Kira - Hypo Burmese Python Progression Thread

This is Kira (think keer-ah), my hypo burmese. She was produced by Matt at Peach State Pythons. She's almost 6 months old now. Her favorite things include, hissing at me while I change the water, debating on whether to strike me, turn her nose up at food and get mad when I put her back in the rack.

This is my first large python and have been working with her almost daily so I can take her out of the rack without trying to strike at me. I'm working on hook training as well to save my hands from getting tagged some more. Once she's out, she calms down a bit but I'm still keeping my guard up as I'm not sure what to expect.
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Nice looking little burm. I have heard baby burms are kind of pissy and hiss a lot but outgrow it with age. I say just suck it up and take the hits!! It's just a baby snake and unless its a finger, it probably cant open its mouth wide enough to latch onto your hand. Heck i got bit by my 6' sunglow when i did something stupid and even that didnt hurt. It did bruise up nicely and bled like a stuck pig but it was so quick and she let go so quick, i really didnt realize what happened until i saw blood lol.

I used a twisted paper towel on Caesar my SD retic when he was a baby as he would charge first and check to see if it was food second lol. Worked well as the hook did nothing but piss him off.

Nice! I love peach state pythons' hypos they have some extremely nice ones! congrats on the addition

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Originally Posted by Sauzo

Nice looking little burm. I have heard baby burms are kind of pissy and hiss a lot but outgrow it with age. I say just suck it up and take the hits!! It's just a baby snake and unless its a finger, it probably cant open its mouth wide enough to latch onto your hand. Heck i got bit by my 6' sunglow when i did something stupid and even that didnt hurt. It did bruise up nicely and bled like a stuck pig but it was so quick and she let go so quick, i really didnt realize what happened until i saw blood lol.

I used a twisted paper towel on Caesar my SD retic when he was a baby as he would charge first and check to see if it was food second lol. Worked well as the hook did nothing but piss him off.

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I might have to try the paper towel instead of a hook. She mostly gets mad when I go to pick her up and wants to strike at me. I would be all for continuing to take the hits if my hand weren't already torn up from her. Unfortunately, she's managed to latch on 3 or 4 times with the last being a not so pleasant lock on the space between my thumb and index finger. She's not big on letting go for some reason.

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Originally Posted by Dxw425

Nice! I love peach state pythons' hypos they have some extremely nice ones! congrats on the addition

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Thanks! She's a stunner. Now I just need her to stop being picky and eat.

Beautiful animal! On my wish list for sure, congrats. What you may want to consider is the DOMINATION METHOD as explained and shown by Justin Kobylka for defensive ball pythons. Holding the animal in your non dominant hand, cover and press down with a cupping form with your dominant hand over the animal's head and body. You don't need to use a lot of pressure at all but just enough to get the animal to withdraw a little. Several motions like this in a session can and will probably help over time. Look at it as a form of quality interaction with the animal that should help with the defensive striking. If the animal is too large for you to reasonably perform this, you may want to work it with a friend or family member using two hands to hold and support the animal. Justin does have a YOUTUBE video showing this with a very defensive ball python hatchling.

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Originally Posted by andrewross8705

I might have to try the paper towel instead of a hook. She mostly gets mad when I go to pick her up and wants to strike at me. I would be all for continuing to take the hits if my hand weren't already torn up from her. Unfortunately, she's managed to latch on 3 or 4 times with the last being a not so pleasant lock on the space between my thumb and index finger. She's not big on letting go for some reason.



Thanks! She's a stunner. Now I just need her to stop being picky and eat.

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Maybe she is hungry. Most defensive bites are a quick tag and then either retreat or fight some more lol.

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Originally Posted by Sauzo

Maybe she is hungry. Most defensive bites are a quick tag and then either retreat or fight some more lol.

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Then she should stop being a brat and eat when food is offered lol. She's really only defensive when I'm getting her out of the tub or trying to put her back in. She's mad I bring her out then she gets mad and has to go back in. She's special.

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Lol sounds like a typical burm.

Offered food to my picky BP who refused as usual so I offered it to Kiera just to see if she would eat. She's on rats but I didn't want to waste the mouse if I didn't have to. I've never had a snake strike as fast as her. In her excitement, she missed the body and got the tail. After releasing, she went for it again and this time went into the water bowl to start eating. She's a bit special it seems. https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...5525d8206c.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...a1407dd7d1.jpg

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She is so beautiful! Burms are by far my favorite type of large snake. Her pattern is beautiful and that little face. So precious yet so feisty - hehe.

Cannot wait to see more progression pics!


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