New Scrub - Very Frightened / Nervous

Great, I hope that works for you! No idea why I didn’t think of it[emoji23] My boy eats almost
Exclusively chicks and quail. Not because he is picky, but because my dunerils is. And he LOOOOOVES quail


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Originally Posted by Team Slytherin

Great, I hope that works for you! No idea why I didn’t think of it[emoji23] My boy eats almost
Exclusively chicks and quail. Not because he is picky, but because my dunerils is. And he LOOOOOVES quail


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Yea, make sense. They're probably eating more birds in the wild than anything else.

Where do you get your quail? The exotic pet store doesn't have any, so I'm not sure. May order online. Shipping is expensive though.

I usually order through Layne Labs. But most companies that ship rodents do birds as well. Or you could try a feed store?

SUCCESS!!! SHE ATE!!! SHE ATE!!!

The exotic pet store I go to had frozen chicks, so I got one today. I did a dance in the tub, but she didnt go for it, so I left it, and about 15 minutes later I checked the camera, and she was eating it! She was swallowing it from the side, so she had a little trouble, but it worked out.


https://ball-pythons.net/forums/cach...om/UgQQrZo.jpg

:gj: I'm very happy for you! :dance: I know how good this feels!

That's great! Chicks are my go-to for picky pythons and boas (except ball pythons go figure). Fortunately I have friends who raise free-range chickens and they are happy to keep me supplied with their culls.

Glad to see she ate for you!

Yeaaaaaaaaahhhhhh!!!

That's great news! They all eat eventually. Hopefully now that she's eaten she won't look back. Congrats!

Ate again. Smooth sailing from here? Knock on wood.

https://youtu.be/IUOOdtyD0Ck

SWEET! :gj: Now you know what she wants.

Ate again. Going to start handling this week probably. She's not gonna like it.

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Originally Posted by wnateg

Ate again. Going to start handling this week probably. She's not gonna like it.

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Think positive...;)

You might be surprised. She’ll likely be defensive in the enclosure, so I’d definitely use a hook...but once she is out, she’ll probably calm right down. You have some serious discipline that you’ve been able to keep your paws off her so far!! Definitely the best choice for the animal, but I am the worst I know...

I'm glad she's picking up the pace on her feedings. Once they get started there's usually no looking back. You're probably right that she won't like being handled but she'll be fine and hopefully she'll tolerate it well. I strongly agree with using a hook. I also use a gloved hand to remove my scrub from his enclosure and then remove the glove once he calms down. It usually only takes a couple of minutes. He hardly bites anymore but he does still musk about half the time. Sounds like things are getting better for you two. 🙂

Handling went well enough. She was crazy and fast, but she calmed down a little bit. I was covered in pee afterwards though.

This is also the first time I've held her. And man, she is pretty. So much iridescence.

https://i.imgur.com/9FyeGRd.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/8YZfxRg.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/POalHgW.jpg

You probably know all this but when I get them out I sit down as soon as possible on a comfy chair or sofa / settee .. then let them rest on my lap and explore the immediate surrounding area whilst always having a hand on them ..

I just see so many on YouTube walking around and not actually supporting the snake well enough which makes the snakes understandably nervous and jerky


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What a beauty! I'm a big fan of the scrubs. I almost went for one over the Dwarf X SD retic I ended up with.

I hope things continue to go in the right direction for you.

You may want to try a branch or wooden dowel for handling. Scrubs are very arboreal and I'd be surprised if your critter would shun some type of perch.

When younger, my retic did really well with a branch or a dowel. They can wrap up and support themselves on it but they have the option to climb around on you and got back to the branch.

This photo shows Wallace a bit older. I would often take him out and then put the dowel into the back of a chair and let him hang out.
https://i.imgur.com/P0VEDTN.jpg

Very early on, this was the way I'd handle him.
https://i.imgur.com/wQmlNjj.jpg

It seems to add a sense of security for them when out of the enclosure.
https://i.imgur.com/Al6ehuK.jpg.


Obviously once they grow and put on weight, this strategy becomes less practical.

She looks great W. Get used to the musking :). You're so right about their iridescence. Wait until you get her outside in some natural sunlight. She's bigger than I originally thought. She could easily handle medium rats but I'd only feed those biweekly. With her size I'd respectfully disagree with Zinc and Gio just a little. There's no way I'd try to sit down and handle my scrub. They move too fast, they have a very long strike range, and they can be unpredictable. You have to constantly move with them to make sure you're keeping the pointy end away from your face at all times. I prefer to keep both hands on mine or to have him wrapped around one of my arms. I used to use a perch to handle Klauss when he was smaller but now that he's close to 6ft he's gets heavy quickly and he also likes to strike from a perched position so it becomes another fight. I let him rest on our bird feeder to get pics and approaching and removing him was a challenge. I'm glad your first handling session went fairly well. It should get better. I very rarely get tagged anymore and I only get musked about half the time.

