Evil baby - best ways to tame...

I hatched out this girl this summer and I want to keep her (figures, right?). I think she is pretty color and is a possible het albino, so I want to grow her up and try to prove her out.

http://i227.photobucket.com/albums/d...e/shedevil.jpg
http://i227.photobucket.com/albums/d.../shedevil2.jpg

None of the usual taming methods seem to be working at all - she holds the record for total bites. I take her out with gloves and she just strikes and strikes and strikes. She does this till she is so freaked out I put her back so she can calm down.

So, the question is, do I keep trying to tame her? Or just learn to deal with it and get a hook so I can move her around?

Anyone have any ideas?

TIA!

Well you just never know...I have 2 that cannot be handled without being bit. I have also had some mean ones that calmed once they started breeding. It may calm with persistant handling or may not...it's really up to her. I would suggest a hook either way, they really come in handy.

This is a thing I used to some success.

What I did was gently grab them behind their heads and I would blow on their face. This would cause them to strike (attempt to anyway). After a while of doing it, it seemed that they had given up and learned that they cannot bite me. Now I can pick them up no problems.

I'm sure some people wouldn't agree with my methods, but it has worked for me and I have never broken one of their necks or anything.

I don't hold them behind the head but I do blow in their face and this normally stops them from striking. I have a hold back girl that started out the same way and now she only strikes when I open her tub.

i say if she is that bad get a hook and just let her be unless you really need to move her.

ps.the lil guy you sold me was the same way until a few weeks ago.i put him in a 20 long tank,he was in a 10 gallon.ever since he has had more room its a totally different snake.maybe you hatch out claustrophobic snakes!lol

I have a small female that is a very persistent "biter" also. I find using a small hook to handle her works best, it doesn't seem to get her nearly as agitated as my hand.

it seems like she is biting out of fear so i would stop trying to tame her and just leave her alone. she may eventually grow out of it. work around her, change her water, substrate and take her out only when necessary. shes still young and you have lots of time to work with her and i would think that putting her back after a fit of biting will only condition her to strike and intimidate you when she wants to be left alone. let her get used to you by working around her with only necessary handling and then see if her behaviour has changed within couple months.

this has worked for me and hopefully it may help you.

good luck!

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Originally Posted by bigballs

it seems like she is biting out of fear so i would stop trying to tame her and just leave her alone. she may eventually grow out of it. work around her, change her water, substrate and take her out only when necessary. shes still young and you have lots of time to work with her and i would think that putting her back after a fit of biting will only condition her to strike and intimidate you when she wants to be left alone. let her get used to you by working around her with only necessary handling and then see if her behaviour has changed within couple months.

this has worked for me and hopefully it may help you.

good luck!

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julian,i know the op and when she says she puts her back after several strikes,enough to stress out the snake,that is not giving in and letting the snake know you are affraid.im not meaning to come off rude in any way,but she already knows that method.this snake is truley wicked.

I have no idea if I'm the only one who's done this and it wasn't with a ball, I've had some racers and whatnot as pets and garters and such and the nippy ones... take them outside for about 5 minutes when it's cold out, seemed to work. They seemed to seek out my body warmth and realized daddy isn't gonna hurt 'em! haha! Good luck!

This blowin in the face method, do you think that may work on a dummerils boa? Mine was as sweet as could be then just out of the blue started striking all the time, she can no longer be handled. I like her but have no interest in keeping an aggresive animal. I am stuck with a hard decision, try to retame her or sell her?

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Originally Posted by Butters420

julian,i know the op and when she says she puts her back after several strikes,enough to stress out the snake,that is not giving in and letting the snake know you are affraid.im not meaning to come off rude in any way,but she already knows that method.this snake is truley wicked.

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hey i understand what youre saying and youre not rude at all but i think that even though the OP may feel that she is not giving in to the snake, the snake may be learning that lots of striking = being left alone.

the snake is probably not truely wicked and is more likely just scared and maybe taking the time to familiarize your presence with it will work.

this is just an idea and certainly not the only idea and hopefully the OP will figure out a way that will work.

I have always been a proponent of taming out any snake by not handling it...

I had one female this year, same deal, possible het holdback. If I was near the rack I could hear *thump* *thump* *thump*... her striking the side of the enclosure.

She tagged me a few hours out of the egg, I kid you not.

When I would crack her shoebox to change water, she would launch herself at me, a few times ending half out of the enclosure.

When I had her in hand it was the same thing... not one or two strikes, but 8 fast consecutive strikes.

I cut a piece of choloroplast that was the same width of her tub, when I would crack the tub I would slide it in.... pull the tub forward... and change the water while blocking her.

Same with removing her to change the tub. I would force her into a smaller space, then drop a hide over her, slide the chloroplast under her to scoop her up, change out the tub and then just slide her back in.

Same with picking her up when I had to. I would just hold a margarine lid (it was the right size) very close to her face so that she did not have a clean strike. I had heard from another member that if they bump something from close up, they are less likely to strike repeatedly. She would hit it... and that would be it. Then I would scoop her from the bottom and behind.

I do not even remember at what point she stopped, but I can take her in hand now, I can peek into the tub without getting bitten in the face, and I can move her without her launching herself out of my hands.

I know a few people that have great luck with taming out by handling, I personally do not, and I find that for me, not handling them has been 100% effective with my collection.

Hope that helps,
Bruce

Keep at it. I do have one adult female that I have to use a hook with. She tries to tag me every time I touch her. Most of my other ball pythons are tame. A few take a minute to calm down once I take them out.

