Re: It finally happened...he bit me.
frankykeno, agreed. Phleg has hissed at me a couple times but it's a soft sort of, "I'd rather be left alone today" hiss. More like he's telling me he'd rather be left alone than bothered, but nothing serious. He gets bothered anyway. lol But I've heard a... South American Boa (?) do that nasty deep loud hiss that's a serious warning.
Re: It finally happened...he bit me.
Yep when Saoirse hissed that deep hiss at me the hair on my arms literally stood up instinctively LOL. It was a definitive I mean business type hiss and I'd be a fool to ignore that warning. Doesn't mean I stopped cleaning her tub, just meant I needed to aware of her or just remove her to a carry container until I was done my work. Had I been intent on handling her though I would have probably just skipped it, just because I want to handle, doesn't mean I get to if it's going to stress a normally easy natured snake that much. With Brannagh, her aggressiveness had to be dealt with though. She was not even safe to change her water dish so in her case it was imperative that we get her to a point that any movement didn't trigger an aggressive strike/bite. Not just for us but for her too. I'm sure it's not good for a snake to be that constantly on alert and wasting energy like that.
Re: It finally happened...he bit me.
My baby Ball python hissed at me today when i went to pick it up so i left it alone, he body didn't tense up but i could tell he didn't want to be bothered. I plan on attempting to handle him again because i want to continue a good handling schedule.
Re: It finally happened...he bit me.
Mine hiss' at times and like Jo says, you can tell if you want to pick him up or not. Your the owner and know your snake better than anyone.
I can tell by the look in their eye if I want to reach in or not. The ones in the tubs are real easy but if you have to reach down into an aquarium its a little different. IMO.
I pick them up towards the middle to lower part of their body. This is how I pick them up from their feeder tubs too.
I've been bit once but not by a BP.
We have one male BP, George. He will get ya everytime is you don't watch him close. We use the hook to get him situated and once you pick him up he is fine.
Re: It finally happened...he bit me.
so, i'm not much of an expert here but one thing i noticed nobody mentioned is that if you pick up a bp too soon after feeding they tend to get pretty snippy. too much handling while they're digesting can lead to accidental regurgatation... and nobody wants that! especially the snake!
Re: It finally happened...he bit me.
Quote:
Originally Posted by python.princess
so, i'm not much of an expert here but one thing i noticed nobody mentioned is that if you pick up a bp too soon after feeding they tend to get pretty snippy. too much handling while they're digesting can lead to accidental regurgatation... and nobody wants that! especially the snake!
As far as handling after feeding goes, I always wait for a few minutes after my BP has the tail down, and starts moving on her own again. Then the only handeling that she gets is from the tub back to her enclosure, and I let her digest for ~36 hours. Other than that she gets handled the other 5 days of the week. Some people have problems with their snakes not eating if they handle them on feed days, but I've never had a problem with Isis. Once again, this is entirely dependant on the snake and his/her personality. I've heard of snakes that took a few hours to feed, alone, in the dark, and if you looked in to check on it, it completely restarted the process and took a few more hours to even strike at the prey.
And for the handling in general, I always make sure to stroke someplace that's behind her face to let her know that I'm about to pick her up.
