Our Snake Hissed at Me!

I guess I am a wimp b/c I was more upset by the small, yet surprising, hiss during a shed assist than the little nip he gave me last time. What a weird experience! And I imagine BP's are are like dogs or bees and smell a peculiar shift in your chemistry, indicating fear. OK, here's the story. It might be meaningless and silly for you long termers, but it feels like a big deal to this newbie.

I was trying to help Mr. Snake get the last 4 - 5 inches of his shed off his head and neck with a wet wash cloth after a soak. As I got closer to his head, I thought I heard some teeny, tiny noises - a bit of air, a short and quiet squeak. I didn't know if the squeak meant it hurt or if it was the precursor to the hiss. Then it came. And you all are right, it sounds EXACTLY like letting air out of a tire. And having a snake in my hands, our beloved PET nonethelss, hiss at me while his head is free and about does not in any way parallel seeing it on YouTube! Even after seeing the Gaboon viper in her LONG, hissy fit, I wasn't prepared.

I slowed down and told him to calm down, it's OK, etc. I tried to be gentle, but I could see his lingual fossa getting slightly larger on ocassion. Um... close your mouth, Mr. Snake.

I went back to the sink and put some more warm water over the back of his head and neck to help loosen the skin more. While I was doing that (and I had done that before, so it wasn't new), I said, "I'm gonna get that skin off your head one way or another, whether you like it or not." I swear, the snake understood me! He started to open his mouth!!!

I kept coaching him that it was OK, etc. Yeah right, NOT! I kept seeing his lips crack open, so back to the bedroom he went. I set him down on the bed so I could open his tank. When I turned to pick him up, he was starting to open his mouth again.

I'm a sucker. He has me trained to give up! He knows he can scare me. But, also, I was pissed and put him back in saying, "Good luck, buddy."

I'll ask my husband to try again tomorrow. We'll see if he's as wimpy as me. Or maybe he has "the touch."

You live, you learn!

Yep you live, you learn. Most snakes don't care to be messed with that way so he's just doing what a snake does dear. If he has regular problems with shedding then you do need to look at your husbandry and see if there's tweaks to be made so that he can manage it on his own. Some just aren't good shedders but it's always worth looking at husbandry, specifically humidity, first. If the shed on his head is only tiny little bits and not encircling or including his eyecaps personally I'd just leave it be and let it come off next time. Have you tried putting him into a warm damp pillowcase and then popping the whole thing back in his home for an hour or so? That usually works to rub off whatever shed is stuck. Also Christie did a fantastic sticky for bad shed help if you haven't had a chance to read it yet...

http://www.ball-pythons.net/forums/s...ad.php?t=43403

quite a few of my males hiss at me all the time. its almost always a bluff. i would really check the humidity. some bps do always have shed issues. when it comes time to shed just move the water bowl closer to theheat tape and it will help quite abit.

Hissing is a bluff? Yesterday I took out my BP and put him on the floor and almost immediately he started "escaping" and everytime i tried to pick up again he would hiss and snap violently. He ended up under the bed, and was staring at me so I tried poking it with a pencil and it stuck at it. It was getting late so next time it turned around my room mate said screw it and grabbed it (even though it hissed and snapped but didn't have time to turn around etc..) so we put it back in the tank.

is this common for a baby BP? I've had it since monday and did't touch it for the first 3-4 days until it seemed like it was comfy in it's tank. And it's not like it doesn't like me to pick it up. but it hisses quiet a lot which i've come to understand as "don't touch"

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Originally Posted by hammerhead

Hissing is a bluff? Yesterday I took out my BP and put him on the floor and almost immediately he started "escaping" and everytime i tried to pick up again he would hiss and snap violently. He ended up under the bed, and was staring at me so I tried poking it with a pencil and it stuck at it. It was getting late so next time it turned around my room mate said screw it and grabbed it (even though it hissed and snapped but didn't have time to turn around etc..) so we put it back in the tank.

