Dealing with a biter

I love my female pastel, but she is a feisty little girl:). She has an excellent feeding response and her prey usually last less than 30 seconds. This made it really easy to switch her to F/T. However, her aggressiveness can be a problem when I need to remove her from her tank (a lovely RBI cage) to change substrate. She is on kraft paper which means it needs to be changed at least once a week because she poops every week.

Question: Anybody have any techniques for dealing with a biter?

Thanks,
Mike

If you have something you can lightly tap her on the face with, this will usually kill their biting response. Whenever I see one of my balls coiled up in that little "S", and looks like shes gonna strike...I just lightly touch her head with a piece of newspaper or something close at hand. Usually does the trick.

Mike, just set up simple routines and habits with her. Don't let her attitude be the defining thing or set the tone for how you interact with her. Find something, whether that's a tap on the nose or a spritz of cool water, that sets her back long enough to get a good hold of her then just go for it. Keep her under control until she gets it through her small snake brain that acting up isn't getting the desired results. Just be calm, controlled, firm but gentle and most of all very consistent with her. Small routines done over and over with these snakes seem to help them understand that when A happens then B will occur next and they aren't going to be harmed or preyed upon. Once they get this, most do seem to calm down and stop being as defensive.

If she's being a real turd about stuff, put on some gloves but just don't let her get into the habit of running the show by snapping at you. Some of them are snappy but most ball pythons are pretty laid back. They are snakes though and will school you occasionally. We have a breeder female here that tends to be a snake that will "remind" you if you aren't mindful of her and she nailed my husband last week but good. Nothing different, nothing new, nothing to really trigger a bite but she did it anyways - it happens - you clean up the blood drops and move on. :)

I always use my snake hook when getting my pythons/boas out of their cages (doors open on the front - not on top so I can't get above them to grab their bodies). The hook works well just to see how they're feeling and what kind of mood they're in - I pull them out of the cage a little than grab them with my hand and they're usually fine when out of the cage - they just have a crazy feeding response and think every time I open the cage they're going to get food, once the hook goes in they kind of figure it out though - and I only use the hook when I'm taking them out, never on feeding days, just to keep some repetition.

I had a corn snake that was a real big bitter when in the cage (another snake with a great feeding response, he was a little too excited for food!). He was in a glass terrarium where the top opened up, so I would take the top off and all the hides out of his cage - then place a shirt over him (covering the face) and pick him up. A friend who worked at a reptile store showed me this and it actually worked perfectly, once under the shirt the snake didn't move - once out of the cage the snake never tried to bite - this may not be a good idea for a ball python though!

Hey Edie~ I do it just the opposite!! I always stick my hands in the cages of my boas so that they get used to that intrusion on their space. I stick my hands in for cleaning, water changes, getting the moss out to dampen it, and for getting them out of their environment.
Conversely, I only and always use hemostats to feed them. The see that long shiny object coming at them with a great heat signature and fur and WHAM!!!!
Happy snakes!!! :D
For ball pythons, as well as one boa, I tap them on the head when they are posturing and before they have tried to tag. Tapping them on the head stops their posturing immediately and that's when I scoop them up. I also don't ever put them back into their environments until they are calm and chill; I don't want them associating stressed and squirrely behavior with being put back into their cage ;)

With the little bitter i have i would stick my hand in the cage but like a stop hand flat so he really couldnt get his teeth in, but kinda like a bonk with his nose, kinda hard to explaine like a stop hand flat and up and down, get what im saying if not i understand im bad at explaineing stuff haha

Yep Drew- that is exactly it!!! :D

Yea, invest in a snake hook. :gj:

thank you starmom haha i tried my best to explaine that one haha,

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Wh00h0069

Yea, invest in a snake hook. :gj:

---

A hook for a ball python??? :rofl:

Sorry for the above post- that was mean of me :please:
Really, you don't need a hook for a ball python. Just use the hand thing (like what Drew so eloquently described :D) and condition your snake. It will all be fine.... :P

Another thing that can work, although its a little higher risk of a bite, is to reach in BEHIND the snakes head, and gently stroke its back. That will usually provide the same result as the gentle tap on the head.

Even if they are not in a strike position, I don't go in directly in front of their faces. Thats kinda like looking an aggressive dog directly in the eyes. They're more likely to see your approach as a threat.

Steve

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by hoo-t

Another thing that can work, although its a little higher risk of a bite, is to reach in BEHIND the snakes head, and gently stroke its back. That will usually provide the same result as the gentle tap on the head.

Even if they are not in a strike position, I don't go in directly in front of their faces. Thats kinda like looking an aggressive dog directly in the eyes. They're more likely to see your approach as a threat.

