Approaching Tank

Quick Questions.

I have noticed that in the evening when Tanveer is out and about cruising, I easily startle him when I walk in front of/approach his tank. I have plenty of plants, the back and sides are covered etc... I don't approach quickly or rushed. He doesn't hiss or strike. He just flings back and hides really fast. It makes me feel bad because I don't mean to freak him out.

I am wondering if this is normal snake behavior and something I can always expect? Or will he eventually get used to me approaching the tank? I have only had him for a couple of weeks now.

Also is it normal for BP's to be head shy when petting them etc.? Mine definately is and a friend of mine told me I needed to break him of that habit! I tend to disagree and don't see why I should stress him out when I can easily not bother his head.

mine does that and i had mine for am onths, i feel bad too

I think they are all different.I have 9 and some of them are skitish and some are not.Some of mine calmed after awhile.So there is a good chance yours will.
Mike.

I have had my BP for a little over a month now and he still pulls back when he sees me sometimes. He is getting better with it though and has calmed down significantly.

Ball pythons are naturally secretive. As far as handling, He will get more and more used to it.

To answer your other question, BPs in general are VERY head shy(many pythons are, but BPs even more so in general from my experience). Many other snakes are headshy too, but the colubrids i have cared for were much less so.

I have heard of BPs that "let" you pet their head, and I have heard about tricks you can do during handling to get them to be less scared about their head. I don't know if they can "learn" to not be head shy, but some of the methods I have read about seem gentle enough they are worth a try.

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Also is it normal for BP's to be head shy when petting them etc.? Mine definately is and a friend of mine told me I needed to break him of that habit! I tend to disagree and don't see why I should stress him out when I can easily not bother his head.

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It certainly isn't a habit you need to break. I get by fine without petting my BP's head so I don't find it fit to train her otherwise.

Dennis

Yeah see, I thought I had heard that BP's can be rather head shy. I didn't see any reason to fix the issue until my friend said something about it so I figured I would ask here! As usual, you have all prevailed in educating me! Thank you! Being 3 feet long I certainly don't 'need' to fool with his head unless need be then LOL.

When he flees from me when I approach the tank I always then just leave him alone. Is that best? Or should I open the lid and handle him anyways? I just hate to stress him out anymore then I need to....eek!

What is a recommended handling schedule when you have a new BP??? As an example: Once everyday for 5 minutes etc...

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Originally Posted by BuddhaLuv

When he flees from me when I approach the tank I always then just leave him alone. Is that best? Or should I open the lid and handle him anyways? I just hate to stress him out anymore then I need to....eek!

What is a recommended handling schedule when you have a new BP??? As an example: Once everyday for 5 minutes etc...

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What I used to do with my corn snake was wait around the tank quietly after I spooked her. After more handling and "peaceful" exposure with me outside her tank she stopped recoiling as harshly when I walk by and sometimes seems to express interest in what I'm doing. But maybe that's just her being hungry...who knows?

Handling her every time after she hides may have a training effect on her but I'm skeptical. And depending on how many times you do this a day it may stress her out.

More exposure to you in general will ease her up a bit and in time she may stop the recoil act. But they are secretive by nature so don't be disappointed if she never stops doing it. Each snake is different.

I was told to handle once a day for ~15 minutes at first. Keep that up for a couple weeks while gradually increasing handling time. Gauge your animal's reactions to you and see how stressed out she gets. If she isn't taking well to being handled keep the handling sessions short and keep to gradual increases. I always try to put my snakes back in their enclosures when they're in a chill mode as to not reward spastic escape behavior with being left alone.

Hope this helped?

Dennis

p.s.
Maybe you should just stop clomping around the room to get your snake to not recoil. :gj:

Dennis,

Thanks for your reply!

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Originally Posted by Hapa_Haole

Handling her every time after she hides may have a training effect on her but I'm skeptical.

More exposure to you in general will ease her up a bit and in time she may stop the recoil act.

I always try to put my snakes back in their enclosures when they're in a chill mode as to not reward spastic escape behavior with being left alone. :gj:

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I didn't think about the training effect that might have. That is a good point! It would be like possibly positively conditioning his coiling response right?

Okay maybe I will just hang around like you do until he chills out and uncoils. Then proceed with handling him etc..

What would you call chill mode? LOL. The majority of times I hold Tanveer he is usually cruising all over me. He maybe stays still 5% of the time LOL. I usually put him back within 5 to 10 minutes or so because I can't keep with him and all of his movement LOL. Is that more of a stress response with him moving all over the place? I feel like everytime I hold him we are both thinking the same thought "He/she has no clue how to handle me" LOL.

Sigh........it's challenging be new to this.

I feed him today so I won't be handling him for the next 2 days.