Help with Halen

[Vomitore]

Heya guys. Ok, I need some help. Halen has become SO aggressive the last 2 weeks. She's always hissing, striking and has bit me, luckily I had gloves on. I'm not sure what to do. I've tried putting a shirt of mine in her tank to get used to my scent, no luck. She has plenty of hides so it's not like she cant feel comfortable and safe in her tank. I know if my grandma gets wind of her being aggressive she's gonna tell me I'll need to get rid of her. Any help is appreciated.

[spcstarkey]

have u tried leting leaving her alone for a week before u try to pick her up because she might just be stressed and needs more time to reajust

[aaajohnson]

The pastel we have is/was very agressive, and my daughter has been working with him using a technique she picked up on a field trip to the zoo. No guarantees, but this is what she does.

She holds a flat object in front of Blaze, in her case she uses a tin lid from one of the kids games (non reflective side). She approches the snake from behind with her hand and removes him all the time keeping the lid in front of him. If he starts to turn, she moves the lid. Usually in a few minutes he has calmed down, and the last couple times she has not needed the lid. He has stopped striking at everyone, so I am hoping he is starting to relax. --- Yes, my daughter is amazing for only being 12, and I think she has found her calling.

Neil

[Vomitore]

Oh cool. I'll try that. As for the post above you, yeah I gave her a week of no handling, and I had her cage covered up so nothing from the outside could stress her out.

[frankykeno]

Hmmm not a bad idea Neil, give the snake something to focus on while she safely gets a good grip on him. You've got a smart daughter there! I know I've used a glove gently dropped on Brannagh's head to temporarily confuse her while I got a good hold on her.

Mike just some questions. Can you think back to anything that changed for right around the time Halen started striking so much? Anything that may have be triggering it? Also sometimes they just go through this once they have settled in and are feeling secure enough to defend their space. Brannagh was always worse around her enclosure. She'd hit like mad, then struggle for a bit in our grip but as we gradually worked with her away from her enclosure she calmed down very well. Have you noted if Halen calms down once removed or does it continue the whole time you are handling? Is the striking causing you to not handle (so Halen is basically learning that striking will drive you away)?

All I can advise is to check if anything could be stressing Halen out unduly. Continue reasonable handling in a calm, firm manner (watch that you are indeed calm as I truly believe they can easily read our stress and it makes them worse). We made it a policy with Brannagh and all our snakes that they come out of the tub in a calm way and they don't go back in unless they are calm so that they learn to equate both procedures w/o fear or distress. I'd say keep the gloves on, why take a bite you don't need to take right.

Also facts are facts and some snakes never handle well. We've not had one like that yet but I figure it's bound to happen one day. I believe Adam mentioned once about one of his prized females that can't stand the sight of him (I think she should come to Auntie Jo's house )

[Vomitore]

Well, we did have a feeding incident. Halen has 3 hides, and when I went to go feed her, she was in her middle hide. Well, I got out her fuzzy with a pair of feeding tongs. I went to put the fuzzy on the right side hide. Well, before I got to, someone IM'd me and I went and replied, "Brb, feeding the snakes.". Well, without me knowing she moved of to the hide on the right side. Well when I put the fuzzy in her tank, she came out and struck the tongs, looked at me, and popped back into her hide. My first thought was "OMG I hope I didn't break her jaw!". after that incident, I gave her 8 days of no handling, and 100% privacy with a covered tank. I only changed her water and checked to see if she went to the bathroom. After that, I held her, and she was fine, and I always talk soflty to her before I handle her, and I always made sure she was out and about from her hides, as not to disturb her while she's hiding. However, she just went back to being REALLY aggressive and striking. I'm not gonna give up on her, but I do hope she can become a lil less aggressive.