A nippy SOB!!!

[smoffler]

okay so i fed my new male yesterday, (guy i bought him from said he was eating small rats but i wasnt soo sure so i fed him a feeder mouse) but he seem more interested in tagging my hands other than eating at first the mouse crawled all over him and even started to fall asleep next to him and it wasnt until i walked away and came back in 30 seconds that he was "hugging" the mouse lol, but after the feeding he was back to his pissy ways, any way to go about this??? i love him to death as he is a light colored normal compared to my female, and he is about 16 inches long maybe a little bigger, but i just want to handle him without him biting and acting like pissy.

anyways to get him to stop??

here is a pic of him

[Eulogy13]

well if you want to handle him youll just have to man up and take the hits lol

[kristan]

I have a baby blood that is a bit nippy if you "try" to pick her up. If I just reach in and pick her up quickly with one giant motion she is absolutely fine and a complete sweetheart. However, if I open her enclosure and look at her for a minute while I think about where I want to put my hand, etc., I will get a lot of puffing and a little nip.

[Nick_bp]

i agree, your just going to have to take it. im sure once you start handling him and he starts getting used to you he will start mellowing out. How Long have you actually had him?

[ice#1]

most baby snakes are nippy they got to be if they weren't they would get eaten by everything that walked by them in the wild yes these aint wild snakes but a few decades of captive breeding aint going to get rid of millions of years of evolution. and in my experience most calm down once they start to pack on some size and dont think of themselves as being food for anything bigger that walks by them.

like others have said just take it with a shrug and get over it babies don't hurt when compared to a adult biting you I've been bitten over a dozen times in the last few days alone and thats just from 1 of the 2 babies i got they don't even draw blood when they bite me but they always seem to get me on calluses but even if they got me on the end of my fingerer I'd rather be bitten by a baby then by an adult any day of the week.

kristan how old is your blood mine was suppose to be nippy but aint ever hissed or struck at me or my son and had mine close to 6 months and if i rember right it will be a year old in October. but yes you can't sit there thinking of where your going to grab them from as any animal can sense fear and that is what worrying about where your going to grab them is is fear so they go on the defensive my blood will crawl up my arm if i stick it in the cage and leave it there but I'm not worried if it bites me. now it's bigger cousin i got a around 10 foot burm yeah i wont even get it out the cage unless somebody else is around not out of fear for my life but i got a 4 year old son so dont want to take a chance. of it getting a hold of him then having to kill the burm for attacking a human

[mozbink]

okay so i fed my new male yesterday, (guy i bought him from said he was eating small rats but i wasnt soo sure so i fed him a feeder mouse) but he seem more interested in tagging my hands other than eating at first the mouse crawled all over him and even started to fall asleep next to him and it wasnt until i walked away and came back in 30 seconds that he was "hugging" the mouse lol, but after the feeding he was back to his pissy ways, any way to go about this??? i love him to death as he is a light colored normal compared to my female, and he is about 16 inches long maybe a little bigger, but i just want to handle him without him biting and acting like pissy.

anyways to get him to stop??

here is a pic of him

Check your husbandry. Temp, humidty, hides, security ect ect.

Then make sure he has two appropriate sized meals in him before you start to worry about his being nippy.

My ball was being underfed when I got her, and was pissy and bit me the first time I ever picked her up. I thought she was going to be a problem. But after two appropriat sized meals she calmed down to a demeaner that was more ball python like.

Before that she coiled and struck, hissed anytime I was in her tub. Now the only time she acts like that is she is in shed and I need to move /change her water around...

[stratus_020202]

He's probably still hungry. I think I would have gone with two feeder mice in substitute of a small rat. Maybe even three. He'll be in a better mood when he's full. Assuming husbandry is correct.

[Bellabob]

The only really good way of taming a snake is manning up and just handle the snake. Take the hits, and take the hits, until the snake knows you aren't going to hurt him, and that you aren't a threat to him. And after a couple days of frequent handling he should calm down.

Good luck.

[ladywhipple02]

Here's a couple of suggestions that DON'T include taking the hits:

The space he's in seems very open which may be freaking him out. Remember, he's a little guy and you're a VERY big predator to him. Make him feel safe and cozy. Put some wadded up paper balls or paper towel in there with him, anything that will press around him from all sides and make him feel tightly enclosed and safe. BPs hide out in small tunnels and burrows in the wild... a comfy snake = a happy snake = a snake that doesn't bite you!

Another trick that I've used myself---with a nippy bullsnake---is to get an old t-shirt that you've worn either to workout in or just plain old sweat in. Don't wash it, wad it up, and put it in his cage for a week or two. Something about the scent makes them more comfortable around you. Don't know how it works, but it does and did!

Hope that helps!

EDIT: I remembered another training tactic... hook training. Get a snake hook! When you're starting out, run the hook over his back and neck to get him used to it. Then you can start picking him up with it. When he's out of the cage, you can slowly begin transferring him into your hands (you can wear gloves if you want for awhile). Eventually, the snake will come to realize that when the hook is out, it's not feeding time, it's handling time.