Dealing with extremely shy snake?

[Spaniard]

Hey all,

One of my latest aquisitions, Rowan, has settled in and is eating regularly for about 4-6 weeks now, off the tub floor. Since she's been here she has always acted very shy during tub cleaning and very minimal handling. No matter what she thinks I'm going to eat her everytime I open her tub. I make plenty of noise so as to not sneak up on her but no matter what when I pick up that hide she freaks out. Frantically trying to escape and bumping her face into the edges of the tank. She's obviously not going to get any better if I don't handle her but does anyone have any suggested time limits or perhaps suggestions. I've stopped handling her because I don't want her to go off feed and I don't want to stress her out. I also don't want her to be this shy and crazy when it comes to handling her, any advice would be appreciated.

[McAdry]

well with our wild caught saoirse,once we got her eating and everything, I would just take her out while I or jo was cleaning her home built on it from there she's still not really into being handled dons't need it she will sit with me for a 15 minutes to a half an hour now come out of her ball and exlpore a bit but truely she dosn't really care one way or the other she tolerates me better then jo for some reason. We have gotten her eating she still fasts every winter and she's clam in her home so for her we just try and let her be where she is most comfortable hope that helps .

[Spaniard]

I guess I'll play it by ear. She's my biggest girl and yet she is the most shy, go figure. Thanks for the comment it was helpful.

[bearhart]

My BP is very tame but he insists on acting like I'm going to eat him whenever I take him out of his tank. I know he knows better but I've just come to think of him as hopelessly paranoid.

You know, I have very little real experience to back what I say up so take it or leave it....

I'm kind of on the fence with the "leave them alone and let them relax" vs. "keep up regular contact to tame and desensitize them" issue. I'm sure there is some good middle ground but when it boils down to it I'm pretty a fan of the latter. For my snake, most handling recommendations are absurdly conservative. Also, my opinion is that leaving the snake alone and undisturbed while dutifully dropping mice in once a week is simply a way to raise an un-tame, ungrateful dependent. If taming your snake by regular contact does not work then I don't think anything will. BUT, if you don't tame your snake by regular contact I do think that you may risk getting poor results out of a potentially good pet.

Also, do not underestimate the intelligence of your snake. Mine knows who I am and when I'm going to pick him up. Depending on the situation he will make it clear to me how he feels about it:

1) Not interested/leave me alone. He's in this mode post-feed, pre-potty, pre-shed, or when he's just not happy. This is demonstrated by general reclusiveness, flopping when picked up, and immediate and relentless fidgeting while being held. If I put him down on the bed he will not explore but instead crawl into the bedding and hide. When I go to pick him back up he'll try flopping or slithering away as well as trying to hook himself on something. (Flopping is my term for being very loose and uncooperative. Imagine the difference between picking up an unconcious person and a concious one.) However, I must say that I'll give him a little break when he's like this but unless he's just eaten or is in-blue I still make him put up with a little handling daily.

2) Be very very quiet I'm hunting wabbits... This is his more active self close to feeding day. This is kind of like 1 except he usually initiates by trying to get out of the case. He does not fight being picked up and if put him down he'll start surverying the room intently instead of hiding.

3) Chillin These are the in between days when he's very cooperative and not very motivated.

Sounds like you're getting a whole lot of #1. I would say you should not let up but at the same time make sure you are not terrifying your snake so much that it is not actually learning that you are, indeed, not going to eat it (yet....bwahahhaha). Other than that I must say that I have had pets that just aren't right and can never be reached. Like people, once in a while one pops out that is frickin' crazy. How you handle that case personal matter.

Best of luck to you.

[frankykeno]

Rich, I'd suggest you just start setting up gentle, but very consistent handling habits and stick to them like the very devil. Same evening, same time, same quiet experience, over and over and over again. Ensure that the removal and return to the enclosure is as quiet and non-stressful as possible. Develop physical routines the snake can learn and begin to understand are non-threatening.

For instance, when we are cleaning or feeding we have certain routines but for handling we have a very standard routine. Open the tub, remove hide if snake is in it, gently stroke the snake down it's back avoiding the head, after a bit lift the snake out supporting it's body. No sudden moves, no grabbing or having one of the kids bouncing around or loud music. We feel it's really important to have the removal and return to the enclosure be a very low stress event for the snake.

Then we just sit with them, usually with the tv on, the living quiet and just relax. Don't even really bother them if they are balled up or nervous acting. Just sit relax, don't focus on the snake and let them decide when they want to stop fussing about. If they try to escape we just move them back to our laps by their bodies, avoiding the head and not grabbing from above so we don't trigger an "omg they are going to EAT me!!" response.

It might only be a 10 minute deal but as long as the snake is relaxed somewhat when it goes back into it's home, we consider it a good experience. Each snake is unique, so we handle them somewhat differently once we figure out what makes each the most comfortable with the experience. Just stay calm, consistent, develop simple habits, you'll do just fine.

[noob08]

So i bought my bp about 2 weeks ago and its had its first feeding go well ive handled it a few times and its second feed is comming up this monday. But everytime i handle it its basicly use to me i guess but i just want to make sure...basicly it explores and isnt as shy as when i first got it...it would freeze up in hand at the first sight of movement now i can move around and she seems fine and everytime i try to put her back it seems she want to stay in my hand is this a good sign?

[darkangel]

So i bought my bp about 2 weeks ago and its had its first feeding go well ive handled it a few times and its second feed is comming up this monday. But everytime i handle it its basicly use to me i guess but i just want to make sure...basicly it explores and isnt as shy as when i first got it...it would freeze up in hand at the first sight of movement now i can move around and she seems fine and everytime i try to put her back it seems she want to stay in my hand is this a good sign?

Uh... yeah! I can tell when my snakes want to go back because they get really "squirmy," no longer exploring the area, but trying to get away.