I charmed my snake!

[cchardwick]

So I picked up a super dwarf reticulate python a couple weeks ago, he was wild as a wild snake can be, snapping, musking, peeing LOL. He was deep in a stuck shed and I soaked him for the third time in a plastic tote with a couple inches of 90F water. Well this time he went wild and freaked out, it was like I caught a big fish and threw it in that tote, he was going absolutely bezerk for probably a full minute! I felt really bad about it, but I kept the top on the tote and just let him finish.

Then he stopped and was motionless for a couple minutes, so I took the lid off the tote and just sat there next to him for I'd say probably a full 10 minutes while he was totally motionless. Then when I approached him I slowly turned the tote clockwise on the table about a half turn, (I find that this distracts an aggressive snake and pulls them out of aggression mode), then slowly touched him on the belly while he was in the water. Over the next 20 minutes I would touch him and hold him gently under the water with just one hand for about 20-30 seconds, then I would let just sit and watch him for several minutes. Finally at the end he was very calm and I picked him up and put him in his tub in the ARS rack. Then I left him alone for a full day.

His shed came off and it seemed like suddenly after that experience he was a totally different snake. I fed him an adult mouse tonight and instead of snapping at it aggressively or pouncing on it like a wild snake he gently grabbed it and slowly ate it! So I offered him a medium rat and he did the same thing, just slowly coiling around it! It was like he was suddenly not afraid of me, he is acting just like my very tame snakes. And our experience in the tub only lasted about 30 minutes, I guess it was just the right chain of events that lead up to him trusting me. Kind of odd?

[EL-Ziggy]

I'm glad he's settling in well for you snake whisperer .

[Ba11er]

The moment an animal realizes your not going to hurt it and starts to trust you more and more is awesome.

[ShaneSilva]

How awesome. Reminds me of my burm when I first got her

[DLena]

You are amazing! Thanks for sharing your experience. It's good to have some ideas just in case.

[cchardwick]

Well it turns out that I didn't really charm my snake after all LOL. I think he was just worn out from jumping around in the water bath. Because the next day I fed him, then the following day opened up the tub to spray it down and he started snapping at me like crazy. So I decided that I was going to handle him every day. The first day I picked him up but he still had a lump from a rat, and he started running out of my hands, so I only handled him for about 30 seconds.

Today is the second day, I picked him up and he was doing much better! (I rub him a bit with the hook before picking him up and to guide his head away from my hands). He slowed down after a minute or two and started reaching for the top of the rack, so I let him put his head up there and handled him a bit more, then after about five minutes I could tell he was starting to move faster so I put him back in his tub. I'm going to try short handling sessions every day except feeding day and a day or two after the feeding of course. Frequent direct handling for short sessions seems to have the best impact on taming down a snake. I really want this snake tamed down before he gets to be 20+ pounds.

[Tigerhawk]

Don't give up. I'm sure he will calm down with time.

[pbyeerts]

Time, time, and more time. You're doing all of the right things. Hopefully he'll settle down soon.


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[KWAddict]

I know this is an old thread but any updates, OP?


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[RickyNY]

^ We haven't heard from cchardwick since January, I think the Retic won.