Confession Time!!

I have a confession and i hope others will share as well. Lokki (my blood) absolutly scares me. I cant go in the cage without a fight and it worries me :( I feel like a terrible snake mom that i cant gain this little one's trust. Im jealous of all of you guys and your chill relaxed bloods. Thats it for me, but what about you? Have you ever had a hard time working with one of your animals and it scared you? How did you cope?

Bloods are on my wish list actually because of their feisty nature! How long have you had yours, and how big is it? The bigger they get, the more they begin to resemble a large, indifferent breakfast sausage. ;P at least, with regular handling. If need be, use gloves or a snake hook to get him used to ya. :)


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What temps are you keeping Lokki at? From what I have experienced just a few degrees can define behavior. When I had a problem with a sub adult, I would use a hook about mid body, raise it up just enough to get your hand under and then go in quick, slide your hand under and get it off the ground in one fluid motion. Start off just going from one tub to the other (for cleaning). I wouldnt try to handle or tame the animal until your confident just moving it from point A to point B. The more confident you are, the more confident the snake will be. After you feel good with the hook method, and after the animal is somewhat use to it,,, open the tub with confidence and try with out the hook. depending on the size of the snake, I have found that even if you need to use 2 hands to get under it quickly and get it off the ground, its way better than trying to use just one hand and fumbling around with it.. Also, I have noticed if you take out the tub, set it on the floor with the snakes head away from you and grab it without hesitation, you kinda catch the snake off guard and it don't have time to "size you up"... Good luck!
Spook

Some snakes just never learn to trust. I had a Guyana Red-Tail Boa that I got as a CB neonate for over ten years and all the gentle handling I did never made any difference. The minute I touched her, she would freak out and try to bite. When she got to be 8ft and about 30lbs she decided to start trying to bite my face. THAT scared me. I never cared about my hands and arms, but the face is different. I got sick of dealing with her and gave her to a local breeder with full disclosure about her disposition.

I went through a period where my SST girl made me nervous: this was after a couple "rodeos" that she put me through where she was a striking, lunging, hissing mess. She was getting into a sub adult age at this time.

I got some great advice to basically take it slow and to don't be nervous when handling the snake as they can pick up on it. My advice is to do short handling sessions with the snake a few times a week (a few minutes even to start) and only when the snake has calmed down (ie no hissing, bluffing, striking) is when you can put them back as a "reward". This worked for my Hog BCI too: she would come out hissing and bluffing and only when she calmed down is when I would put her back and I believe they'll get to knowing that if they're bad they can get out of handling.

Also I found that just going right in there and picking up the snake (supporting the whole body as sometimes these guys can freak out when being lifted up) is a lot less stressful on the snake than hesitating and hovering over the snake trying to figure out how/when to pick it up. Confidence really worked for me, and as time went on my girl has made a wonderful turnaround. She can still be nervous but it's night and day to how she was: you can also start to gauge a snake's behavior as sometimes I know it's best to not mess with her (ie when she appears to be getting defensive if she's in blue, etc).

Also check your temps: my bloods, like my boas, like it a tad cooler than my other pythons and once I turned the heat down their behavior got more relaxed too.

Hope some of this helps, and hopefully one day your guy (especially when he gets some size on him if he's not already an adult) will calm in time and be able to be a lap snake.

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So when the larger snakes strike at you, they are doing so as a threat response or as a feeding response??

Im just wondering because I know there is a difference in their bite reaction based on what they're trying to do...

It's still a threat response. As big as the bigger species are, we still look much bigger, and like something that might wanna take a bite out of them if given the chance. So they prefer not to allow that chance, and they come out with their guns a-blazin'. If they learn that the defensive reaction is the way to avoid handling, they'll begin to use that as their advantage to keep the big scary two-legged from bothering them. That's why acting with confidence is so highly recommended-- the snake will figure out over time that their huffy-puffy fits don't disturb you, and they'll resign themselves to the handling.

^^daybreaker is spot on. i'd be lying if i said my retic never made me a little nervous, but i love the excitement. lol just gotta stay on your toes.

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Originally Posted by Mephibosheth1

So when the larger snakes strike at you, they are doing so as a threat response or as a feeding response??

Im just wondering because I know there is a difference in their bite reaction based on what they're trying to do...

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A ny snake small or big can strike for different reasons, the results however will be different.

Feeding strike (miss the prey and tags you instead): The snake will tag and wrap.

Defensive strike: They'll tag and release.

The first one hurts a little more especially if they have size to them. :rolleyes:

I see getting bit regardless of the snake part of snake ownership, what is important in my opinion is how you act knowing that there is a possibility. I strongly believe that snakes like any other animals sense whether you are comfortable or not with them, and that this alone can and probably does affect the way they interact with you.

Out of all the snakes I own (and I have and have had various species over the years) the only one that has not tag me yet is my blood.

Blood definitely need to be work with and the more time you will let go by without interaction due to your fears the worse it will get....sometimes you just need to get over those fears.

had him since june, he is about 2 maybe three feet, weights around two pounds. i am terrified to pick him up because he does this every time.

its at 83 on warm side 78 on cool. i can get him to point b, its the back to a part where i have the most trouble! thanks for the tips!

