Flighty, fearful Burmese

I bought an albino male burm on Craigslist last summer. He would not feed on FT for a while but I eventually got him switched. He is really small for his age, probably 2 to 3 feet long, but body condition looks good, he is thick and full looking in my opinion. So I don't know why he's so small.

Anyway. He's the only snake who's ever bitten me, and he bit me the first time I held him. For a while, I was trying to just pick him up or touch him once a day, and it seemed to help a teeny bit, but I'm just not seeing much progress. He tenses up when I go to pick up, then will freak out and trash around to get out of my hands. He has not successfully bitten since day one, but has struck, and even last time was striking at the cage walls. I feed a small or medium rat once every 7 days.

What can I do with this guy to get him to come around? Is there hope of that? I'm a little worried about managing him when he's grown.

Just went to hold him to take a picture. Today, he was nervous, but let me pick him up and he stayed pretty still and calm, then I placed him back in his cage before it had been long enough to start making him freak out. I always try to make the handling end on a good note. This was a good day for him. Other days, he can be a different beast. None of my other snakes have such a varying mood. My retic is absolutely wonderful. http://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/2016...a607209c59.jpg

Have you tried hook training him?

First he looks very nice. If you can spend time by his cage for a couple of hour or two a day. That will help him to see that you are not a threat. Do not handle him during this time. Just watch tv or something and ignore him. After a few days pick him up for one minute and one minute only. Weather he is calm or not. By doing so you are teaching him that you are not a threat. After a few days of this increase the time you hold him. It takes a while to download all of this. However you are trying to build a long term relationship with him. I take some of my worst snakes to work with me and have them at my desk while I work. Usually by the second week they are couch potatoes. This is just what works for me.

I haven't tried hook training. What hooks would be recommended for him? I figured I'd have to replace the hooks frequently with growth... But he's not growing much.

Thank you for the guide Tigerhawk. The snake homemade rack/shelf is in my bedroom near the bed. I have no other room in my house that can be kept closed and warm for the snakes needs. It is reassuring that you've tamed some of your worst with that technique. I'll start working on it diligently.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Gilligan

I haven't tried hook training. What hooks would be recommended for him? I figured I'd have to replace the hooks frequently with growth... But he's not growing much.

Thank you for the guide Tigerhawk. The snake homemade rack/shelf is in my bedroom near the bed. I have no other room in my house that can be kept closed and warm for the snakes needs. It is reassuring that you've tamed some of your worst with that technique. I'll start working on it diligently.

---

The size of the hook doesn't much matter. You're simply using an object to administer a tactile cue to let the snake know that a handling session is about to begin. What does matter is that you cue him the same way each time so as not to confuse the poor fellow.

Another idea is maybe to just let him bite you a few times next hissy fit he throws. There are snakes that will always seem to want to draw blood and there are those that are just nervous animals testing the boundaries of a new relationship. Some will calm down faster when they realize the bite is ineffective. I reckon better to find out which category your boy falls into now rather than after a couple more years of growth.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by John1982

The size of the hook doesn't much matter. You're simply using an object to administer a tactile cue to let the snake know that a handling session is about to begin. What does matter is that you cue him the same way each time so as not to confuse the poor fellow.

---

This. It's not for picking him up or controlling the snake, think of it as a tap on the shoulder to announce your presence. Just rub him lightly on his back for a few seconds before handling him. You can even use an empty paper towel roll, so if he's startled and whips around to bite whatever is touching him he hits that and not you.

Okay, that hook training. I have been using my finger to touch his body before picking him up to let him know what's going on. But using an object that's not part of my body seems like a better idea haha. A paper towel roll seems certainly cheaper than buying a hook that is only used for rubbing him.

I will attempt the letting him bite me thing. It's just difficult as moving away is kind of an automatic response.

Thanks for the advice thus far!

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Gilligan

Okay, that hook training. I have been using my finger to touch his body before picking him up to let him know what's going on. But using an object that's not part of my body seems like a better idea haha. A paper towel roll seems certainly cheaper than buying a hook that is only used for rubbing him.

I will attempt the letting him bite me thing. It's just difficult as moving away is kind of an automatic response.

---

Yes, it is. That's why I prefer to let mine bite the paper towel roll. Also, if that's too short the cardboard roll from wrapping paper works.

Great looking snake, the second Burmese I got when I started getting into them came to me very defensive and is still very defensive to this day ,despite countless efforts to try and work him out of it . It's just how he is . Where as I've had others that were able to become quite docile through consistent slow and controlled handling . Good luck hopefully he comes around for you.

Good luck with him- He looks beautiful!
Hopefully one day he would be pretty much puppy dog tame.

Thank you again everyone. I still have hope! Andylee - the burm that you have is still defensive, do you feel like he is a challenging snake to keep? Does he intentionally come after you like an aggressive snake or just keeps to himself as long as you don't disturb him too much? How is it to clean his cage? Do you take him out and handle him?

I am still concerned about his size. He hatched July 2015 and look how small he is. People say Burms get to be several feet long in a year, and he's almost to a year and only a few feet long. Maybe it's not a bad thing with his current behavioral situation.