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Originally Posted by EL-Ziggy

She looks great W. Get used to the musking :). You're so right about their iridescence. Wait until you get her outside in some natural sunlight. She's bigger than I originally thought. She could easily handle medium rats but I'd only feed those biweekly. With her size I'd respectfully disagree with Zinc and Gio just a little. There's no way I'd try to sit down and handle my scrub. They move too fast, they have a very long strike range, and they can be unpredictable. You have to constantly move with them to make sure you're keeping the pointy end away from your face at all times. I prefer to keep both hands on mine or to have him wrapped around one of my arms. I used to use a perch to handle Klauss when he was smaller but now that he's close to 6ft he's gets heavy quickly and he also likes to strike from a perched position so it becomes another fight. I let him rest on our bird feeder to get pics and approaching and removing him was a challenge. I'm glad your first handling session went fairly well. It should get better. I very rarely get tagged anymore and I only get musked about half the time.

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Yes, she's very, very long. I've seen her laid out across her 3ft tub twice length-wise, and her shed was 8.5+ ft long. Skinny though.

And yes, I was about to comment the same thing. There would've been no way to handle her effectively if I was sitting down. The entire time she was trying to dart away at the speed of light or turn back around on me. She wrapped around my arm, and that let me keep her front end in check. Good suggestions for the future maybe, but shes too flighty right now.

So, so much faster than I would've thought.

Zig I think you may have misunderstood my post. I would not sit with Wallace and free handle him. Anything two
Handed was the same as what you recommended.

The perch often alleviates you having to use 2 hands and shifts the behavior to focusing on the perch a bit more. It is not a part of you and often they secure themselves to it and seem less stressed than being fully handled.

It is also easy to direct the perch away from your body and face.

I’m in full agreement with you on moving while free handling them.
Mine only wants to run now and he’s a speedster 😂

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Originally Posted by EL-Ziggy

I'd respectfully disagree with Zinc and Gio just a little. There's no way I'd try to sit down and handle my scrub. They move too fast, they have a very long strike range, and they can be unpredictable. You have to constantly move with them to make sure you're keeping the pointy end away from your face at all times. I prefer to keep both hands on mine or to have him wrapped around one of my arms. I used to use a perch to handle Klauss when he was smaller but now that he's close to 6ft he's gets heavy quickly and he also likes to strike from a perched position so it becomes another fight. I let him rest on our bird feeder to get pics and approaching and removing him was a challenge. I'm glad your first handling session went fairly well. It should get better. I very rarely get tagged anymore and I only get musked about half the time.

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That’s fine :)

I’ve never handled a scrub python so maybe I shouldn’t have commented .. it’s just something I’ve done over the years with nervous Royals and young Burms and Retics ..they just seemed so much calmer when they felt secure ..


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Yay! Glad to see your first handling sessions went well! This is a super fun species to handle - they definitely keep you on your toes 😉 Luckily, she’s long enough that she’ll easily be able to wrap around your arm (or whatever is nearby) for security and have many feet of body left for exploring! The bright side is, you don’t have long hair for her to pull and tangle herself in. Sounds ridiculous, but really is the worst part of handling a kraken like that! And mines not even close to 8ft.

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Originally Posted by Team Slytherin

Yay! Glad to see your first handling sessions went well! This is a super fun species to handle - they definitely keep you on your toes 😉 Luckily, she’s long enough that she’ll easily be able to wrap around your arm (or whatever is nearby) for security and have many feet of body left for exploring! The bright side is, you don’t have long hair for her to pull and tangle herself in. Sounds ridiculous, but really is the worst part of handling a kraken like that! And mines not even close to 8ft.

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Definitely a bright side, as my ETB loves to get up close and personal, but not sure I'll let this girl do that for a long while.

https://i.imgur.com/3qOXpnr.jpg

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Originally Posted by Team Slytherin

Yay! ...The bright side is, you don’t have long hair for her to pull and tangle herself in. Sounds ridiculous, but really is the worst part of handling a kraken like that! And mines not even close to 8ft.

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:rofl: No scrubs here but I can sure relate to the hazards of long hair! It truly doesn't take very much for a snake to tie hair into knots & then pull...:O

When my guy did get a little older and acclimated, I was able to handle him easily. They become too heavy for a branch at a certain point.
https://i.imgur.com/ldb0YAO.jpg

Things changed significantly since this photo. I was bitten again January of 2019.
https://i.imgur.com/LjX3PAR.jpg
He hit bone with this bite and it was only a fraction of a second.

