How gently to handle snakes

[Icedragonair]

Im a relatively new owner of snakes, and just got a new MBK, I also have a 2yr old BP. I handle my baby MBK pretty gingerly, since hes super squirmy as it is. My BP though is a big girl, and on occasion she will wind herself around something unfortunate as I handle her, like the post of a chair arm rest or the wires on my headphones. This being less than ideal I try to pull her off, she being a fairly strong girl and wanting to continue doing whatever it is she is doing will try to hang on. So I occasionally have to pry her off.

I didnt think much of it but I always kinda hate doing it, I dont like forcing animals to do things they dont want to unless I have to. Recently I was reading up on green tree pythons and there was a mention of them being very fragile, and that rough handling or pulling could even damage their spine or misalign it.

So now Im wondering if I'm being too rough. Is it safe to pull a snake away from something or uncurl it forcibly? How rough is too rough? In general Ive been pretty handsy with my BP, shes EXTREMELY mellow, and has never shown any sign of aggression, and only really gets annoyed if I do something extreme like force her mouth open to inspect it. Shes generally not stressed or nervous from handling, but I dont want to accidentally hurt her.

[wnateg]

GTP / ETB are more prone to kinked spines than other species, especially babies. A trick to get them unwrapped is to tickle their tail, not sure if that trick applies to other species, like BP/MBK.

[bcr229]

GTP / ETB are more prone to kinked spines than other species, especially babies. A trick to get them unwrapped is to tickle their tail, not sure if that trick applies to other species, like BP/MBK.

Yes, it applies to almost every snake. Get them moving and redirect the head/body to your arm or somewhere other than the object they are holding. Pulling on them just makes them grab harder.

[Reptile$ 4 Life]

ETB and GTP are generally more "fragile" especially as babies. If you do have to uncurl your bp do so gently, basically no sudden movements, and don't try to pull the snake off of whatever it is gripping on to. Yes uncurling them from a chair may take more time but it will keep you from injuring your snake. Gently uncurling a bp will not hurt the snake. Possibly make them annoyed but it won't cause them any physical damage. Defiantly don't try to pull on the MBK as they have a much more slender build that a ball python and will be more susceptible to getting hurt. It you don't want to keep uncurling them then just handle them in an open space where they can't grab anything.

[Icedragonair]

Thanks guys, I will try the tickling trick. I know BPs are more hardy and tree snakes in general are fragile, but I definitely dont want to hurt my babies. I think now I will handle a bit more gently, it just never occurred to me until now that i might be handling her too rough.

[Bogertophis]

Thanks guys, I will try the tickling trick. I know BPs are more hardy and tree snakes in general are fragile, but I definitely dont want to hurt my babies. I think now I will handle a bit more gently, it just never occurred to me until now that i might be handling her too rough.

Yes, you can injure most any snake by pulling on it > dislocation of spine etc, just as squeezing a snake can break ribs or cause other internal injuries. This is why it's so important to closely supervise children when handling snakes, but even many adults don't know either. I'll 'second' the trick of tickling the tail to make a snake go forward...but if you have a stubborn snake, you may have to gently unwind it starting from the tail.

Given some snake experience, you'll soon learn where NOT to allow your snakes to go: such as into couch cushions, where they always seem to find a tiny hole thru which to enter the inside structure & become "one" with the couch stuffing. Never allow a snake to enter something that you might have to pull them out of, including holes they might get stuck in (like in bird/garden netting, some kinds of fencing, even holes in driftwood used in their enclosures). As a snake owner, you have to think ahead for your snakes and never pull on them.