is this common for a baby BP? I've had it since monday and did't touch it for the first 3-4 days until it seemed like it was comfy in it's tank. And it's not like it doesn't like me to pick it up. but it hisses quiet a lot which i've come to understand as "don't touch"

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I think you should leave him alone for a lot longer that. Couple weeks maybe. And also baby BPs are very insecure and defensive, and no snake really enjoys being handled, so it may take a little work to calm him down. Don't poke at him w/ pencils tho... that will NOT improve things.:P

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Originally Posted by hammerhead

is this common for a baby BP? I've had it since monday and did't touch it for the first 3-4 days until it seemed like it was comfy in it's tank. And it's not like it doesn't like me to pick it up. but it hisses quiet a lot which i've come to understand as "don't touch"

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I have 2 clutches that are DEMON SNAKES! You cant walk in front of there bins with out them pounding the front of the bin. It seems to happen with these 2 Breeder females every year.. But they do and will grow out of it. Let him be for a day or so. Then slowly start handleing him more and he'll get used to you.

It's just a love hiss.... :)

Seriously though, it can happen to any one. I am with Jas, I have some demon snakes as well...

But they can and will grow out of it

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Originally Posted by darkangel

I think you should leave him alone for a lot longer that. Couple weeks maybe. And also baby BPs are very insecure and defensive, and no snake really enjoys being handled, so it may take a little work to calm him down. Don't poke at him w/ pencils tho... that will NOT improve things.:P

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i just poked him with the pencil to see if he will strike or not and he did. But anyway, the reason I'm handling him now is that I ordered bunch of stuff (the 2nd hide, UTHs, thermometer, water bowl, background etc...) and they are due on the 24th. Once I get them I'm planning on setting up his tank once and for all and then introducing him to it, and not bothering him for at least a week. Another problem is that I think it's time to feed him but I don't know whether I should do it now, or wait until his tank is ready, or just take him out, feed him and put him back. I also don't know if he will eat at all cause it seems like he is very stressed.

Umm if you poked me with a pencil I'd likely hiss and bite you. :rolleyes:

My male albino is still a little guy and he hisses any time I open his tank, but as soon as I get him in my hands hes fine. My male normal that is about 750 grams only hisses when he is in shed and really doesn't want to be messed up. I did have a little female that was demon snake, she snapped all the time and hissed at anything...but I think that was due to the fact she learned as soon as the lid on the tank came off and i took out her tree, it was feeding time, she would snap at the air just to be snapping.

So how do you pick up your snake if he/she is hissing and snapping everytime you try to touch him/her?

btw I was only poking with a pencil because i didn't want him to strike at my finger.

I sprayed her with a lite mist of water so she would coil up and hide, once I got to touch her she was fine, just had to get her to hide her head for a sec.

Yeah, they will hiss. :) Some more often than others. I really don't have any consistent hissers.. but once in awhile you'll get the odd hiss if you disturb someone.

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Originally Posted by hammerhead

So how do you pick up your snake if he/she is hissing and snapping everytime you try to touch him/her?

btw I was only poking with a pencil because i didn't want him to strike at my finger.

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I have found a towel is good for getting a hissy snake out of the enclosure without getting tagged.

Depends on the hiss really. You get to know after a time with each snake what different hisses, body postures, etc. mean for that particular snake. We have two adults for instance, a male and female ball python, that hiss every single time they are moved or disturbed in any way. They've always done this and with those two it means absolutely nothing....just them grumbling basically since neither has ever bitten. The female is a powerful hunter though and will come out of her tub to "help" you feed her if you aren't fast enough. (Robin knows which female this one is LOL)

We have other snakes that if they put out a certain low, serious hiss I'm going to fully respect that warning and get the heck out of their strike range as fast as possible or at least block their strike or redirect them with a mist of water or a tap of the spritzer bottle. Really just comes down to knowing each snake's reactions, their cues and trying to give them no real reason to feel defensive around you.

