New To Carpetland : Any Suggestions For Dealing With the Attitude?

[hotelvoodoo]

Hey BP! I just recently indulged my two year fantasy and added a jungle carpet to the family. They are such beautiful and graceful snakes and I'm so happy to have one to call my own.
I have a number of ball pythons, a boa, a hognose, and a Cal King, so I have dealt with a few touchy snakes, but this guy is wild. He strikes like a maniac and he's too smart for me to pick him up from behind like a ball. I've been using the end of my feeding tongs like a hook to get him up, but it isn't like he gets better once he's up. He wheels around like a tiny hurricane and bites me even if I don't move. He is obviously smarter than I had anticipated. He is young. Not even a year old, and I hear tell they mellow some with age, but any strategic suggestions in the meantime for getting him used to handling? I'm fine with being bitten with his mouth being so small, but I'm not looking forward to it when he grows up!

[Raven01]

Uh-Oh.
New snake requires pic's.
Lots of pics.

And, sorry I can't offer advice, I too just joined the Carpet Club and mine hasn't been here long enough to even get defensive of her habitat or perches. Not that a 53 gram I-J presents much of a threat. Hopefully I'll have that sorted before she comes out of quarantine though.

Oh, are you trying to pick up from a perch? You could try pulling out the whole perch and letting the snake explore and inspect you from the safety of its' perch. Just throwing darts in the dark here though.

[Herpenthusiast3]

"wear gloves/long sleeves and just let her nip and ignore it. If she doesn't get a reaction (ie: you don't flinch) she'll give up and just treat you like a soft warm tree." This is some advice that I found in a forum about taming out carpet pythons. Hope it helps. :/

[BLM94]

Along with covering most of your exposed hands/arms, since they are rather smart compared to some of their other distant relatives, I've read on these boards of people having success hook training. Probably best to start young if you're willing to explore that route, although I have no experience with it personally

[vangarret2000]

Don't worry about gloves. You already said you don't mind bites and when they are that young they are too small to hurt anyways.

Just keep handling regularly. And try not to put him back until he has calmed some if possible. If you put him back when he bites he will learn biting will make you leave him alone. Holding him while he bites will make him learn that wont stop you. The time can vary a lot but carpets generally tame down with proper handling. Could only take a couple weeks. Could take many many months. The trick is to really do it now when the biting don't isn't an issue. Most times when a carpet isn't handleable as an adult it's just because they weren't attempted to be tamed when small and manageable.

They almost always tame down but sometimes you can get one that will always be a jerk.

I had a guy give me his jag as a hatchling to tame it down because he was uncomfortable doing it. It had the thing for months and months and it got extremely better but wasn't perfect when I had to give him back so they guy sold it and he ended up buying it back about a year later because the new owner had got him down to a puppy.

- - - Updated - - -

I just read the guy above recommend hook training. I second that too.

[Alicia]

Can't believe no one else said it, or I missed it, but try to not use the feeding tongs as a stand in snake hook. Especially if they're also the tongs you're feeding the baby carpet with! They are extremely sensitive to routine and learn the feeding routine very, very quickly. If you don't want to buy a hook, it's pretty easy to make one out of a wire coat hanger.

Gloves are actually pretty great to use with nippy babies. For me, I've found having gloves on changes the way I approach the snake, which I think is really what helps. If you're going to use gloves, use the thinnest gloves you can. Even latex or nitrile gloves. Another thing that helps is handling with cold hands.

Jungles are great. Not all babies are nippy, and almost all that are grow out of it.

[Anatopism]

I didn't worry about a hook when my bigger girl was younger, and still use my hands with the babies I have right now. Handling when tiny and just ignoring bites gets them used to you, and is also a lot safer for them if you need to remove from a branch. Now that my coastal is larger, I use a hook 100% of the time to remove her from her cage. She doesn't care about heat, only movement, and she will try to grab and eat it. Soon as I have her far enough out of the cage, with some gentle coaxing of the hook, I can easily grab her with my hands, and she is plenty docile to be trusted on and around my shoulders, face, or hands, as she no longer recognizes any movement as feeding time.

Basically, just be patient, and don't be afraid of them

[Big Dave]

Ha ha, BE PATIENT!! Walk him around with him after you pick him up, helps distract them. Mine was a nutcase when I got him, after 6 months he mellowed out.

[hotelvoodoo]

Thanks for the advice everyone. Just taking some getting used to. It's hard not to put them down when they get like that, but it's about diligence!

[Anna.Sitarski]

exactly whats been said patience i have one that tear my face off if she could. They are smart and if you hesitate or let them have their way they WILL exploit it