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  1. #1
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    How to fully relax and trust my new 5 year old ball python

    - If you don't feel like reading it all just skim down to the bottom red text. -

    Well, hey there everyone. I just registered despite reading numerous threads over the past 3 months, related to feeding, housing and much more. Let me start off by saying it's been well over week since I brought my new buddy home, he was given to me along with his massive custom setup by a very nice young woman who just couldn't give him the time and attention he needed. She had bought him from a local petco five years ago, when I went to meet him I instantly fell in love with him and held him for a long while, while we spoke about how gentle and beautiful he is. Now as I told her I owned a bp when I was 13 but when I turned 15 my older sister moved out and took my beloved bp. It's been a good 3 years since I owned any reptile. I have only mammals except for Kaa (my new bp), well when I was sitting with his previous owner he was being pretty chill and exploratory but I'm not sure if it was because she was there. When I finally brought him home he seemed pretty shy and just sat coiled up in his warmer hide, probably due to my dogs barking and to the fact that living here in the windy city; well my room was pretty drafty.

    I let him settle for 3 whole days just monitoring the humidity and temperature, the fourth day when I came back from work around 6 p.m. I was greeted by a adventurous bp slithering back and forth flicking his tongue, and peering around at my cats and probably my rat that is about 12 feet away from his terrarium. Since his previous owner told me it had been about 3 weeks since he last ate, I figured I would thaw out a nice small rat for him. Oh yeah forgot to mention he's 3ft and 2.5 inches. Anyways long story short he was terribly shy when I picked him up that day I put him in a "feeder box" she gave me with the rat laying infront of him, he showed no interest in it and decided to try to "burrow" out of the plastic tub. Obviously he couldn't. After a 15 minutes I put him back in his terrarium since my room was pretty cold. After that day I waited 5 days again just in case I upset him a bit. Well today I held him for a while since I kept my heater on these past 3 days, it was chilly out but I get cold easily. Well I was handling him and he was being pretty relaxed and slithering about, he even coiled around my arm and began to squeeze slightly I didn't mind. Everything was cool until he began slithering up to my face, this made me a bit uncomfortable and I'm not sure why...so I just moved my arm out abit slowly until his face was out of mine, well he then decided to squirm over my shoulder and I was ok with it until he went over to my neck and began to coil/wrap around me and squeeze tightly (which I sort of think it was normal squeezing normal but since it's been a few since I held a snake I felt like it was pretty tight, mostly because I didn't expect it and it made me a bit nervous.) So I sort of panicked for a millisecond and gently but quickly moved him away back to my lap...lol. I took in a breathe since I noticed he stiffed up a bit after doing that, I know it was because of me being stupid and getting nervous for no reason at all. But after a few minutes of silence and no movement we both relaxed again. He went back to "sniffing" me and slithering over my arms, but once again began to go up my shoulder and after awhile of him lingering over my left shoulder I felt his body start to squeeze and began to wrap around m torso. Of course it made me nervous again but I tried to fight it, I mean bp are like the goldfish of the reptile kingdom, very nice and docile; don't do much. But then his face found way to my face again and his tongue kept flicking out at my nose and he began to constrict again, soooo I decided to put him back into his terrarium...I feel terrible about it.

    I mean it's not so much I worried about being bit or squeezed, I just for some reason get creepedout/uncomfortable with him being close to my face. I don't know why.
    I think it's rare since I'm not aggravating him or pushing him to, but I wouldn't mind him squeezing the life out of my arm or even biting it...just not the face.

    So I know this is long but I thought everything I typed down was important info, maybe it wasn't...sorry. BUT TO PUT IT SHORT AND SWEET; My bp makes me nervous when he starts to get close to my face and or coil/constrict around my shoulder and neck. Why? I don't know, what can I do to fully trust my new boy and well is it normal that he keeps doing it, also why does he keep trying to meet my gaze or my nose?

    All help/replys appreciated.
    Oh and My name's Elliote btw, a formal HELLO from Chicago!
    Y hablo espaņol!!
    Last edited by sirconquistador; 05-11-2012 at 03:24 AM. Reason: typo

  2. #2
    BPnet Veteran The Serpent Merchant's Avatar
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    Well first off, welcome to BP.net

    What you are feeling isn't anything to worry about. Your Bp isn't trying to constrict you... They only do that after they strike. What you are feeling is the BP holding on to you (he probably thought that he was slipping so he "grabbed" on tighter) In no way was he trying to do you any harm.

    Many people (including myself) feel that a snake has no business anywhere near anybodies face. Not because they are dangerous, but and you seem to agree... we don't want to get bit in the face lol. I think that what you are feeling is very normal. you need some time to get use to your new snake just like he does with you.

    Basically you just need to take a deep breath, and remember that a BP is harmless. Even an adults bite really isn't that bad. But with any animal you must respect them and treat them with care.

    To be comfortable with your snake you might have to take some steps to keep him in check. If that means actively keeping him away from your neck/face then that is what you need to do. The more you handle your BP the more comfortable both you and your BP will be with each other.
    Last edited by The Serpent Merchant; 05-11-2012 at 03:32 AM.
    ~Aaron

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  3. #3
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    Re: How to fully relax and trust my new 5 year old ball python

    Ah yeah ok, so glad to see I'm not alone with that then! I thought I needed to be one of those tough fearless snake handlers...like Cesar Millan, well except with snakes y'know instead of dogs. But anyway thanks a lot Aaron, I'm going to passout now that my mind is at rest; look forward to being a member of bp.net!