Just don't give up. Be consistent and things should work out for you.

Beautiful snake to get bit by. Don't let the bite happen, then put it away. Stick to it even after a bite. You don't want them thinking if they bite, they get left alone.

Yesterday I handled him again and yet again it went well. I used the non-writing end of a pen to rub along his body. I felt bad because as I did it, I could see him like squishing himself down to move away from the touch. And kind of twitchy as I moved it along him, like the way ones skin crawls sometimes.

I picked him up after and it went well. He was nervous, but crawled along my hands and mostly was calm. No hissing or striking. I held him a moment then returned him to his tub. We shall see how things progress.

Should I be worried about how small he is?

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Gilligan

Should I be worried about how small he is?

---

No, as long as he is healthy and his body condition is good, I wouldn't worry about it.

Sounds like you are making progress. Keep it up I'm sure things are going to work out for you.

Response to your questions .
He is 3 years old now a little over 10 feet long. The second I open his cage up he goes into defensive mode . Meaning he gets himself in strike position and hisses loud as he can. He does not "come after me " but he will not hesitate to strike if I get to close . I handle him and clean his cage like I do with any of my other large pythons , takes more time but he's still on the same rotation . Once he's out of the cage he becomes more hissy , he will strike if he's startled or if you even touch him wrong . The thing that really seemed to help him being minorly tolerant is being VERY slow and VERY controlled in the movement I use to handle him. I TRY to not force him into a movement or a position . I let him do what he wants on his terms with some exceptions .Generally resulting in a lot of hissing with a occasional freak out strike or two . The gentler I am with him the gentler he is with me. Sure it's a little more challenging but it also is something that I've accepted . A grumpy Burm is easier then a grumpy Retic in my opinion lol. Hope he settles down with regular handling . Sounds like there's hope . Hope that answers your questions at least a little bit . Good luck mate

I know this is an older thread, but curious about how things are going for the OP now 9 months later.

Wow, that's a stunning snake! And the body condition looks great, maybe it was underfed for a long time then switched owners and was beefed up before you got it.

First for any mean snake I'd like to see what kind of setup you have. There are mean snakes and then there are snakes that are just stressed out by the conditions they are kept in. Personally I've taken really mean snakes in glass tanks and put them in tubs and they totally mellowed out from super mean to puppy dog tame almost overnight. I would also never let a snake bite me on purpose, especially a bigger snake like that which can cause some damage. I use a long snake hook even for my smaller snakes if I think they are going to bite me, mainly to let them know I'm not feeding (to break the hunt) and to keep the head away from my hand if I'm planning on trying to pick them up. Usually once I get them up in my hands I can drop the hook and they are fine.

The biggest thing is that you build trust and respect with the snake. He has to know you are not a threat and you have to know if you are going to get bit or not, and that takes some time getting to know the snake. I also never decide I'm going to jump in and pick up a snake on any given day. I usually try to figure out their mood and go from there. If they are coiled up on the hot spot and sleeping and you try to rub them with a hook and they jump, like they have popcorn in their belly, I back off and will let them rest. I've also found that if they are under a hide in a glass tank and sleeping if you grab the hide and pull it off real fast they can get super aggressive. I've never seen that super aggression with a tub and sliding it open, not sure why the tubs work so much better than glass tanks, at least for me.

And some snakes are just down right mean, perhaps they have been mistreated so bad that they will never trust anyone. I think it's especially hard with super large snakes like a full grown retic or burm since trying to tame them down can cost you big time if you get a full on bite in the wrong place.

Both my Burms started as quite feisty little fellas. They would hiss a lot when I tried picking them up and sometimes even when cruising my hands. Got bitten a few times, no big deal.

The older one, now that he's around 5ft, became super mellow. He'll still hiss a bit if I disturb him while sleeping but otherwise he's puppy dog tame. My favorite snake now. I just open the cage and he comes out on my hand on his own.

The female is still young and scared, still working on her. She's already better than when I got her, no biting anymore and stops hissing soon after I pick her up.

Just work with your animal and you'll see results, I have the impression they're a bit smarter than other smaller snake.

Its nice but small i don't think there is a snack here gigger then mine

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Aste88

Both my Burms started as quite feisty little fellas. They would hiss a lot when I tried picking them up and sometimes even when cruising my hands. Got bitten a few times, no big deal.

The older one, now that he's around 5ft, became super mellow. He'll still hiss a bit if I disturb him while sleeping but otherwise he's puppy dog tame. My favorite snake now. I just open the cage and he comes out on my hand on his own.

The female is still young and scared, still working on her. She's already better than when I got her, no biting anymore and stops hissing soon after I pick her up.

Just work with your animal and you'll see results, I have the impression they're a bit smarter than other smaller snake.

---

You want a smart snake, get a retic. I swear Caesar knows which door is slid open for food and will camp that door when its dinner time lol. Plus retics literally will watch you when you do stuff around the cages or room. When I'm cleaning the lower cages, Caesar will sometimes come out and peer down over the litter dam and watch what I'm doing below haha. I do want a caramel burm though one day.