Gorgeous!!!!

i believe his is defense.

im trying. my blood is not my only snake so i know bites are part of it, i just dont want him psycho everytime i need to open the cage.

some snakes can be totaly tame,other can be tamed and other can't be tamed at all.this goes with all animals.
depends of the snakes character and the interaction of owner-snake and methods he uses to gain trust.
from my point of view if you have a snake as you say you have, you can keep trying and trying and eventualy maybe you will get the result you want or close by it.
and when you will do so, you will have a stronger bond with it becose you will spend a lot more time with it trying to make him tame.
i wish you all the luck .
my blood is so damn tame sometimes it drives me crazy. he never striked me or the food.he never puffs ,hisses. sometimes i wish mine was a more cranky and angry.

you may try to lift it gently supporting all his weight on your arms ,that will make the snake more secure.but till you get to this stage you will need to intaract with it babie steps .
try to just touch him at 1st sesions until you will see a lower atack mode . and probably you will have to endure some bites too...
good luck.

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Originally Posted by Agmcmurphy

had him since june, he is about 2 maybe three feet, weights around two pounds. i am terrified to pick him up because he does this every time.

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This tells me people are spot on about the snake sensing your fear. I don't believe snakes have the capacity to think about intimidation. The thing is when you're hesitant in picking up an animal that is afraid you give it a chance to act before you do. If you move steadily, confidently without hesitation you have them in hand before they can react. I have a 3ft female Blood that is fine if I just reach and pick her up. If I mess with anything in her cage, she strikes. She still a youngster like yours though and the more I handle her, the less she seems to see me as a threat.

The Boa I mentioned earlier is one only 2 snakes I've had (both Boas, strangely enough) out of probably 300 that I've owned at one time or another. I just bring it up because if they're adults and acting like that, chances are they won't change. The more you try to force handling on them the more they stress out. Yours is too young to draw that conclusion though. You probably just need to try to lose your fear of her and keep handling her.

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Originally Posted by Agmcmurphy

had him since june, he is about 2 maybe three feet, weights around two pounds. i am terrified to pick him up because he does this every time.

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Well then you definitely want to work on him NOW, because imagine if you end up with a large male ;) (I have a 24lbs blood)

Look at it this way if he bites now it will not be as bad.

It will take positive re-enforcement and in the mean time make sure your husbandry is optimum.

Avoid handling the day or day prior to feeding and keep it short when you do so the experience is positive for the animal and you as well.

Read some super advice already. Just stay persistent, as you do not want to still be working with this issue when he's twice the size he is now. I have a few here that are bratty, and I am also a firm believer that they do indeed sense your fear and/or apprehension! Think of it like dealing with a timid dog.....approach with confidence...

I know this tip was mentioned already, but some bloods are a lot more defensive in their cages. If you really need to, get a hook or something to just reach in and pull it out, then give it time to settle and work with it a bit. Chances are, he'll settle down with time. I wouldn't stress out too much over it. Just give him some time.

Honestly, I'm always extremely cautious reaching into any of my bloods' cages without first letting them know it's not feeding time. Usually I give a nudge on them with something (my way of telling them it's not food coming in), and they relax and get out of feeding mode. I've heard of people doing taps, etc. That's a totally different situation than defensive biting, though. I finally had a feisty baby to deal with a couple years ago (I've had a couple snap at me in the past and bite here and there as babies, but nothing too bad) - this one was my first one I couldn't really handle. I'm not a fan of getting urates in the eyes... She's a 2010, and at her age now with minimal handling, she still settled down nicely. I don't trust her 100%, but I can handle her now that she's grown up.

Hopefully, whether you do or don't work with him a lot, he will at least settle down to where you are comfortable with cage cleaning and stuff. You can't say it's boring keeping these guys! :P

Now to say I was afraid of her would be stretching the truth a little, but my ornate used to make me nervous sometimes.... although after she made me bleed like 50 times I got over it(more like just got smarter about how I handled and approached her lol) My bloods never gave me a problem though. They were angels

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382776_326067654087569_1367457847_n-1 by sirham225, on Flickr

What occurs when there's no learned fear, and a program that produces quality animals..:D
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I am a "snake bite virgin" still with regard to pet snakes.
The last snake to successfully land a strike on me was a Northern Water Snake of about 3 feet when I was a kid. It seemed much larger after it bit me though.
I adore my BCL but, I have heard that they do tend to go through a nasty stage a sub-adults.
So, I am now wondering if one day she will announce that she is a crabby teen by snapping at my nose out of the blue.

If my head or hair smelled like a rat there would be some fear factor for sure..;)
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OH my yours is huge!!!!! i have never seen an adult human hold an adult blood. Holy moly it has just occured to me what im gettting into. I was lied to about the adult size apparently lol but they are beautiful and obviously very chill and sweet!

Thank you everyone for all of your advice. i can clean the cage now without much fuss.

Tim, that size comparison is INSANE!! Teeny baby blood and little kid, next to that huge honking sausage around your shoulders... Just absolutely nuts.


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