Bull snake showing his true colours?? :/

So i got a bull snake 3 days ago, i held him on 5 different days in the shop and each day he was slow and calm and didnt hiss/strike e.t.c. So i brought this 6 foot 10 inches of a beast home and after a pretty rough journey i got him back safely.He sat in his log without moving the first day.. The next day i got him logs and plants for his new home, He came out straight away tongue flicking and did his snakey stuff (and a stinky poo! which i got rid of straight away) i could place stuff in and he wouldnt bother but rather just sit there dead still.. so i went to hold him the 2nd day. I stroked him and he just sat dead still yet again (everytime i opened the cadge he sat like this) then i went to grab him underneath slowly and he quickly slithered under his log, i moved the log and repeated the same lift but this time he did a loud hiss and turned to face me tensing up pretty bad, i left him.. The next day i tried to stroke him and he hissed this time so i backed off (again he faced me and pulled his part of his body i needed to grab right next to his head) so after a few minutes when he moved again i touched him and he did exactly the same but without hissing.. hes currently exploring his cadge again and is climbing around the glass doors like he wants out.. its bugging me. any help?! i am 5 foot 2 inches and am very put off going near him now. He is about 15 feet away from degus and quails, he was ust to this at the shop. If he doesnt stop this ill have to replace him but he is such a beautiful snake i really dont want too, any advice please?! :( (first snake) oh and he also had another poo after the 2nd attempt of holding him (last time i tried)

Heres an idea, leave him alone! Are his temps correct? Ample hiding places? Sounds like youve been messing with him and his cage a lot. Is he maybe going into shed? Have you tried feeding? Why does it matter if hes a bit defensive? Just leave him alone and look at him.

In most cases it is bluff, even my most laid back bull would do this at first, interestingly enough this is the only species that has not tagged me yet.

Don´t let the hissing and rattling intimidate you if you do you will never be able to handle your bull. And if your snake sense fear you will certainly get tagged as well.

his temps and such are good, he doesnt need feeding till thursday . He shed a few weeks ago and has no cloudy eyes. and he has plenty of hiding places.. and it matters because im not ust to a snake :) not being nasty but that comment seemed like it had a hint of hate in it.(: thank you for the questions though.

Thank you deborah,
so it is best just to pick them up and ignore the hissing? at the shop they did pick him up really quickly so i guess he's ust to it.

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Originally Posted by Ronmayron

Thank you deborah,
so it is best just to pick them up and ignore the hissing? at the shop they did pick him up really quickly so i guess he's ust to it.

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I never let the intimidation scare me off, of course use caution but usually once handled they will settle. They just like to huff and puff which can be very intimidating for people who do not know.

I would let him settle in a bit ( maybe until after his feeding),and then start your handling sessions. Get yourself a thin pair of gloves, it will do wonders for your confidence. Once you're comfortable reaching in and picking him up, you can start to wean yourself off the gloves :) Good luck!

i will bear that in mind but for now ill leave him about a week. thank you.

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i did try handle him with gloves but it didnt feel like it was gonna help because he just stares dead still not moving and it makes me feel like he is going to strike. Thank you.:)

If I may say so, it just sounds to me like you are really excited and I think that's your issue. It's not a bad thing by any means, its just not conducive to owning a snake. When I got my first snake I would go look at him and open the cage and play around and ad things a lot and forget that even though I was getting extreme joy from that, the snake wasn't. All of a sudden he was snippy, and he wouldn't eat. It took almost 2 weeks of leaving him alone (Just water changes) for him to chill out and eat and be friendly again.

Just try to keep in mind, your snake will live for a long time, with the right care, so you will have a lot of time to enjoy him and there is no need to rush now.

I hope it all works out for you!

Cheers.

X2 for the gloves...they will help with your confidence. Even if he does tag you at some point you will realize that it isn't that bad. My wife was terrifed of being tagged, last week she was holding an adult Rosy Boa and it latched and wrapped her it took us about 15 minutes to get it off and when it was all said and done her only response was "thats it".

thank you trevo, seems about right haha i will bear that in mind thank you.

thanks jclaiborne i will have to get some, its not that im worried about the pain its just i dont want a snake that will bite as a first time pet.

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Originally Posted by Ronmayron

thank you trevo, seems about right haha i will bear that in mind thank you.

thanks jclaiborne i will have to get some, its not that im worried about the pain its just i dont want a snake that will bite as a first time pet.

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Totally understand...I know the first time I was bit the strike scared me more than anything because they are so fast. Besides the gloves if you are still worried wear a long sleeve as well that way you don't have any skin exposed. Once you start to get a little more confident and handle him more hopefully both of you will calm down.

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In most cases it is bluff, even my most laid back bull would do this at first, interestingly enough this is the only species that has not tagged me yet.

Don´t let the hissing and rattling intimidate you if you do you will never be able to handle your bull. And if your snake sense fear you will certainly get tagged as well.

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Great advice right there ^. And, in the post prior to it.

The move is likely to stress the snake. A stressed snake is probably going to be less tolerant to handling.

And, if you continually back off from the bluffs, you will teach the snake that aggressive behavior results in being left alone. Ending up with a snake that isn't going to be handled/handle-able.
We get tagged when we are either being dumb(I've been dumb a couple times and my snakes have still not taken it upon themselves to teach me better) or when we mis-read bluffs for actual fear response when they are going to stand their ground.

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Originally Posted by Ronmayron

his temps and such are good, he doesnt need feeding till thursday . He shed a few weeks ago and has no cloudy eyes. and he has plenty of hiding places.. and it matters because im not ust to a snake :) not being nasty but that comment seemed like it had a hint of hate in it.(: thank you for the questions though.

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No hate just some ideas. Also didnt know that you were new to snakes. Just from your origional post seemed like you were messing with him and his enclosure a lot and that he hadnt had a chance to settle into his new home.

Bull snakes can be a handful when they don't want to be hassled but are 99% bark and largely harmless. When you handle, just pretend your pit is a toothless old grouch; have no fear of repercussions. If and when you eventually get tagged(almost an inevitability when working with snakes), take a moment and access the actual pain - you'll probably laugh out loud. Then again, if you try kissing an angry bull's nose and get tagged on your eyeball you can skip the laughing part. In my experience, it's when they're in a squirmy, I gotta get out of here, mood that they're the hardest to handle. I have little doubt you'll have your boy calm in no time with regular, good handling sessions.

thank you john, i will bear that in mind haha :) He seemed very slow and calm before anyway haha but the guy who owned him before is coming to help me tomorrow so i can get to know what the snake prefers :) thanks

I am not an owner of bull snakes, but I had a VERY aggressive corn (which is odd in and of itself) for my first snake. I still have her, and she is still new to me. I can tell you though, I was bit countless times by her - she didn't just bluff when she felt threatened. Mind you, she's not a 6ft "beast" as you say, but she did draw blood. Honestly, I was just offended that she was so upset with me. That was my problem.
Once I got it in my head that "okay, she's going to bite me, just accept it and take her out anyway - only put her back when she's nice" did things work out. We had one really bad day where I did have to put on gloves, and she sat with me for a good 30 minutes until she calmed down. After that, she has only bitten me once (and it wasn't a strike, it was a nip... that I don't even understand because it was like a puppy bite - but that's besides the point).

So it's been months, and she's like a different snake. Once she got relaxed and settled, which took almost 3 weeks, she started getting more confident. It took her 6+ weeks to come out of her hides while I was in the room. Now, she's out every night, she's active, she's polite with company and lets others pet and hold her, etc.

It just takes time. Please do not be discouraged!! Patience is key. :) Just make sure your bull's vive is all good (of course the more hides the better - and not just those half log hides, but realllllly dark ones, like rock hides and whatnot) and that he/she is eating, and it will happen.

Best of luck!

Thank you :) i got enough courage and plucked him out quickly, he was hissing alot of the time but was just sitting there so i think hes just a very vocal snake :) but the guy explained how to get him and that his kids always got him out and that so i got alot of confidence from that. He just explored my bed and went through my top haha but i stroked near his head and on his head and he was great like a totally different snake. I think he is just pretty territorial of his viv, but thats all fine and hes had his first rat here too (boiled). He did eat it on the wood bark flooring but hes always been fed like that so i guess it will be fine :) he ignored my other pets (even though the dog left quickly haha) thanks everyone :) x

Wait... A boiled rat? Never had a bull, but do you mean thawed? I don't think it's generally recommended to cook snake food.

haha yes sorry my mistake :P well he gobbled it down quickly and is in his log again :)