Tips to help a BP become less head-shy?

one of my snakes is like that.. i usually just slowly pet her neck right before there head

Some are just by nature going to be this way, no matter how much you work with them. I have a gorgeous het clown female who jerks her head away all the time, and curls into a tight ball - I have no doubt, she's always going to be that way. The rest of my crew is pretty relaxed, but she's just VERY scared of anything near her head.

Wasn't much fun when she recently had a bad shed that I had to assist with. She fought me so hard to get into a tight ball when I was working removing shed from her neck behind her head that she bit her lip and freaked me out when there were a few drops of blood on my hand, and then I had to un-ball her again to examine her mouth to see that it was just something minor.

It breaks my heart that she's that frightened, but I try to respect her boundaries and not force her to become the snake I'd like her to be. There are times, like removing some stuck shed I have to make her more uncomfortable, but for the most part, I'll sit quietly with her for a bit and then just put her up. She is also a fabulous feeder. She's so extreme that she immediately balls up from a relaxed position the moment I open her tub.

Tips:

* Handle regularly as long as he/she is feeding well.
* You may touch the top part of the snake from about the shoulder area down, get them used to this... maybe even a slight stretch. Most of my snakes love to be stretched so much they will wrap their neck on one wrist & tail on the other for a stretch.
* Approach the head from UNDERNEATH and lightly rub the chin. I find more BPs like their chins rubbed, but work towards this- get them used to handling first & work up to chin rubs.

I have some that will willingly place their head in my hand for a rub- only a very few will tolerate me touching the tops of their heads. Respect their comfort zones & they will be more trusting of you. ;)

Mine doesnt mind if i touch her head from behind but she gets really jumpy if my hand is by her head and above it, so i just go from under her head when im tryin to get closer to her head.

Its natural with balls. Their instinct is to protect their heads, which is what they do when they ball up. Some grow out of it, some dont. You will just learn to handle around it.

Thanks again everyone :)

I re-setup his cage a couple days ago and he's been in and out of his hide. I was sort of worried and debated putting it back the way it was but just now I tried feeding him and BAM. One mouse down, several to go :D

We've had our youngster for nearly 4 months, and this week I stroked the top of his head for about a minute for the first time ever. He flinches easily, and I haven't even tried to have my hand in front of his face, but when approached from behind, i.e. not seeing my hand, he's OK with having the top of his head touched.

Interesting about rubbing their chins. I'll try to work up to that.

What is the wierd obsession with petting your snakes head?? For Christs sake if you wanna pet something on the head get a nice fluffy puppy dog or kitty cat!!!!!!!!!:rolleyes:

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Originally Posted by BiggBaddWolf

What is the wierd obsession with petting your snakes head?? For Christs sake if you wanna pet something on the head get a nice fluffy puppy dog or kitty cat!!!!!!!!!:rolleyes:

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I for one, do not pet my snake's head, fwiw. I'm only commenting on what I presumed was a question about the snake jerking away quickly when your hand comes near its head, during normal handling.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by BiggBaddWolf

What is the wierd obsession with petting your snakes head??

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Who says it's an obsession (other than you), and why the nastiness? The posts on this thread talk about helping a snake to develop trust in its handler and overcome that natural flinching. That'd be a good thing if ever you need to help remove stuck shed as already posted, give medication, etc.