Steve

---

Yeah...I got a wicked bite from a big Boa doing this,. Even if they can see you in front of them, that hand on the neck can feel like a prey item.

I with you on that, Jamie. If my hands on a snake's neck it's because I'm controlling them and I'm gripping good and firm so they can't nail me. Our snakes are conditioned over time to know that a gentle stroke well down their back third means they are coming out for handling. We don't do that however until we quickly assess if the snake is an attitude that will allow that. If the snake is obviously hyped up and looking to strike, I'm not stroking nuthin'. LOL

I agree with what everyone is saying but with my STOP hand style, my little agressive bitter is now a big puppy dog, he doesnt get in the S or anything, doesnt strike at me doesnt hiss, he knows when daddy opens the tub its time to come out and explore, like starmom said just get them in a routine, try to feed on the same days as well becusae trust me they know what day is feeding day, plus if you present the room they will then be ready to eat, and on the other days that there isnt rat smell in the air they will know when that tub opens its time to come out and play. good luck

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by frankykeno

I with you on that, Jamie. If my hands on a snake's neck it's because I'm controlling them and I'm gripping good and firm so they can't nail me. Our snakes are conditioned over time to know that a gentle stroke well down their back third means they are coming out for handling. We don't do that however until we quickly assess if the snake is an attitude that will allow that. If the snake is obviously hyped up and looking to strike, I'm not stroking nuthin'. LOL

---

Exactly! Remember that rule with any big boas you might have lying around! :D

Startmom - I always get in the boa mind frame! Sometimes I forget that BPs and boas are not the same! - the boas are the only snakes I have that will bite me if I stick my hand in their cage going straight towards them. My BPs have never been aggressive - but 2 of the boas I have do bite (my other 2 are very sweet and I don't have to worry about them), but I can kind of read them and understand when they have had enough and thats why I use the hook with them - as soon as I open their cage door they coil their necks back but once I hook them they come out of it.

I can reach my hand in the cages of my BPs to grab them, maybe if one seems a little iffy then I'll get the hook - but I've only had to do that with my 1 adult BP - the babies just ball up every time I take the hides off them, so easy to grab that way!

My little 600 gram royal can be jumpy, but I just get in there and get her out.. Once she's out, I have won. She backs down and becomes a puppy :)

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Drew87

With the little bitter i have i would stick my hand in the cage but like a stop hand flat so he really couldnt get his teeth in, but kinda like a bonk with his nose, kinda hard to explaine like a stop hand flat and up and down, get what im saying if not i understand im bad at explaineing stuff haha

---

So you put your hand in like your telling him to stop, allowing him to bite your palm. But he can't get a hold and just bounces off. Then he backs down and your able to pick him up out of his enclosure. Is that how it works or am I just reading it wrong?

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by jglass38

Exactly! Remember that rule with any big boas you might have lying around! :D

---

LOL she's a big ole puppy dog snake!

Seriously though, we never forget just how big and powerful Mz. Tequila the boa is and the potential she's got in her for some real damage if she ever chose to bother herself with it. We love having her but part of that responsibility of housing a snake like her is being smart about how you approach her and allowing her the time to recognize you are friend not foe (or dinner). :)

I cannot imagine how it is to handle a true giant. Tequila's more than enough snake for me.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by TMoore

So you put your hand in like your telling him to stop, allowing him to bite your palm. But he can't get a hold and just bounces off. Then he backs down and your able to pick him up out of his enclosure. Is that how it works or am I just reading it wrong?

---

I doubt he'll bite your palm! :P
Some people use a wooden spoon to kind of get the head down while picking up from the body. Some people use an oven mitt to do the same. Some people just use their one hand to get the snake to zero in on that while the other hand is picking him up (a trick we use with one of our boas to get her out safely).
The thing is, don't be hesitant with your movements because nippy snakes will bully your fear into conditioning YOU to not pick them up!!!
Crazazy!!! :rolleye2:

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by frankykeno

LOL she's a big ole puppy dog snake!

Seriously though, we never forget just how big and powerful Mz. Tequila the boa is and the potential she's got in her for some real damage if she ever chose to bother herself with it. We love having her but part of that responsibility of housing a snake like her is being smart about how you approach her and allowing her the time to recognize you are friend not foe (or dinner). :)

I cannot imagine how it is to handle a true giant. Tequila's more than enough snake for me.

---

I'm glad she is doing so great!! Can't wait to see more pics...

Thanks everyone for your advice. I found poop this morning when I was leaving for work. She really laid down some logs!:D I took the poop out but will change the substrate tonight. I will try the "stop hand" technique with a gloved hand tonight.