Cleaned up version.
https://i.imgur.com/Vj0YgZK.jpg

I imagine a scrub would have a similar type of bite.

Mine is now 9 feet long and very strong. I don't let him close to my neck any longer. He can strike out of his cage roughly 4 feet if he chooses.

I think when Zincubus was talking about sitting with the snake, he was probably thinking about size. I agree when these guys get larger, having some of their body settled on something is not a bad idea.

This guy is much larger than your scrub here, you can see he wrapped my leg, much like a branch. He used it as an anchor and explored with the rest of his body. He grew a lot between 2.5 and 3 years surprisingly.
https://i.imgur.com/XliSNRV.jpg

I'm decent sized and in good shape, but I'd say he is about the maximum I care to handle alone.

Your scrub is bigger than I initially thought when I read this thread.

There are some decent gloves on the market if you are having real issues.

The musking is something I have also experienced. I actually had it straight into my mouth when pulling him out of the cage to show my daughter's friends.

Not one of the finer moments in my reptile handling career.

Keep working with yours and things may improve.

Males at maturity may swing the other way unfortunately.

That's a fairly gnarly looking bite. She has bitten me once due to a feeding mistake; it wasnt that bad, but she has some thickening up to do.

And luckily, she only went all over my socks, not my mouth haha

First off, while that looks like a nasty bite, GIO your boy is lookin’ fierce!

And yes, Bog! I finally had to resort to putting my hair up before handling sessions. At least then he looks like a cool hair accessory instead of a mutant making its nest in my hair. His scales are so weird that when he gets tangled, it damages them. They look like ruffled feathers or something...super strange. Fun fact, he just clocked in at 6 ft tonight!

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...f31188ec03.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...3c6d66f367.jpg


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Quote:

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Originally Posted by Team Slytherin

First off, while that looks like a nasty bite, GIO your boy is lookin’ fierce!

And yes, Bog! I finally had to resort to putting my hair up before handling sessions. At least then he looks like a cool hair accessory instead of a mutant making its nest in my hair. His scales are so weird that when he gets tangled, it damages them. They look like ruffled feathers or something...super strange. Fun fact, he just clocked in at 6 ft tonight!

https://ball-pythons.net/forums/cach...f31188ec03.jpghttps://ball-pythons.net/forums/cach...3c6d66f367.jpg


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That's exactly what my spotted python does to me! :rofl: And she is only about 3.5' but is she ever strong, & constricts like crazy. At least my other snakes would just
be "passing thru" but not her, oh no! I started to think she was going to be there permanently. :D

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Bogertophis

That's exactly what my spotted python does to me! :rofl: And she is only about 3.5' but is she ever strong, & constricts like crazy. At least my other snakes would just
be "passing thru" but not her, oh no! I started to think she was going to be there permanently. :D

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Hahaha it’s like they think they own us or something! Let’s be real; they do.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Team Slytherin

First off, while that looks like a nasty bite, GIO your boy is lookin’ fierce!

And yes, Bog! I finally had to resort to putting my hair up before handling sessions. At least then he looks like a cool hair accessory instead of a mutant making its nest in my hair. His scales are so weird that when he gets tangled, it damages them. They look like ruffled feathers or something...super strange. Fun fact, he just clocked in at 6 ft tonight!

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...f31188ec03.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...3c6d66f367.jpg


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I'd say I'm fairly brave, but not sure that's a situation I'd be comfortable with!

That is completely understandable. Luckily, he might be the tamest scrub on the planet and I have zero fear that he will bite me. As long as I am respectful, of course. When he doesn’t want to be messed with, he reminds me who’s boss and I leave him be ;) It’s a fair trade, since he lets me manhandle and badger the living hell out of him 90% of the time.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Team Slytherin

First off, while that looks like a nasty bite, GIO your boy is lookin’ fierce!

And yes, Bog! I finally had to resort to putting my hair up before handling sessions. At least then he looks like a cool hair accessory instead of a mutant making its nest in my hair. His scales are so weird that when he gets tangled, it damages them. They look like ruffled feathers or something...super strange. Fun fact, he just clocked in at 6 ft tonight!

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...f31188ec03.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...3c6d66f367.jpg


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You could double for Oona Chaplin

:)https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...a14ee8d792.jpg


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Quote:

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Originally Posted by Team Slytherin

First off, while that looks like a nasty bite, GIO your boy is lookin’ fierce!

And yes, Bog! I finally had to resort to putting my hair up before handling sessions. At least then he looks like a cool hair accessory instead of a mutant making its nest in my hair. His scales are so weird that when he gets tangled, it damages them. They look like ruffled feathers or something...super strange. Fun fact, he just clocked in at 6 ft tonight!

https://ball-pythons.net/forums/cach...f31188ec03.jpghttps://ball-pythons.net/forums/cach...3c6d66f367.jpg


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Quote:

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Originally Posted by wnateg

I'd say I'm fairly brave, but not sure that's a situation I'd be comfortable with!

