angry little one

[doronxl7]

Hey guys,
So I got my new baby pastel male and every time I open the plastic terrarium he really getting into a ball posture and tighten his muscles as it seems like, I don't hear hiss but I can see that he really deep breathing his whole body moves deeply when he breath.
When I hold him he trying to bite everywhere, the hot side temp' standing at 89.5 f, he's just a baby born at the 26 of last December. Maybe he trying to bite and looks so frightened because he too young?

p.s- I bought him at the 8th of January, Monday and he already ate the next Monday night.
When I offered him the food he acted like I described above so I left the live litter over night and he ate it (as the breeder told me to).

Any idea how to "make" him feel more comfortable near humans \ when handling so he won't always try to bite?
Actually I never had a biter snake before and I kinda scary to get bite by that little fella , As I read it's won't feel different from a cats attack and I have the meanest cat alive and I had tons of cats yet its kinda scary now

[Quahog]

Aw, bummer your baby is a bit nervous around you! This may help you out And others will also have great tips!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mOsOCUWlbTg&t=531s

[Craiga 01453]

My advice would be to allow your new snake to just acclimate to his new surroundings for a bit.
No handling for a few weeks. At that age it's most important to get the animal eating properly.
After he gets a few consecutive meals without refusal then I would start with very short handling sessions. I would start with 5-10 minutes once or twice a week, then let the snake determine how you increase length and frequency of handling sessions.

I'm actually very surprised the breeder would sell an animal that young.

[zina10]

I find this very helpful..

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S7DQssbM0uk

Btw. hatchlings can be defensive and even a bit aggressive. That is perfectly normal. Out of the 14 hatchlings I've had, there were about 4 that were on the "huffy" side.

All 4 of those were GREAT eaters, btw, so their confidence can be a great thing. All 4 calmed down nicely, not a trace of aggression left by the time they were re-homed. I think gentle, deliberate and SHORT handling is the best thing to do. As a matter of fact, mine got handled only to clean their tubs, change water and for short photo and weighing sessions. Since I checked on them at least twice daily, they got used to the tub being opened a lot. I also cleaned as soon as there was a mess, so they would get picked up at a fair amount of times.

What I didn't do was handle them for extended periods of time to "tame" them.

Short and often is the key.

How you approach them is very important. Don't let them intimidate you, LOL !! I never use a hook. Don't come at them from the front, giving them the perfect vantage point to strike and hit. I always come at them from above (and slightly behind) them. With a flat hand. I GENTLY GENTLY lower my flat hand on top of that angry little head and ever so gently put the slightest pressure on. More of a gentle push down that says "calm down". Which they do. It "snaps" them out of that "i'm gonna kill you" mode. Then you can pick them up with your hand and set them down in your other hand. Be gentle but deliberate in your movements. No jerky, nervous movements. Hold them in your hand. If they want to go back to the angry s-shape mode you once again cup them with your other hand, gently pushing down, then release again. At this point they are usually quite happy to just start exploring.

These movements are solely to gently snap them out of the "mode". This is NOT a disciplining or rough touch AT ALL, I cannot say that enough.

If you do this every time, and handle often but for SHORT times, they turn into sweet and confident noodles in no time...

I actually think its funny when they can hiss like little tea pots.

Those angry noodles actually make GREAT pet pythons. With the right handling, they give up that defensive/aggressive behavior, but they keep that confidence and are great eaters One of the most angry little ones I had is now a cherished pet. He has ZERO head shyness, you can touch him all over and he never shies back. Nothing fazes him. The new owner is besotted with him He calmed down before he went to his new home, and all I did is what I described, no extra "taming" sessions or anything of that sort.

[zina10]

Gosh, just realized how YOUNG your little one is !!! Surprised the breeder would place it at this age. Like Craigafrechette said, most important at this time is to give that little one time to settle in and relax. Its great he already ate. Keep him eating and keep the handling sessions short and sweet.

[Craiga 01453]

I find this very helpful..

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S7DQssbM0uk

Btw. hatchlings can be defensive and even a bit aggressive. That is perfectly normal. Out of the 14 hatchlings I've had, there were about 4 that were on the "huffy" side.

All 4 of those were GREAT eaters, btw, so their confidence can be a great thing. All 4 calmed down nicely, not a trace of aggression left by the time they were re-homed. I think gentle, deliberate and SHORT handling is the best thing to do. As a matter of fact, mine got handled only to clean their tubs, change water and for short photo and weighing sessions. Since I checked on them at least twice daily, they got used to the tub being opened a lot. I also cleaned as soon as there was a mess, so they would get picked up at a fair amount of times.

What I didn't do was handle them for extended periods of time to "tame" them.

Short and often is the key.

