How to hand tame a hatchling.

[Ashley Abomination]

Hey guys I recently got a new hatchling who doesn't seem to have been handled much. His hatch date is 06/27. Ive been trying to handle him for at least 30 minutes every morning and every night. He is slowly getting a little better but still fear strikes alot. I have 2 females and never had this issue with them. Any advice to help the process?

[StillBP]

Time and patience

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[Regius_049]

Time and patience

Pretty much this. The best way to be consistent and do as you are doing, handle it periodically for short periods. I think 30 minutes might be overall though. 10 minutes a day or every other day would likely be sufficient to garner results, but it will take time. You want the experience to minimize stress, if you handle too long, you run the risk to doing more damage than good in some cases. This is pretty general though as you mention simply that you got a snake "who doesn't seem to have been handled much" and "I have 2 females and never had this issue with them". This is very vague and does tell us much about what problems you are specifically having.

Does the snake bite? Is it overly squirmy?

In birds or mammals, a common suggestion is to place the animal or animal's enclosure in a room with heavy foot traffic which allows them to have constant exposure to human activity, but they can view it from a safe location. I have not tested this theory in snakes or other reptiles, but I can verify that they do learn via positive reinforcement and generally tame down over time with human interaction.

[SinCitySerpents]

A lot of times exposure won't be best answer and reducing handling (at least in the short term) could be more proactive. As he gains confidence/comfort in enclosure and falls into a solid eating regimine (and actually as they put on some size) they often will mellow out largely on there own assuming all husbandry requirements are being optimally met.

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[Hannahshissyfix]

In my experience the handling for an hour a day will have the opposite effect. Some are just defensive no matter what until they get some size and confidence built up. Handling more may just stress them. Is it eating regularly? That'll be a big indicator if you're now over handling. I never hold any of my snakes for an hour a day. I have plenty of babies that I never handle beyond moving for a few seconds to clean tubs and to quick health checks/weights and they are equally laid back as handled ones. Just give it time and space and after a couple hundred grams it will be more forgiving.

[Prognathodon]

What I have done with timid/shy babies that just stay balled up is to relax on the couch with the ball-o-BP inside my shirt, sitting on my chest (shelf not required, guys just have to lounge back more ) and do nothing with/to the snake. Shy snake gets to sit in a warm hide that smells like giant scary monster, but nothing scary happens. Eventually, and it may take multiple sessions, they relax and start exploring. I peek down the shirt and say hi and if that's scary they ball back up. Eventually they learn we're not scary.

If a baby is more active they get brief handling sessions, which may include making a cave out of my hands if that seems to calm them.

For nippy babies, don't give them a target! Keep them mostly pointed away from you, and keep your hands out from in front of them. If you need to do snake treadmill, bring your hand up from below and behind their head.

If the snake is big enough, gently put your second hand on or next to your first hand or whatever they're already resting on and slide it along the snake's body to where you want it - it seems to startle them less, my guess is it feels like they're the one moving. I learned that one with my extremely head-shy Bredli.

Training/taming snakes is like any other animal in broad terms - short sessions, keep it simple/low stress, aim to end with both you and them "happy". Extended time/lessons wait until the basics are solid.


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