No idea why but im scared! lol

[Stubean15]

im sure im gonna get some laughs and some head shakes for posting this but here it is.. my whole life ive never been afraid to hold a snake.. even now im not.. i could walk in to any petsmart were their snakes are constantly afraid and stressed be handed one, and have zero problems with it doing whatever but i just noticed something today

i got my first ball python 2 weeks ago today, he ate his first meal in my possession 4 days ago.. so i figure 2 weeks for acclimatization and 4 days is more than enough after a meal so im gonna start handling him and getting him used to the idea.. great so i take the lid off his cage, slowly take his hide off of him and reach for him.. then i realized this is the first time ive ever stuck my hand in to pick up a snake, ive always been handed them.. the next thing i know ive completely chickened out and haven't tried since..

idk if its the fact ive seen him eat and it freaks me out or the fact reaching in his cage puts him on edge and therefore me or a combination of both..

ive done the research seen the videos of people being bitten by bps twice the size of mine.. seen their teeth and i know it hurts less than a shot from the doctor but i for whatever reason have a crippling fear of picking this thing up..

please tell me that this is normal lol cus all my friends that have snakes say they were never afraid and now im wondering if im even cut out to have one lol..

should i just quit being a baby and force myself to do it?

[JLC]

should i just quit being a baby and force myself to do it?

Without any laughing or headshaking involved...I believe you already know the answer to this question.

IF he should try to strike at you...the worst part of it is simply being startled. It's really no big deal. But chances are pretty unlikely that he'll try. If he was going to try, he would have done so with your hand just hovering in the enclosure.

I really believe you only need to do it once to get over your initial anxiety. Just reach in and gently scoop him up around the middle and lift him out. It'll take all of 3-4 seconds and then your fear will be gone.

One thing you can try beforehand is to picture him striking and biting....and imagine yourself just watching it calmly and not reacting at all...because really, it won't hurt in any real way and he's not being mean, he's just trying to scare you away....and you're so much bigger and stronger than he is. So imagine yourself being completely calm and cool under that scary situation.

Give it a try and let us know how it goes.

[Jeo123]

Put a sock over your hand if you're really worried. At that age, even if they did strike, the thickness of the sock should be enough to prevent any scratches.

If nothing else, it'll give you a feeling of security.

If that fails, you could always buy one of those cheap snake hooks until you get comfortable picking him up.

[snakesRkewl]

As JLC says, it's the strike that is the fear, the bite isn't a big deal at all(unless were talking 3000 gram snakes)

You just have to suck it up and handle the snake

*I would think a sock would be a bad thing, the snakes teeth could catch on it possibly hurting the snake?*

[BbyBoa]

With BPs its all in your head, these little guys 90% of the time are little angels and have great dispositions, when your going in to it tell yourself what is the worst thing that could happen? he could on the slight chance bite you and your reaction will be to jump and then laugh because you realize that it didn't hurt at all, and then you pick him up anyways and it gets you over your fear. So its a win win, you get over your fear, and you can get on and tell everyone you took your first bite from a BP "this is worst case scenario".

[angllady2]

I don't think you are being irrational. Truthfully, being handed a snake and picking one up on your own are two totally different things. I've handled lots of snake over my lifetime, all handed to me or placed on me by the owner.

When it came time to hold my own, I was very nervous. Not so much of being bitten, but that I would hurt her. I had to try three or four times before I took a deep breath, gritted my teeth and picked her up. Know what happened ? Not a darn thing. After that first time it was easy, and I'll even pick up unfamiliar snakes with permission.

So your best bet is to realize being nervous is normal, you already know a bite is not likely, and if you did get bitten it won't hurt, so take a deep breath and just reach in and pick him up. Once you do it the first time, you'll forget you were ever scared.

Gale

[theartofsolitude]

i dont know if i'm weird, but every time i pick up my snakes, i prepair myself from being bit. haha. i know its crazy, but that's how i overcame my fear of them. i had one of my normals strike me, but since i'm prepared, its like, "ummm okay" haha. it's scary if you totally trusted it it wont strike at you and it did, at the very least.

the difference between me before having these snakes and after having them for a while is whenever i put my hand inside the cage..

before: "i hope he wont bite, but what if he strikes my face, bites my hand, his teeth in my skin, and squeeze my arm really bad. it would hurt so bad!"

now: "hi there little buddy, i should gently tap his body with a snake hook,so i dont surprise it (dramatically lessens the chances of defensive strike), and if it strikes, it strikes, it's a snake i dont expect it to bark. and oh, i'm like 1,230,234 times larger than this thing."

[sarahlovesmiike]

My normals have never ever struck at me. I recently got a new boy who isn't used to being handled and so I just leave him alone, but he has struck at me a few times. I'm not worried about being bitten, but I do get really apprehensive about picking him up because I'm afraid I will pull back and rip his teeth out or something

[djansen]

just lead with the palm of your hand, that way if she strikes it will bounce off and you wont feel as much.

[boogerbob]

I was pretty intimidated when I first got my bp.. it took another fellow snake lover coming over to get me going. Lol..

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