One trick I have heard of is to take an old tshirt and put it in your pillow for several days so that it has your scent on it very strong. Then pu it in the cage with the animals so they have to use it as their "hide". Supposedly this helps them to recoginize your scent as "safe". Never tried it myself, but heard others swear by it.

I've used the method of taking them outside, or in my home case, taking them outside of my bedroom(my room is the hottest room in the house). My het. albino male used to be really snippy, and he would take a shot at my rear every time I used to walk by. I also bought a rack system, and that definitely improved his temper. I'm still the only one who can handle him, but now, he's very much like Ophi with me. Almost. ^_^ No snake will ever be like Ophi.

I tend to handle him a lot unless he's shedding or eating. That seems, for me at least, to be the best method. He gives me kisses now...and not open-mouthed ones. ^_^

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Originally Posted by Bruce Whitehead

I have always been a proponent of taming out any snake by not handling it...

I had one female this year, same deal, possible het holdback. If I was near the rack I could hear *thump* *thump* *thump*... her striking the side of the enclosure.

She tagged me a few hours out of the egg, I kid you not.

When I would crack her shoebox to change water, she would launch herself at me, a few times ending half out of the enclosure.

When I had her in hand it was the same thing... not one or two strikes, but 8 fast consecutive strikes.

I cut a piece of choloroplast that was the same width of her tub, when I would crack the tub I would slide it in.... pull the tub forward... and change the water while blocking her.

Same with removing her to change the tub. I would force her into a smaller space, then drop a hide over her, slide the chloroplast under her to scoop her up, change out the tub and then just slide her back in.

Same with picking her up when I had to. I would just hold a margarine lid (it was the right size) very close to her face so that she did not have a clean strike. I had heard from another member that if they bump something from close up, they are less likely to strike repeatedly. She would hit it... and that would be it. Then I would scoop her from the bottom and behind.

I do not even remember at what point she stopped, but I can take her in hand now, I can peek into the tub without getting bitten in the face, and I can move her without her launching herself out of my hands.

I know a few people that have great luck with taming out by handling, I personally do not, and I find that for me, not handling them has been 100% effective with my collection.

Hope that helps,
Bruce

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Same here. I have not yet been bitten out of fear. But I do have 3 snakes that are not used to handling. I can tell that if I push it with them, I will get bit. So I've been working around them. I want them to know my hands do not mean danger by being close enough to them while I clean the tubs, etc., but I don't want to push it by handling them. They now don't fly off to the other end of the tub when I go in there, or coil up in a ball (or the S strike pose). Now they just lounge around while I work in their tubs. I feel comfortable enough with one of them to gently stroke her a bit while I'm cleaning up & that seems to calm that particular snake down also.

Maybe the dog whisperer can help lol I love that guy!

In seriousness tho, just give her some time, i'd leave her alone and not bother her for a while. Trying to tame her could be stressing her out and could be doing the opposite of taming her.

she should calm down once she gets a little bigger. At least thats what I have noticed with mine.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by bigballs

hey i understand what youre saying and youre not rude at all but i think that even though the OP may feel that she is not giving in to the snake, the snake may be learning that lots of striking = being left alone.

the snake is probably not truely wicked and is more likely just scared and maybe taking the time to familiarize your presence with it will work.

this is just an idea and certainly not the only idea and hopefully the OP will figure out a way that will work.

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Hehe - yeah she is no normal baby biter. She is 5-6 months old, all of my baby biters have settled down. I don't want to teach her that biting works by keeping me away and I don't want to keep stressing her out.

Very good information - thanks everyone. I will just do what I've been doing and try not to upset her too much while cleaning her tub.

I like the idea with the tshirt and taking them to a cooler room. Maybe when she gets a bit bigger I'll try those.

the tshirt method is the one i used w/ my snake when i first got him... it seemed to have worked out pretty well... i only had him strike at me once, that was before the tshirt in the tank though..

good luck!

I have one like this. The good news is, the older she gets, the calmer she gets.

My advice: Leave her alone for a week, and make sure she always feels secure. Start SLOWLY. Hang around when she eats. Be sure to stop if she shows any sign of defensiveness--back off at that point. Don't let her get worked up to the point where she bites.

When you go to pick her up, move quickly--not so fast it's startling, but simply smoothly reach in and pick her up mid-body, opposite side from her head, and support her well--don't grab or restrain her. Don't hesitate, or give her warning that you're about to pick her up--that just gives her a chance to decide to strike. She'll probably NOT tag you if you just reach in fairly quickly after opening the cage. Remember that she'll strike at anything that approaches her even while she's in your hands, but she PROBABLY will not strike at the hands she is resting in, unless you move your fingers around too much.

Keep sessions very short. The point is to teach her that being picked up doesn't result in anything bad happening to her--including excessive emotional distress. Our female would get so worked up she'd just bite and bite and bite--she doesn't learn anything from that except to keep biting. Snakes aren't too bright, but they do form habits. You don't want a defensive pose to become habit, so try to make sure she spends as little time in that pose as possible. If that means leaving her alone completely until she's older, then so be it.

Our little spitfire can now be picked up and weighed, and moved to clean her cage, with reasonable certainty that she will not bite us. She was hatched in late August, so this is good progress--in the beginning, we had to distract her with a paper towel roll or use a hook, and we got tagged many times, lol. She is still a very nervous and high-strung animal, and we don't handle her a lot--but she's getting better.