How you approach them is very important. Don't let them intimidate you, LOL !! I never use a hook. Don't come at them from the front, giving them the perfect vantage point to strike and hit. I always come at them from above (and slightly behind) them. With a flat hand. I GENTLY GENTLY lower my flat hand on top of that angry little head and ever so gently put the slightest pressure on. More of a gentle push down that says "calm down". Which they do. It "snaps" them out of that "i'm gonna kill you" mode. Then you can pick them up with your hand and set them down in your other hand. Be gentle but deliberate in your movements. No jerky, nervous movements. Hold them in your hand. If they want to go back to the angry s-shape mode you once again cup them with your other hand, gently pushing down, then release again. At this point they are usually quite happy to just start exploring.

These movements are solely to gently snap them out of the "mode". This is NOT a disciplining or rough touch AT ALL, I cannot say that enough.

If you do this every time, and handle often but for SHORT times, they turn into sweet and confident noodles in no time...

I actually think its funny when they can hiss like little tea pots.

Those angry noodles actually make GREAT pet pythons. With the right handling, they give up that defensive/aggressive behavior, but they keep that confidence and are great eaters One of the most angry little ones I had is now a cherished pet. He has ZERO head shyness, you can touch him all over and he never shies back. Nothing fazes him. The new owner is besotted with him He calmed down before he went to his new home, and all I did is what I described, no extra "taming" sessions or anything of that sort.

GREAT post, Zina!!

[L.West]

Did you say that you left a live rodent in his cage overnight?? I wouldn't recommend doing that. You can leave f/t in all night but never live.

[Sunnieskys]

You should talk to ttaylor about coffee bean trying to kill her lol

[sparky767]

Great timing for this thread! My little guy got strikey with me when I took him out of his home after his two week acclimation period of non-handling. He ate twice, no problems, and I gave him 3 days after I fed him to attempt to handle him. He was NOT having it! So these vids and the words in this thread will be my guide! lol

[itsjustkarma]

I find this very helpful..

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S7DQssbM0uk

Btw. hatchlings can be defensive and even a bit aggressive. That is perfectly normal. Out of the 14 hatchlings I've had, there were about 4 that were on the "huffy" side.

All 4 of those were GREAT eaters, btw, so their confidence can be a great thing. All 4 calmed down nicely, not a trace of aggression left by the time they were re-homed. I think gentle, deliberate and SHORT handling is the best thing to do. As a matter of fact, mine got handled only to clean their tubs, change water and for short photo and weighing sessions. Since I checked on them at least twice daily, they got used to the tub being opened a lot. I also cleaned as soon as there was a mess, so they would get picked up at a fair amount of times.

What I didn't do was handle them for extended periods of time to "tame" them.

Short and often is the key.

How you approach them is very important. Don't let them intimidate you, LOL !! I never use a hook. Don't come at them from the front, giving them the perfect vantage point to strike and hit. I always come at them from above (and slightly behind) them. With a flat hand. I GENTLY GENTLY lower my flat hand on top of that angry little head and ever so gently put the slightest pressure on. More of a gentle push down that says "calm down". Which they do. It "snaps" them out of that "i'm gonna kill you" mode. Then you can pick them up with your hand and set them down in your other hand. Be gentle but deliberate in your movements. No jerky, nervous movements. Hold them in your hand. If they want to go back to the angry s-shape mode you once again cup them with your other hand, gently pushing down, then release again. At this point they are usually quite happy to just start exploring.

These movements are solely to gently snap them out of the "mode". This is NOT a disciplining or rough touch AT ALL, I cannot say that enough.

If you do this every time, and handle often but for SHORT times, they turn into sweet and confident noodles in no time...

I actually think its funny when they can hiss like little tea pots.

Those angry noodles actually make GREAT pet pythons. With the right handling, they give up that defensive/aggressive behavior, but they keep that confidence and are great eaters One of the most angry little ones I had is now a cherished pet. He has ZERO head shyness, you can touch him all over and he never shies back. Nothing fazes him. The new owner is besotted with him He calmed down before he went to his new home, and all I did is what I described, no extra "taming" sessions or anything of that sort.

Glad I came across this post, so helpful! I brought home a younger VPI Axanthic Spider boy and he's been an absolute snapping machine. He got my husband once on the trip home from the reptile show (I can only imagine the stress he was experiencing, poor thing) and has just missed me several times. I wear gloves when handling just to help my confidence because I'm still a little jumpy myself. Going to definitely give this method a try. I'm not new to snakes, but he is the first challenging one I've had, so it is a whole new world lol. Hoping he mellows out. The pythons I've owned in the past have all been such docile sweethearts, I'd be a bit bummed if he were one of those snarky ones.