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I'm with you on this one W. Slytherin is a bit more daring and trusting than I am when it comes to letting a scrub near her face and she's a lot prettier than me :) . I'm just not there yet and I'm not sure I ever will be. Every time my guy gets too close I have to redirect him.

I cant do this anymore.
https://ball-pythons.net/forums/cach...om/Xo1GJL2.jpg

Enter at your own risk.
https://ball-pythons.net/forums/cach...om/5gROjMa.jpg

He's getting better though.
https://ball-pythons.net/forums/cach...om/eauK4yS.jpg

New shed, havent measured it yet

https://ball-pythons.net/forums/cach...om/smMYgGh.jpg

She switched to quail just fine, right after her shed. It's kind of hard to see but shes yawning (or whatever it is) in the first picture

https://i.imgur.com/aCfbIIO.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/906rIN7.jpg

Decided it was time to give her enclosure a cleaning and weigh her, so I know the food size is right. She is 1040g.

https://i.imgur.com/XIfsdOq.jpg

Then I learned a very valuable lesson: you need a lot of space to handle a wild scrub python, because when it wants to get away, it will get away, faster than the speed of light.

https://i.imgur.com/N8cfh8u.jpg

Yeah, trying to weigh your scrub is a waste of time. I see you learned your lesson though. Just by looking at her I'd feed her mostly medium rats but she can easily eat a large rat. My male is about the same size.

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Originally Posted by EL-Ziggy

Yeah, trying to weigh your scrub is a waste of time. I see you learned your lesson though. Just by looking at her I'd feed her mostly medium rats but she can easily eat a large rat. My male is about the same size.

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Well the weighing went fine, it was afterwards when I was trying to handle that it became an issue. But yea, I was literally about to send you a message and asking what you recommend. I was thinking of maybe trying a medium rat + quail combo to see if she would take rat. She has been eating two quail weekly. I also have large quail on the way.

She still won't eat rats eh? Chain feeding a rat after a small quail might work. I'd thaw them together and hopefully the scenting will entice her to take the rodent. How much do the quail weigh?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by EL-Ziggy

She still won't eat rats eh? Chain feeding a rat after a small quail might work. I'd thaw them together and hopefully the scenting will entice her to take the rodent. How much do the quail weigh?

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Two of them were about 100g, so I think I'm underfeeding a bit. And I have large ones coming that are supposedly 100-150g. I haven't bothered to try a rat again, but I think it's worth a shot.

That reminds me of my loving, Wallace the retic in a smaller package.

I've never weighed him, and have never been able to measure him.

Nice looking bite there!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Gio

That reminds me of my loving, Wallace the retic in a smaller package.

I've never weighed him, and have never been able to measure him.

Nice looking bite there!

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Yea, not really making a habit out of it, but I had to clean her enclosure anyway, so I didn't really need to do anything special to weigh her. I've tried this http://serpwidgets.com/main/measure a couple times and I get anywhere in the 7' range. I think that's accurate because her skin is 9'.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by wnateg

Yea, not really making a habit out of it, but I had to clean her enclosure anyway, so I didn't really need to do anything special to weigh her. I've tried this http://serpwidgets.com/main/measure a couple times and I get anywhere in the 7' range. I think that's accurate because her skin is 9'.

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I have a measure app on my phone, but by the time I get it all set, he's on the move.

I'm guessing he's anywhere between 8 and 10 feet.

I'd say you are probably in the ballpark with your guess.

If she's 1040g then 100g of food is a decent meal for her but I would occasionally give her larger meals. I definitely think it's worth trying to get her on rats. It'll make things a lot easier as she grows. I'd try scenting and chain feeding for the next 2-3 offerings and then shut off the quail entirely. That should familiarize her with the new food source. Once she's eating rats consistently I'd start offering a diverse diet.

Chain feeding a small quail and medium rat worked perfectly. Seems like she took longer to find the food, not sure if coincidence or not, but it still worked.

One very big poop in her new enclosure.

https://ball-pythons.net/forums/cach...om/TZquTSQ.jpg

The chain feeding worked I guess. She just ate a large rat.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by wnateg

The chain feeding worked I guess. She just ate a large rat.

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Sounds like your girl is finally on track W. She should eat anything you throw at her now. Keep us posted. :)

She didnt eat the rat last week, despite her acting hungry. And she didnt eat the rat last night, so after a few hours, I threw in a small quail. But after checking this morning, she didnt eat either of them. What a pain.