  4. #4
    BPnet Veteran The Serpent Merchant's Avatar
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    One of the best pieces of advice I can give you is to be confident and don't hesitate when handling any snake. Hesitating only gives them more time to take a swing at you.

    In time you won't fear them in any way... at least that is how it works with most people
    ~Aaron

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    0.1 Dumeril's Boa (Nergal)

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  5. #5
    BPnet Lifer Annarose15's Avatar
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    Re: How to fully relax and trust my new 5 year old ball python

    Aaron gave you good advice about handling him. I'd just like to add a few thoughts about the rest of your post. First, it's completely unnecessary to move him to a "feeding box." This only adds to both of your stress and the potential for being bit when moving him back to his cage while he's still in feeding mode. Second, make sure the frozen rat is fully thawed and warmed to ~100deg (rat body temp). He may not recognize it as food otherwise. You may also need to dangle it with tongs (by the scruff, not tail) so he thinks it's alive. We like to call this the zombie dance. The last thing I noticed was that you keep referencing how cold and drafty it is at your place. Please check out the caresheet on this site to ensure you are keeping him warm enough. Depending on how the custom enclosure you got with him is designed, it might actually be too large to provide the proper heat gradient and ambient temps. He will be unlikely to eat if he is too cold, and much more susceptible to respiratory infection (RI).

    http://ball-pythons.net/forums/showt...s%29-Caresheet

    Oh, and welcome to BP.net!
    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~



  6. The Following User Says Thank You to Annarose15 For This Useful Post:

    Skittles1101 (05-11-2012)

  7. #6
    BPnet Lifer Skittles1101's Avatar
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    My advice is to learn as much about the species as possible. You need to understand that ball pythons especially by nature have to want or need to hurt or kill a human. Although some (from experience with my own) are more defensive than others, and some just downright evil (my male orange ghost), a majority are just docile. As you learn about them, you'll realize snakes aren't the villians the media makes them out to be...

    If that doesn't work, just keep in mind ball python bites don't hurt, and he could never physically constrict you to death...unless you were tied up, or unconscious of course. If you ever get bit, you're going to look back and laugh at this thread

    Edit: Also to add, he meets your gaze because he can. He's curious and wants to smell you and explore. I have one that goes up my nose to my forehead, slowly, and then makes a bee line for my hair...wraps up in it lol. He's just looking at you, as you are to him.
    Last edited by Skittles1101; 05-11-2012 at 08:55 AM.
    2.0 Offspring, 1.1 Normal Ball Python, 1.0 Pastel Ball Python, 0.1 Albino Ball Python, 0.1 Pinstripe Ball Python, 0.1 Banana Ball Python, 1.0 Pied Ball Python, 1.0 Normal Hognose, 0.1 Veiled Chameleon, 0.0.1 G.pulchra, 0.1 P.metallica, 0.1 M.giganteus

  8. #7
    BPnet Senior Member Slim's Avatar
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    Your face is the warmest part of your body that your BP can "see" with his heat pits. Many ball pythons and any snake with upper lip heat pits will often make their way in that direction. Over time you'll learn to read your animal and will know if he's just easing up that direction, or if he's not in the mood and means business (very rare with BPs).
    Thomas "Slim" Whitman
    Never Met A Ball Python I Didn't Like

  9. #8
    BPnet Royalty ballpythonluvr's Avatar
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    Re: How to fully relax and trust my new 5 year old ball python

    My snakes always go for my face and head when I am holding them. As others have said, they can sense the heat so of course that is what they are going to go for. I just relax and let them climb on me. None of my snakes have ever struck at me intentionally. My little pastel male struck at me once but that was because he was just a hatchling and was very frightened. He has since calmed down and I am now able to handle him with great ease.

  10. #9
    BPnet Senior Member L.West's Avatar
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    Re: How to fully relax and trust my new 5 year old ball python

    Give it some time - you will slowly become more comfortable. I remember 5 years ago when I got my first bp - it was too funny - she was just a little normal, I think about 300 grams and I was soooo nervous picking her up that I put on big leather gloves and all - I look back at that now and laugh.

    I now have 8 snakes (6 bps, 1 boa, 1 milksnake) and honestly have no fear or nervousness when I have to pick them up.

    Mine too will gravitate towards my neck for the warmth. An important thing that I was told early on and will never forget was - if they wrap around your neck always try to unwrap them from their tail end - not their head, I guess they have much more upper body strength. I now do this via the tail and I am able to unwrap them quite easily.

    I wish you luck with your new bp. They are such awesome creatures.
    L. West
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  11. #10
    BPnet Lifer Rob's Avatar
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    Show confidence! Even if your faking it, handling your snake like your in control and not afraid will eventually become real confidence. When you start acting afraid and jumpy that's when you may entice your snake to take a lunge at you. Also I'm not a hue fan of putting Bps around my neck, they like to double wrap, and even if they are not trying to constrict they can get startled and tighten up. It doesn't take much to cut off circulation in the carotid artery and that can put you to sleep fast.

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