed. No matter how docile a snake seems to be, they will always have the potential to suddenly become aggressive. We shouldn't ever forget that they are wild animals.

[mr~python]

you could be right on that one, thats just what it said on animal planet. aren't burms normally really docile though?

[Benson_and_Hedges]

yeah, i had an iguana before i ever had a snake. His name was Pippin and i got him from this weird shop down at the jersey shore. He was just a baby and would sit on my shoulder for hours. I thought he was just the sweetes thing. Then when we came back up to north jersey to go home i put him in a proper cage with a heat lamp, clean water, and lots and lots of fresh greens to eat. AND HE TURNED INTO THE BIGGEST jerk!!! I realized then that he wasn't just sweet he was just too weak and too undernourished to fight back. Poor guy. I had to give him away because he was way too aggressive.

Anyway, i recently took Esteban out and he seems fine. He was probably just cranky from me waking him up..

Thanks guys

[iceman25]

Lol, quit anthropomorphizing your snake and learn to recognize and love it for its true nature. If you think you do not have the capacity to do so, you might as well "get rid of it" and get something more mainstream. Hope I did not offend you too much, but that is my opinion based on what I've read so far and I'm sticking to it

[frankykeno]

He "dared" because he's a snake. Just like the iguana you bought without knowing what an iguana was, acted like....an iguana.

The simple fact of life is these are NOT domesticated animals...they are not trainable in any conventional sense...they do not bond emotionally or intellectually with humans....they are...snakes. They react like snakes and part of owning snakes is knowing them, understanding them, respecting them and adjusting to them. They are not going to adjust to you. They may adjust to captivity in order to survive but they are never, in my opinion, going to be a nice little well trained pet that won't give you any problems.

Even with the BCI we foster, as good natured as he is, we never for one minute forget that this is a large, extremely strong snake that has the ability to strike hard and fast. Is this his fault? Is he a "jerk" if he does this? Nope, as far as I'm concerned I'd be the jerk if I didn't recognize this, accept it and just deal with it. We understand this in order to be safe around Rauri and also give him an environment where we hopefully lessen his need to strike, still accepting it may happen and that's just Rauri being a snake.


~~Jo~~

[cassandra]

Great words Jo...=)

By the way, how are things at Camp Hiss-n-Slither? =)