Biter

Does anyone out there know a way to get my boy Cain to calm down? He's struck at me like 4 times in the 2 months that I've had him. He actually tagged my father in-law (that was his own fault, stuck his hand in after a feeding). The first he struck at me he was really hungry. The last couple of times have just been for no apparent reason. Is there any "correct" way to pick him up and out of his cage. I try to handle him as much as possible but lately I don't want to get tagged.

Owning a snake? You're going to get tagged. Some are that way as a personality. If you act timid and slow when U reach in, they'll sense it and nail you.


If you're really concerned w/getting bitten, you can wear light gardening gloves when you go to pick him up.

Some ppl (no personal experience here) have used their old shirts/ball caps (something w/their body smell) in the cage with the snake to get the critter used to the human's scent.

Doing the same routine over and over will help. Grabbing them behind the head, from down low (most predators attack from above) can help.

"Announcing" that you're there so the snake isn't startled into attacking for protection is good. When I'm unlatching the tub, I start by scratching along the lid a couple of times to announce myself.

Being consistant is very important. Establish a routine and do it the same way will be better for your snake.

Felix would try to tag me 3-4x each time I got him out. But the more I handled him and as he got older, he calmed down a lot. Just keep in mind that not all snakes will settle down; it's their personality to be a miffy fit snake.

Good luck!

:)

I personally believe everything with snake's is husbandry based to some degree so I always say start there. Make absolutely sure his home is perfect for him so he can feel safe and secure there. Make sure he's well fed (not over or under fed) and fed consistently so you both develop routines. Have one routine for feeding, another one completely differently that indicates to the snake that he is about to be handled and need not react poorly to that or feel highly defensive. Snakes can recognize simple routines if they are done over and over again.

Will this mean you'll never get hissed at, struck at or even nipped....not on your life...it's a snake after all but it can cut down the chances of it happening. We've got 15 snakes and I've been bitten once. That was by a snake that we were rehabbing and she was highly aggressive at the time, so it was completely expected that we would take some bites. I've been hissed at, jabbed at a lot though and 99.9% of the time it's because of something I did or didn't do that triggered it.

There are also a percentage of snakes that will just never adjust to human interactions no matter what you do.