Fear

[pavy]

Ok i have a question, back when i was buying my first ball python i read up loads on them and went to quite alot of pet stores and asked loads of questions. A couple of people and i think i remember reading somewhere that ball pythons can sense fear and my take advantage over it. Just wondered if anyone knows for sure or has heard this before?

[Adam_Wysocki]

That is not something specific to ball pythons, but to all animals ... dominance, submission, fear, aggression, etc ... a dominant animal will capitalize on fear, but a submissive animal will not ... it really just depends on the snake ... but in the end, they are just ball pythons ... hermit crab bites hurt worse ... no biggie.

-adam

[West Coast Jungle]

That is not something specific to ball pythons, but to all animals ... dominance, submission, fear, aggression, etc ... a dominant animal will capitalize on fear, but a submissive animal will not ... it really just depends on the snake ... but in the end, they are just ball pythons ... hermit crab bites hurt worse ... no biggie.

-adam

You've beeb bitten by a hermit crab?

[pavy]

Yeah i know hes not bit me yet i know it will happen one day and i don't worry about it, just the last couple of times i handled him i touched his tail and he hissed at me i think it was hissing it was like a release of air and he flinched his tail away i think because he;s getting bigger and being handled more he;s becoming less scared of me and letting me know about it ha ha

[Adam_Wysocki]

You've beeb bitten by a hermit crab?

I get bit by EVERYTHING. My ADHD usually guarantees that I am looking at or doing something else while I'm handling an animal that is ticked off at me ... I'm used to it.

The hermit grab bite came from trying to dig a small toy gun out of his shell ... my son felt the need to give the hermit crab a weapon and apparently the crab was hell bent on keeping it.

-adam

[Adam_Wysocki]

Yeah i know hes not bit me yet i know it will happen one day and i don't worry about it, just the last couple of times i handled him i touched his tail and he hissed at me i think it was hissing it was like a release of air and he flinched his tail away i think because he;s getting bigger and being handled more he;s becoming less scared of me and letting me know about it ha ha

He's a big bluffer (much like Jamie who is a big fluffer) ... OWN your animal, don't let him own you.

-adam

[frankykeno]

You and my husband Mike! I swear Adam, Mike has been bitten by anything that can bite (and if they don't have teeth they'd likely try to aggressively gum him to death LOL). Odd because like you, he loves creatures but funny enough has ADD so maybe it's just the inattention thing at work with him too.

Mike's list of bites that I can remember right now....various snakes, goat, horse, dog, cat, turkey (yes his mother had pet turkeys...geesh who keeps pet turkeys and also sends them in for very expensive foot surgery!)...I'm sure the list is much longer than this.

Pavy, the fact is this is a snake and it's going to at some point hiss, strike, nip, bite, coil, flinch, slither, etc. etc. It's just being a snake and that's just part of the joys of living with them.

[Pork Chops N' Corn Bread]

turkey (yes his mother had pet turkeys...geesh who keeps pet turkeys and also sends them in for very expensive foot surgery!)

Turky are like dogs, they only bit when you touch their private parts.

[daniel1983]

It has been my experience that snakes hiss when they are disturbed in order to 'warn away' potential threats. IMHO.....Hissing is more like a snake's way of saying "I am scared....if you keep doing what your doing, I am going to strike"

Out of all the wild and captive animals I have encountered.....I have never had a snake hiss trying to 'be dominant' over me.

One of my ball python hisses and tucks his head everytime it sees me. One of my females will hiss and stike if I get any closer. One of my rainbow boas bites me with no warning at all. One of my Children's pythons strikes randomly if it even sees movement.

....all animals are different and give you different kind of 'signs'. You just have to learn to read the 'signs' that they give you and interpret just why they are doing it.

[Ginevive]

Eh, fear should never be an issue when working with any animal. Wariness, respect, and constant paying-attention are helpful, fear is not. Fear causes you to become tense and jittery, and this in turn can make any snake you're handling or working with, to be startled as well. Not that I think they are smart enough to think "oh, she's scared! I'm gonna bite her!" But when driving a car.. riding a horse.. doing anything really, fear makes you nervous, and nervoueness can get you hurt.
On aside note: ever get bitten (or pinched!) by a crayfish? OWCH..!