the snake/human relationship

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Originally Posted by dr del

Hi,


Just wanted to add my :2cent: about the handling responses thing.:)

The pet shop I buy my frozen rats at had 3 medium sized ball pythons in last week so I asked if I could see them as they were all marked as female.

The new employee didn't want tot ake any of them out as all three were "vicious" and "bit at every oportunity". Naturally I told him it was ok and I didn't mind being bitten that much.

All three of them handled like sweethearts, they were in horrible conditions with retained sheds etc and not one had had a recent meal, but personality wise they all moved freely with little body tension and as long as you took head shyness into account they showed no sign of stress.

So my question is;

When we say they react differently when "we" hold them is it because they recognise us or is it because we know how to handle them without causing extra stress?

Oh and when I gave one of the snakes back to the store employee it did indeed bite him. :twisted:

The shop in question is really quite good so I'm sure they will sort the snakes out fairly quickly. Though I'm not sure that employee will last the course.:D



dr del

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maybe the employee handled some rodents

Hi,


Wouldn't surprise me - he didn't seem the sharpest tool in the box.


dr del

The only one of ours that ever got a firm, right behind the head hold was Brannagh when we first got her. For her it was completely necessary to keep us safe from her strong bites and to keep her from the repeating of the bite action that she had developed as a response to humans. At the time she was 2,000 grams and highly aggressive/defensive, so controlling her was imperative. Normally we avoid that sort of handling as it tends to freak a snake out but sometimes with some snakes, it must be safety first.

I've only ever held right behind the head except for inspection, meds, etc. But when I'm getting my JCP out of the cage, I've noticed that if I touch him initially on the body he jumps and starts doing all this in-place coiling that reminds me of a rattlesnake. However, if I grab his neck about 5 inches down from his head he doesn't jump at all. Then I can place my second hand to support his body to lift him out. Also, he is much easier to "steer" during handling when grab him at this point. It seems like there's something special about the mid-neck on a snake. My BP seems to like being gently pet there too.