All bark? (hissing BP--and need some cleaning/handling advice)

[WarriorPrincess90]

My boa hisses are also much more intimidating. Fortunately they are very, very rare!

Very true. I don't hear them all too often, but boy can those guys hiss!!! The first time I ever heard my BCI hiss, she was tiny still, and it sounded like it belonged to a MUCH larger animal.

[dkspftw]

Very true. I don't hear them all too often, but boy can those guys hiss!!! The first time I ever heard my BCI hiss, she was tiny still, and it sounded like it belonged to a MUCH larger animal.

The hiss surprised the heck out of me! I was using plastic aquarium tongs to grab the poop from the very back corner, and I thought at first it had to be something else in the apartment (maybe a CO2 regulator broke on my tank?!). I sort of went, "Huh! Was that you?" and I intentionally provoked her by lightly nudging her in the side with the tongs. She did it again, and that proved the source, haha.

I have to say though, I'm not sure if she'll ever calm down. She's probably just over 650g now and I don't think she's ever really been handled as she was tub-raised as a breeding project. Maybe she'll calm down with age and fatness, but I'm not super confident about turning her into a snake I can handle. Of course I've never done this before, but it's just the feeling I get. I'm not giving up, but I'm not exactly hopeful.

[WarriorPrincess90]

Don't give up. I have only handled my Mojo and Lesser a handful of times, aside from removing them for cleanings. My mojo is extremely feisty, but after a couple minutes out of the tub he calms down. Lucky for you, your little lady just hisses. He strikes all over the place at first, then hisses, then gives up. If you work with her she will calm down. Eventually.

[MootWorm]

I would definitely start working with her. Imagine how much fun she'll be when you have to pull her off eggs

[dkspftw]

I would definitely start working with her. Imagine how much fun she'll be when you have to pull her off eggs

You're totally right. I wish I wasn't such a wuss! Part of me wants to just pay the vet a little to deal with it when it happens, but the logical remainder of me knows that'd be buying sushi when I could farm tuna.

I've even been bar-mitzvah'd (like a decade and a half ago). If only that meant I was a real man!

[MootWorm]

Haha maybe they should have feisty balls at bar-mitzvahs!!

(Just joking, please don't take any offense, religious or otherwise)

[dkspftw]

Haha maybe they should have feisty balls at bar-mitzvahs!!

(Just joking, please don't take any offense, religious or otherwise)

It would definitely explain why they lift you up on a chair and then dance around like they're trying to avoid the floor.

Just sayin'.

[smalltimeballz]

If you see this:


Then you should watch out! I had to hook this guy the first month I got him. He never got me though =)

Now my 2200 gram girl, Miss Hissy, hisses all the time and has never struck. Even just peeking in her tub gets a hiss from her lol

[Neal]

Don't worry about the hiss, all of mine do it. The only one that hisses and bites is when it's feeding time and it's my black pastel.

[mvptext1]

Yeah, my 2 cents are you just need to be consistent and your confidence will grow. The more confident you are when you handle your snakes the better experience it will be. It is good that you are worried about accidentally hurting your snake but don't let that hold you back from handling her. I got my first BP 5 months ago for the first month or two I wasn't really confident and I realized that my nervous attitude was actually making my snake nervous too. Over time I've learned to read their body language more and now I just pick him up. Point here is keep trying. Since getting my first BP I got 2 baby BP females and one is a hisser. She hisses every time I open up her hide. The first week I had her she would strike at me when I tried to pick her up. Now she was so small, it was kind of funny to watch her defend herself. But over the past 2 months I've had her, I handle her about 3 times a week. She hasn't struck in a long time. She is actually really cool to handle once she is out of her enclosure. I think you said your snake was around 600g. You might want to get a hatchling BP too. I've found by having hatchlings it's really helped me realize more about BP's and helped me gain more confidence with them. My male is about 650 g now, but the babies are around 130g.