What a booger...

[Ginevive]

Last night I took Ginger the Rescue Case out for a soak, to see if he had any more ticks. I am happy to say that after over an hour in soapy water, nothing showed up.
BUT the fun began when I took him out and prepared to put him back into his rubbermaid home. He leapt for a shelf in the kitchen with shocking fastness. I never thought that a big, fat BP could lunge that fast, but it was like those cobras you see on Tv. I got him under control finally, but he was completely flipping out in my hands and trying to get away, hissing like a mofo all the while. I was careful not to apply too much pressure to him, but he was really going nuts from being handled, for the twenty-foot journey from soaking rubbermaid to living-in rubbermaid. Then once inside he scrambled for the warm hide.
This snake is completely terrified of people. What have I gotten myself into!? My boyfriend wants to throw in the towel and give him away, but I am going to stick it out and keep this snake, since I am the one who does cage maintenance anyway. This is a really good arguement for boycotting the adult-WC market.

[Marla]

Poor guy. If it weren't for the possibility of creepy-crawlies getting on your other critters, I'd say leave him alone entirely for a few more weeks. Realistically, though, that's not an option for you. I have a suggestion you might try, tho. Snyder definitely recognizes my voice and she's much less likely to be startled about being gotten out if I talk to her first to let her know it's me. Hanover is pretty much to that point, too. You might try occasionally opening his container and just speaking to him for several seconds and closing it back so he doesn't associate your voice with unpleasant things, then make a point of speaking to him each time before you take him out of it. It may not calm him any but it doesn't cost you anything to try.

[CTReptileRescue]

sounds like he REALLY doesn't like the rubbermaid company.lol Marla makes a good point above, just keep it up, they don't all "like" people. You just have to do what you can sometimes.
Thanks
Rsuty

LOL.....Marla, snakes are deaf. They don't have external ears.

[Marla]

David, they don't hear like you and I do, but they absolutely feel sound vibrations and can apparently recognize vibratory patterns as indicating something in particular. You don't have to believe me, but it's definitely worked to calm Snyder who used to be really jumpy about being taken out when I'd do it without warning her first.

Yes they can sense vibrations easily, but I think saying that they "recognize your voice" may be anthropomorphizing them a bit too much. I'm not quite sure why but people always seem to be trigger happy to proclaim that their pets have this 6th sense that allows them to connect with their owners somehow. Did you ever think that perhaps being that Ball Pythons are very shy that the high-freqency vibrations being put off by your voice scared the snake into being still? Its certainly not out of the question.

[Marla]

I am not anthropomorphizing to say that a snake can recognize a particular vibratory pattern to which it is regularly exposed, David. It's not like I'm saying she's a dog who comes when she's called, just that this vibratory pattern is one she's learned doesn't indicate a threat from a predator so far. That doesn't mean she recognizes pitch or voiceprint or words, just a vibratory pattern, as in the wild she'd likely learn to tell the steps of a jerboa from the steps of a gazelle.

And, no, she's not being "scared into being still," because before I started speaking to her prior to lifting off her hide, she'd recoil immediately when it was lifted, even lifting slowly. Now she doesn't recoil and wraps right around my arm and gets to sniffing and looking around instead of balling up, recoiling, trying to hide in a sleeve, or similar behaviors.

Tou che. Good points Marla. I love some friendly banter every now & then.

[Marla]

David, I know ya do, and I'm perfectly happy to have a friendly debate sometimes, but I'm not sure when I read these things from you if you're just tweaking me or if you genuinely believe that I am prone to anthropomorphizing and flights of fancy. :shock:

Haha.....Gotta keep you on your toes, right? Don't worry, I was just tweakin ya. If I'm gonna give you a hard time, you'll know it LOL.