Is there help for Sampson's shyness?

I don't know why he is so head shy, but when I try to gently pet his haad or atleast move my hand close enough to his head to slither on as I'm holding him, he won't have it, he coils up, and if I keep trying he'll puff up and hiss at me. Now, he's hissed at me before when trying to retrieve him from his cage (Mostly cause I wake him up or startle him some times), and that honestly doesn't scare me, but getting bit by his sharp teeth does scare me.

Although he's never bitten me, I'm afraid one day he might or even a veterinarian who may want to look inside of his mouth. You can't hold him still, you can't touch his head, Is there something I can do to try and help him get a little less head shy without making him feel so threatened? I honestly feel very bad for how he is acting, even though I know it's not my fault. He's not generally aggressive toward me, and I hope he's not suddenly starting to feel sore or ill or something.

Hi and welcome to the forum! :welcome:

Hello, and thank you. I joined two days ago. ^^

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Originally Posted by KayleighBrown

Hello, and thank you. I joined two days ago. ^^

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I dont know what can help with the head shyness other than alot of holding to gain confindence. All but 1 of mine are head shy. Good luck with it and I hope it works for ya.

Welcome

:)

To sum it all up about head shyness..."Its how they do"

Heres a link to a thread here that you can check out to give ya some insight.

http://ball-pythons.net/forums/showt...hyness-curable

That actually helped me out a lot, thanks for the link :)

From my experience they are all head shy. regular handling can build confidence but they are normally always head shy. i only have one thats not head shy and hes blind.

I only have 1 that is not completely head shy.. all of mine u can touch their heads but not like how you can with my pinstripe.. hes the most laid back snake ive ever seen... u can actually grab his head and move it and he just looks at u like do it again!!! and puts his head back into your hand.. but when my one snake had an RI, we went through and checked all the snakes mouths to make sure they didnt have the starting of the infection and we didnt even have to hold him behind his head.. we just took a wooden dowel thing and just opened his mouth and he didnt even care... hes a very special boy haha

I have one who is not head shy. The rest all are to varying degrees.

They're not fast, not aggressive, have no venom, and their bite is not particularly damaging. They're main defense to almost everything is curling up in a ball and hiding their head inside/under the ball. Being headshy is one of their most basic instincts. Overcoming it is not impossible, but by and large, being head shy is their default setting.