How Long To Let New Arrivals Settle In Before Handling?/Tips For Taming?

[Aedryan Methyus]

It hast to be scary to them when this giant animal swoops towards them, mouth first. LOL

Fee Fi Fo Fum! lol

[GoingPostal]

Yes I really think leaving them alone for the most part they still calm hugely with age. I do peek in on them daily and often do a little poke or stroke down the sides so they know I will be in the cage and occasionally touching them, not just opening to feed/change water. I'm lucky my newest has been really calm from the start, he's struck at me once while getting out of the cage and nothing since. I find getting them out is the worst part so best to be quick about it, don't give them time to start thrashing the rear end around lol.

[Aedryan Methyus]

Hey guys,
I thought maybe you guys would be interested in a little update on my progress with these three. I decided that today was going to be the day they came out of their tubs (on day 7 after their delivery). I am happy to say that there was not any incident whatsoever with the little Sumatran pair. I pulled their tubs out and sat it on the floor and sat down on the floor with them. I gave them a little rub with my hook and picked them right up. I held each of them for maybe 2 minutes and let them gently slither out of my hands back into their tubs and slid them back into the rack. Neither of them tensed up or struck at me or anything. The Matrix girl, unfortunately, was a different story... I tried the same procedure with her and she wasn't having it. Since she is a lot bigger I actually slid my hook up underneath of her to give her an initial lift and as soon as I reached in to pick her up she threw her whole body up out of the tub and onto the floor and started to take flight. I used the hook to gently get her back into her tub, after which , she struck at me a couple more times. So, I just put her tub back in the rack. I have to admit, that one is a bit intimidating, because she has a little size to her. All 3 of these guys pack sooo much power into their strikes, just as the species is known for! I'm pretty sure that getting hit by the Matrix at her size wouldn't feel very good...

So, anyway... I'm definitely happy with how things went with the Sumatrans. I'm going to have to give the Matrix some more time, I guess. It's a shame that the breeder apparently had not ever spent any time working with her...

[zina10]

Great job on the two younger ones ! off to a good start

Has the Matrix ever eaten for you yet ? If not, I'd leave her alone until she eats. Just something about a full belly that seems to make them a bit more settled.

Did the breeder mention that she was a bit..twitchy ? While most calm down with age and are defensive as babies, not many actually fling themselves around at that age anymore. You can still tame her down, some are just more high strung then others and she may be.

Just leave her be completely until she eats. After that, open the tub a couple to three times the day. Just to open it and close it. Eventually open the tub and touch her. Ignore any hissy fits, just stroke her and close the tub. After she is used to that happening, and also having eaten at least a couple of times, you can pick her up and if she is good with that, set her right back down. After a few of those, pick her up and sit with her in the lap quietly for a while. And then build up on that..

[Aedryan Methyus]

Hi Zina,
The Matrix hasn't eaten for me yet and only one of the Sumatrans has so far. I'm going to try again on Monday. I haven't actually ever spoken with the breeder directly. These guys came from a brick and mortar pet shop in Wisconsin and the breeder either owns the place or just works there. All of the questions I had were relayed back and forth through employees. I had asked if these snakes have had much handling and the girl simply said, "no" (as she sorta laughed)... lol

But, yes... I'm going to leave her alone until maybe a couple of days after she has eaten and try it again...

[Jowens]

It is refreshing to hear some other perspectives here.

Most sources on the internet say the only way to tame these guys down is with regular handling. If the end goal is to gain trust then I would imagine, like Zina10 said, uneventful interactions of any kind will move you in the right direction. My new Borneo is a very nervous guy, and I just don't see handling will do him any good at this point.

AM - I have had my first Borneo since Sept (hatched in May), my Sumatran since Jan (hatched in Aug) and I got my second Borneo not quite three weeks ago. He is 8 months old.

[Neal]

Everybody else in touching base with the husbandry and stuff so I'll say I generally at least give 3 days to calm down, more so depending on the species and if it is to bother them it's normally to feed. With bloods, I would say wait about a week.

I don't have a ton of experience with bloods but some of the ones that I've dealt with were cage aggressive. What we would do is use a snake hook touch them and some would be a bit more calm. Others they had to be out of the cage. Then one or two just stayed bitey. Hope this helps.

[Aedryan Methyus]

In case this might help new Blood owners in the future I thought I would post an update. Since I originally posted this my 2016 Sumatrans have become little sweethearts and haven't struck once for a couple of weeks now and I sit with each of them for around 30 minutes a day. They seemed to have sorta just changed their demeanor with time. My recommendation for new arrivals is to just leave them completely along for their first 2 weeks other than cleaning and feeding. I also recommend skipping their first feeding for a week. That is basically the same thing most people recommend, but I can attest that it seems to help settle them down. After they settled in for a couple of weeks, I began hook training. I just rub them with my hook to let them know i'm there then I slide the hook under them, so I can get my hand under them and pick them up. I just sit in a chair in my snake room and let them crawl around and explore.

My 2015 has taken a lot more patience, since she was older and was basically never handled. I am very happy to say that I finally had my first successful handling with her last night, though! For the past couple of weeks I have been just rubbing her with my hook while she's in her tub for a few minutes a day. I would also pick her up with the hook and set her right back down a couple of times. She would basically sit completely still (and tensed up) while I was rubbing her with the hook and the moment she saw a hand coming towards her she would start throwing her whole body around and taking flight. Last night I was determined that I was going to actually hold her, so instead of sitting there stroking her with the hook for a few minutes, I just stroked her quickly, slid the hook right under her and picked her up and there was no thrashing around whatsoever. I just held her in my hands over her tub and at first she kept trying to crawl out of my hands into her hide in the tub. She finally gave up and sat still in my hands for a couple of minutes until I put her back in the tub. I think where I was going wrong with her was spending too much time hesitating and rubbing her with the hook instead of simply picking her up. I'm pretty sure she probably knew she had me intimidated and was putting on a big show. Last night, it probably surprised her. She was probably thinking, "What the...??? He actually did it???" LOL! This was just a baby step with this girl, but it's a step in the right direction. I'm going to continue doing this same thing daily for a few days then i'm going to start sitting with her in my lap.

I will post updates as progress is made...

[zina10]

That is what I did with Sandor, once you pick them up they kind of "give up" for the moment, LOL.

Just spend a few days just sitting still. Be prepared that as soon as you move or get up, or someone walks by, she might have a mini anxiety attack again. Just stay calm and move calm but DELIBERATE. Eventually you can start moving around more.

[Aedryan Methyus]

We need some snakey poo Xanax! lol