Odd Behavior

[jayk_pix]

My bp seems perfectly content in my right hand, and with exploring up my right arm, but if I hold her with my left or if she senses my left hand at -all-, she goes a little crazy and feint-strikes at it.

Today, I was holding her in my right hand, and she was seeming to be more relaxed than the past couple times I've held her, so I relaxed my hand on my lap so she could explore my lap and torso like she sometimes does. My left hand didn't even twitch, or move, or anything... and all of a sudden, she's a squirming little thing, half curling around my right hand/wrist protectively and feint-striking my unmoving left hand.

When I gently lifted her by my right hand (still not moving my left) and put some distance between her and my left hand, she calmed down.

Has anyone else experienced a snake that hated a part of you?

She's young, estimated at 20 inches, but I'm not sure how much she weighs. She's only big enough to eat adult medium mice or rat hoppers. (25-35g)

She was fed on Saturday and it's now Wednesday, so she shouldn't still be tense after eating. Also, she's never struck, even a feint-strike, at me while she was in her terrarium. Always when she's out of it.

[Spaniard]

Most likely she is feeling a bit insecure. The left hand is a heat signature she's interpreting as a possible threat. When they are younger they are tiny and very defensive; this kind of behavior should tone down as they get older and bigger.

15 mins of handling a day will help; be careful not to over handle though as that can be counter productive.

[kc261]

Is there something you do frequently that might make one hand smell different than the other? Smoking is the first thing that came to mind, if you mostly hold the cig in one hand.

Even if there is something different about your left hand that she can detect, she will likely settle down soon and get used to both of your hands.

[jayk_pix]

I don't smoke or do something with one hand that I don't do with the other, that I know of at least. The only thing I can think of that's different about my left hand... is my wedding ring.

I'm not so much worried as I am curious. Even if this ends up being a long term situation, it's easily dealt with. I know that every living thing has quirks.

[BuckeyeBalls]

I wash both my hands before holding ours. So both hands smell the same every time we hold him

[jayk_pix]

Even with washing your hands thoroughly, if someone smokes, one hand will smell differently. And I don't have nearly the sensitive sense of smell that snakes have, and I can tell a difference.

Nyoka also decided that she didn't like her hide on the cool side of her tank and so was just laying out in the open instead of in the hide. (She still uses the hide on the warm side.) So I removed it. It was a different style than the one on her warm side, so I think this weekend I'll pick up one that's the same.

She's a great feeder, and regular on all her bodily functions, so having a few personality quirks is fine by me.

(She will go in the hide from the warm side if I move it to the cool side. So I don't think it's more than her prefering that type of hide.)