Recognizing a strike/bite before it happens?

[Savage420Siege]

Hey people!

Have had my baby BP for two weeks now. Seams to be getting comfortable in it's new home. Has eaten twice now, and explores terrarium day and night. The first night I had it I was positioning a temp probe and it struck my hand (my fault) it was stressed out and I was working in front of it. I am keeping handling to a minimum for now intil it gets very comfortable. It is still fairly shy and is "jumpy" at times. When handled it stays balled up in my hand but sometimes will start to cruise around on my arm or lap. I am not afraid of being bitten I just dont want my snake to be stressed out. For this reason I have been avoiding touching it near it's head. When I lift the hide and first pick it up it's neck is in the classic "S" shape, but I read somewhere that it does not necessarily mean it is going to strike. Is there any for sure "tell tale sign" that the snake is in an aggressive/defensive mode and is very likely to strike?

[Kaorte]

Think of what they look like right before they strike at a mouse. They have the S shape neck but they holding their head and neck above the ground. That is the strike pose.

The S shape and hissing are pretty good indicators that your BP feels threatened. It doesn't necessarily mean it is going to strike or bite you, but that doesn't mean it doesn't feel threatened.

It is kind of hard to explain the body language. Over time, you will begin to see the signs better.

I don't even know if that made sense XD

[akaprincesssophia]

The S shape and hissing are pretty good indicators that your BP feels threatened. It doesn't necessarily mean it is going to strike or bite you, but that doesn't mean it doesn't feel threatened.

It is kind of hard to explain the body language. Over time, you will begin to see the signs better.


X2 i have to agree about the "S" not always meaning it wants to strike because sometimes when im very gentle with picking up my girl she might do the S shape a little bit but never hisses and just lets me pick her up. i always pick her up with my hand behind her head or on the side kinda and always stroke her a little before i do and once i have her in my hand she shows no signs of wanting to strike not sure if this helps but i figured ill put my two cents in HAPPY MEMORIAL DAY TO EVERYONE!

[Savage420Siege]

Ok,

so someone said that if you are bit while handling not to put the snake back until it has calmed down, otherwise you are just rewarding bad behaviour and letting the snake know that if it bites it will be left alone. Does everyone agree with this? On the same note, lets say I pick up the hide, give the snake a little rub on the side, and it hisses at me...proceed to handle it with caution and confidence or leave it alone?

[Kaorte]

Ok,

so someone said that if you are bit while handling not to put the snake back until it has calmed down, otherwise you are just rewarding bad behaviour and letting the snake know that if it bites it will be left alone. Does everyone agree with this? On the same note, lets say I pick up the hide, give the snake a little rub on the side, and it hisses at me...proceed to handle it with caution and confidence or leave it alone?

I would agree with that.

When I go to get a snake out of its enclosure I approach from the side, gently touch the side and then scoop it up. If it hisses, I pick it up anyway. Eventually they will learn that hissing will not make me go away and I am not going to hurt them.

[akaprincesssophia]

im only saying this because of everything i read on this forum from all these wonderful people... snakes arent intelligent enough to think hey if i bite him he'll put me back in the cage so i would have to say that thats isnt true and as for the hissing part even after stroking it and letting it know ur not there to hurt them i would say proceed with caution if ur not scared of getting bit and hopefully this way they will get used to getting handled.

if im wrong about anything let me know guys, im happy to learn as much as i can about these beautiful animals

[angllady2]

I don't know if snakes are capable of the reasoning behind, "If I bite they will leave me alone".

I DO know they can learn hissing doesn't always scare us away. My first BP, Nago, hissed at me when I touched him from the day we brought him home. He was scared and it was the only thing he knew to do to show me he could be plenty tough if he had to.

Now, even though he is the tamest of my babies, he still hisses every time I get him out, but I think it is because he feels he's supposed to. Let me put it like this, at first he'd huddle down and back away from me and hiss. I'd pick him up gently anyway and hold him and show him I wasn't going to hurt him. Now, when I go to pick him up, he reaches up for me all excited to get some "mom" time, but as soon as he feels me lift on him, he pauses, and then hisses. After that he's ready for play time. Once or twice he's "forgotten" to hiss, then once I have him up in my hand, he "remembers" and gives me a little hiss. Except I call it "Huffing" since his mouth stays closed.

I do know if you are watching closely, you can tell the difference between a simple S curve that all snakes do all the time, and an 'I'm going to bite you" S curve.

Gale

[punkoldschool]

all ive noticed different is he shakes a bit when its time for a munch and he's about to strike and when im handling him if he goes into a s shape theres no shake so im not worried