Vik absolutely positively hates me.

I don't have any youngsters right now. I had one female that was prone to striking defesively. She'd hiss (a lot) and strike at me (occassionally). It took almost 2-3 months of establishing a routine to get her to calm down. She hasnt' struck at me in almost 6 months and only lets out a hiss every now and then.

Another thing you may want to try is to just open the cage and light stroke her for a minute or two. Wait until the hissing and striking has died down, because I believe that pulling your hand out while she's making her show for you is just reinforcing that her behavior works. If you're intimidated you may want to consider gloves for awhile, if that would make you more comfortable. Just a couple more suggestions.

i suggest you do what i'm doing right now with a kingsnake who's being snappy. crumple some newspaper and fill the entire tank with it. this will allow him to feel much more safe.

once a week remove one piece of newspaper and over the next few months slowly the tank will empty.

works GREAT!

Assuming Vik is a young BP and even if he isn't, he's new to you and new to all the smells and vibrations of your home. Striking at you is absolutely normal in this circumstance and I think if you look at it this way, you'll accept it for what it is. Just a stressed, possibly quite young snake that is pretty sure the big warm mammal thing likely wants to eat him. Purely a defensive, survival mechanism and something that most snakes get past (some don't but BPs generally are pretty laid back).

Try Aleesha's idea of the newspaper in the tank. It's not pretty but it's a proven trick to settling in a nervy snake.

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e2...ickTopView.jpg

We got an adult female BP awhile back who was incredibly aggressive, the pet store employees were afraid of her and she was a big girl. We did the newspaper trick and just fed her and left her be basically for weeks. Then we would get the gloves on and just remove her gently but firmly, keep her out for a few minutes only then put her back in....over and over again...until she finally got it through her basic brain that we weren't actually a danger to her and there was no need to constantly try to bite us. Eventually we could have her out for longer periods and these days small children can handle Brannagh.

We do have a routine with all the snakes. When it's time to be handled we gently stroke their body down the last half (not hear the head) before we lift them, every time. They seem to recognize that this routine means they are coming out as we don't do this when we are just cleaning tubs. They have another routine that we do on feeding days. BPs are creatures of habit and simple routines seem to make them feel less stressed and less likely to strike out. The fact is though that some snakes are more reactive and even the calmest snake will occasionally jab at you for who knows what reason, just being a snake I guess. :)

Thanks a lot for the great advice. It makes me so happy to know that there's still hope for my guy, and that I'm not too late. I'm going to do the newspaper thing along with getting him a bigger meal. Frankykeno, what method do you use on feeding days?

Do any of you think Vik is a feed in another tank/location candidate? I know some of you believe in this and some don't.

also you might try this when you go into his cage go in with a water bottle if he strikes just touch the top of his head with the bottle and he should ball up them pick him up and handle him. Slow a first and for short periods working your way up in time. If your feeding f/t and hes going for your hand guess what. Your hand is warmer than the mouse so that what he goes for. Just remember this is a wild animal and a snake to boot so to him as a baby your trying to eat him (in his mind). Just work slow and keep it short at first I have a banded female that has bitten from day 1 this weekend I had my first bite/strike free handleing. good luck and I hope this helps.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Quadrophenia

Do any of you think Vik is a feed in another tank/location
candidate? I know some of you believe in this and some don't.

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No, I don't think feeding location has anything to do with his behavior. I would think moving him to a separate feeding location would only serve to stress him further.

I recently got a young new bp myself. He was born back in July.
When I got him home he was a hissing nippy fool, really amounts to what everyone said he is just scared.
Mine would strike at me every time I opened the tub or even if I was in front of the tub he would strike at me thru the tub.

I did what one suggested to you. I let him settle in for a couple weeks and during that time when I would open the tub to change the water I would speak very softly to him ( yeah I know they don't have ears ) and I would stoke his back side very lightly for a second or two. I would try to move very slowly and never over his head. After a few weeks I would handle him for a few mins every other day or so no matter how much he hissed. The trick is to let them know that hissing and striking is not gonna stop you from doing what you do.
Now he has settled in nicely and knows I am no threat to him. Now when I open his tub he climbs out and wants to hang on me and crawl up my hands and around my neck. But he still will ball up and get scared if when he is in his cage I move to quick around his head and face.

Just keep working with him and move slow and be gentle. I swear by the speaking softly and stroking them lightly everytime you open the cage. It has worked on both of my bp's.