Nervous about handling my BP

Neither of my BP's have ever bitten me, but I always make sure that when I go to handle them that I move slow and don't put my hand near their heads at first.
I also make sure to let them know I am there before I go lifting up their hides.

Sometimes they shy away but they've never actually balled up on me or even struck at me.

I guess you just have to make sure not to scare the snake. I mean, if you saw a massive hand coming quickly towards your face what would you do? Lol.

Hope this helps!

How to get over an irrational fear.....if anyone had a quick answer to that it would change the world. A quick answer. Stop being afraid. Fight it out with yourself. "I am not afraid of a tiny animal with little teeth and no real desire to bite me. I handle far more dangerous animals like kittens and puppies with no problem. This is a completely irrational fear. The worst thing that can happen is I can get bit. The bite last time was not really that bad. I risk walking around my house when at any minute I might stub my toe, that hurts way more."

This fear is entirely in your head. The only way to battle it is in your head. You can try wearing gloves or using a hook. My instinct is that you will still feel nervous. The gloves and the hook won't help because your fear is in your head not in the cage.

Read your animal. Thats the best advice i can offer you. 98% of the time you can tell when a snake is going to bite you, or has the personality to bite (ESPECIALLY with bps). I find smaller snakes (baby anything, my solomon islands, corn snakes, young carpet pythons, etc) bite more often.

Read their body language. You can easily tell a relaxed snake from a tense, anxious one. If you cant? Spend more time observing your animal.

If you have to snap something out of feeding mode? I have a small snake hook i'll tap someone on the head with. This usually gets them out of it. If its not a feeding response? Go away and come back later. I've found that trying to handle snakes that are obviously stressed will result in a lot more bites and a lot more stress for the animal.

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Originally Posted by Egapal

How to get over an irrational fear.....if anyone had a quick answer to that it would change the world. A quick answer. Stop being afraid. Fight it out with yourself. "I am not afraid of a tiny animal with little teeth and no real desire to bite me. I handle far more dangerous animals like kittens and puppies with no problem. This is a completely irrational fear. The worst thing that can happen is I can get bit. The bite last time was not really that bad. I risk walking around my house when at any minute I might stub my toe, that hurts way more."

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I love this answer! Very helpful in my fears of snake bites.

I bought Reeses a month ago (my first snake). He normally dont move when i reach in to get him and within a minute of me holding him he relaxes..He feed 2 days ago and never really relaxed to digest since..Always watching every movement? is he still hungry? I feed a large hopper every 5-7 days.. Today he watches me really close and even follows my movements from his hide and even sticking just his head out to see around the corner..Am i just paranoid all the sudden? or is this a Feeding thing?

I've got two normals; one is a sweetheart the other one is um...well, she's a psycho. I have to be really careful getting her out of her tub, but once she's out she mellows out nicely. My advice is to just get back up on that horse or snake in this case. The more you do something the easier it gets. I'm sorry if this sounds too much like "Get over it." Good luck.

if you are using a tub, carefully lift the lid as this might startle your snake and be stressed about it. i have seen sasha get stressed about it and starts to ball and at times do the "S" position, which for me is a signal that she is scared. once you have opened the tub, look for the distal part and just hold it or pet it. that way the snake will get accustomed to being hold at. if it moves towards you get your hand out and try to reposition your snake (with a hook) and try holding again.

and like what others have mentioned, be calm and quiet, no quick movements. get the snake accustomed to you, your scent, and being pet then, given enough time, you can start by lifting her a few inches from the tub then eventually, getting it out of the tub.

good luck! :gj: