Can you train a BP? And other random questions.

I've read a few people mention that if you put a hissing/striking snake back, that you are training him/her that that behavior gets it the response it wants - namely, being put down.
Well, can you train it the other way? For example, if it hisses and bites, you hold on to it longer and handle more (like 30-45 mins. But if it behaves, you put it back sooner (like 5 mins)?

Also, why do people recommend dipping F/T in hot chicken soup? What is it about hot chicken soup that works? Would hot beef soup work? Or hot vegetable stock? If you don't want a sopping wet feeder, can you just sprinkle the F/T with chicken stock powder?

Happy Memorial Day

I have mine trained to to take a nice big dump in their tubs right after I change their substrate/paper.

Sorry couldn't resist, can't say I've ever heard of the chicken broth thing before.

No you can't train them, but there are better ways to go about things. And the chicken soup thing has been around forever. Some people claim it works, I've personally had no luck when I tried many, many years ago.

The chicken soup thing is supposed to be a way of scenting a food item the snake won't eat. If the snake eats chickens but not rats, you scent a rat with the broth. I tried it a few times with mouser carpet pythons many years ago to no avail. It would be pointless to use this tactic for a food item the snake is already eating, and pointless altogether in my experience.

I've trained all of my snakes to do whatever they want whenever they want.

snakes can't be trained, however, regular handling of an anxious snake will eventually calm it down (usually). But the snake has not been trained, it has been handled enough that it no longer views you as a threat.

like a rock in its cage, unless of course I am thawing a mouse. Then she is trained to left her head up the vents and sniff the mouses. It was hard work, but well worth it.


David

Continuing to handle a stressed out, bitey snake just makes them more stressed out. If you continue to interact and handle them regularly they will eventually realize you aren't a threat and calm down. They can't really be trained.

I've trained mine to give rats hugs....Just haven't trained them to do it soft yet.:O

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Originally Posted by C2tcardin

I have mine trained to to take a nice big dump in their tubs right after I change their substrate/paper.

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Well, I'm glad I can check off this training milestone. :D

I'll go against the grain - yes, snakes can learn that certain behaviors from you should elicit a certain response from them, and vice versa. The "training" won't be nearly as complex as you would find with a dog or even a cat, such as house training, coming when called, doing tricks, or using a litter box.

A common example is "hook training" to breaks their food response, the snake learns that hook = handling time not food time.

I do have a few larger retics and when they make a mess they go into a large tub temporarily during clean-out. Nobody is going to get a 10+ foot snake into a tub if it doesn't want to go in, so ours have been "trained" that if we put just their heads into the tub, they'll go the rest of the way on their own, even when grumpy or in shed since we follow the same process every time and they've learned the drill. This means that just one person can clean the enclosure, rather than having to make the snake lie in its own excrement until two of us are available.

And finally, coming back to the OP, yes when you have a defensive, nippy snake, and it takes a swipe at you or musks you or otherwise doesn't behave politely, and you immediately put it away, you are training it that biting/musking/fighting gets it what it wants, which is to be left alone. For those, once they settle down, I immediately put them back and they learn that behaving nicely gets them rewarded with the big bad Godzilla monster going away.

Yes, you can... kind of... train a ball python. Two of my girls are conditioned to know that three taps on the wall of their tub means they're about to get fed. They come out from under the paper towels, look towards the noise and get ready to strike. I've been doing this for months with them. I've also noticed that those two have never missed a meal, though that could just be coincidence.

I tried the chicken soup thing. Didn't work for me. And just saying, but how does chicken soup even make sense? I mean... ball pythons don't eat chickens, so how does this trick translate into the python deciding to eat?

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Originally Posted by Penultimate

And just saying, but how does chicken soup even make sense? I mean... ball pythons don't eat chickens, so how does this trick translate into the python deciding to eat?

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In the wild BP's do include some birds as part of their normal diet. Obviously it's not chicken, though it may taste like chicken...

Mine knows it's feeding time when I scent the room with the prey item using a blow-dryer (it wakes up in a huge hurry!). This morning it stuck its head out of the hide when I was vacuuming. Not sure if the breeze from the exhaust port had it confused. :D

I've also tried the chicken broth approach in an off-feed period too, but without any results.

I feed my ball in a separate container, but because of that she knows container=mice coming from the sky.
Now whenever she's in her feeding container she'll stare at the top of the container waiting for mice to drop down.
I suppose you can train snakes in that you can associate different things with handling or feeding. (Sort of like Pavlo's dogs)

I've never heard about scenting with chicken soup until now. I've heard of scenting with hamster and gerbil litter, but not chicken...