One of the YTs I sold came back to me as an adult three years later. The person who purchased him held him often as a baby but began getting intimidated by him once he began putting on some size.Originally Posted by wilomn
He bought a trap box for a venomous snake and utilized it to clean the cage, remove sheds, etc. In typical cribo fashion the snake would tail rattle and huff and puff every time this dude so much as entered the room.
So he calls me and asks me if I want the snake back and tells me why he wants to give him up. I advised him to get a pair of stout leather gloves (preferably lineman's) and sack up and start handling him.
So the first time he takes Ol Yeller out of the cage, Yeller clamps down hard on his hand. The gentleman feels the pressure but roughs out the short handling session like a champ. He related to me over the phone that Yeller was eyeballing him the whole time he put the chomps on him. It unnerved him.........
He lived about 15 minutes from me, so the second day he asks me to stop by on my way home from work. I go into the room where he keeps the snake and ask if I can give handling him a shot. I use a hook to get him out but ditch the gloves after Ol Yeller allows me to remove him from his cage with no huffing or tail rattling. I got a YT stare in the face with a nice huff but no other untoward aggression.
Heartened to some degree he continues his handling sessions. After I leave and on day 3, Yeller gives him an initial chomp on the glove, but immediately lets go once his mouth hits the leather.
On day four he takes the big brute out and handles him for about five minutes with the gloves on. No biting, no tail rattling - not even a huff. Feeling relaxed he takes of both gloves and immediately gets a lacerating chomp on his right hand.
Relating the incident, the owner (now the previous owner) swears that Yeller suckered him into removing his glove - that somehow he equated the donning of the gloves as a consequence of his threat displays.
While I have no way of measuring snake intelligence, I have seen how drys will dominate a tentative or inexperienced handler. I have also seen drys that seem to know how many prey items they should receive. I have never been around a reptile that is so aware of not only their physical surroundings but of the people around them. Sometimes I feel that I'm on display for them.
Ever been tagged by one?
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