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Originally Posted by frankykeno

Yep you live, you learn. Most snakes don't care to be messed with that way so he's just doing what a snake does dear. If he has regular problems with shedding then you do need to look at your husbandry and see if there's tweaks to be made so that he can manage it on his own. Some just aren't good shedders but it's always worth looking at husbandry, specifically humidity, first. If the shed on his head is only tiny little bits and not encircling or including his eyecaps personally I'd just leave it be and let it come off next time. Have you tried putting him into a warm damp pillowcase and then popping the whole thing back in his home for an hour or so? That usually works to rub off whatever shed is stuck. Also Christie did a fantastic sticky for bad shed help if you haven't had a chance to read it yet...

http://www.ball-pythons.net/forums/s...ad.php?t=43403

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Thanks, but I got the tutorial and used it last time. It does really help. It's just that he remembered what I did to him (when I pulled the skin off his head last time and got the nip). Here is the link with the pics I posted last time (from the same thread you mentioned).
http://www.ball-pythons.net/forums/s...t=43403&page=6

So he was telling me, "No, don't do that again!" I might try the pillowcase trick or have my husband try next time.

This is only his second shed with us. We've only had him since the end of August. Hopefully, his sheds will improve and he won't be a "difficult shedder." I think our husbandry is pretty decent, though we do struggle some with humidity, but mist a lot to try to raise it when he is close to shed (which we knew). We've put a large ceramic water bowl over the UTH to help evaporation, too. I admit, the 20 gal tank makes it harder to maintain the humidity.

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Originally Posted by frankykeno

Depends on the hiss really. You get to know after a time with each snake what different hisses, body postures, etc. mean for that particular snake. We have two adults for instance, a male and female ball python, that hiss every single time they are moved or disturbed in any way. They've always done this and with those two it means absolutely nothing....just them grumbling basically since neither has ever bitten. The female is a powerful hunter though and will come out of her tub to "help" you feed her if you aren't fast enough. (Robin knows which female this one is LOL)

We have other snakes that if they put out a certain low, serious hiss I'm going to fully respect that warning and get the heck out of their strike range as fast as possible or at least block their strike or redirect them with a mist of water or a tap of the spritzer bottle. Really just comes down to knowing each snake's reactions, their cues and trying to give them no real reason to feel defensive around you.

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Ok. Yesterday i put my snake on the ground and he immedietly started escaping and would hiss and snap when i tried to pick it up. What would you do in this case? I get the feeling his number 1 priority is to escape his tank. Everytime he is in my hands he looks for stuff he can slither on and once completely out of my hands he won't let me pick him up again at times by hissing and snapping. I'm not really scared of being bitten, but don't want to be. Also I am scared I might damage my BP more by trying to grab it or grab his tail to slow him down or use a towel to stop him....etc.

Well Hammer I think I noticed in your other posts that you mentioned a few relevent points. You've had this snake since Monday, so less than one week at this point. You are fiddling about with it's enclosure, changing things up. You are handling this snake and letting it loose from your direct control.

The issues here are that you are most likely stressing this snake out completely. You need to think like a snake for a moment here, Hammer. This snake is new to your home, possibly quite young, hasn't been allowed to properly settle in and it's environment is changing. When you put it on the floor and stand over it, it's seeing you as a big heat emitting predator so of course it dashes for safety or it's out in the open where any predator could find it so it seeks a hidden place...that's normal snake behaviour. Ball pythons are snakes that live mostly underground in burrows and tunnels...they don't do open spaces all that well.

Hissing and striking at you are defensive behaviours because it's stressed, doesn't have the ability to understand the changes in it's life and if it's home is not set up properly...it just plain doesn't feel right. You need to focus on setting up it's home properly for a ball python, stop the handling for now and just get it settled and feeding regularily. Handling will come when the snake is more able to accept it. That handling should be done slowly with respect for what your snake is and what it isn't capable of dealing with.