New Scrub - Very Frightened / Nervous

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

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

Quote:

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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.