New baby keeps trying to strike - HELP!

[cristacake]

Snakes are like people, they have different personalities. My Donuts was cool with being handled right out of the box she came shipped in. She wanted to explore everything! But some snakes are like the BP you got, scared and defensive. This is okay and it can be helped, but it will take a lot more time and patience. I know this advice is not really helpful to you anymore, but when buying a pet specifically based on temperament, you should definitely select one whose behavior and attitude you have witnessed yourself.

There are a lot of different ways to make a BP less defensive and prone to striking, but I would say the route you need to go for now is letting your new baby get settled into home. It is probably very scared. Try explaining to your daughter some scenario like, "imagine if giant aliens came and lifted up the blankets off your bed and picked you up out of it. That would be very scary, and you might try to kick them or hit them because you don't know that they're nice yet." or something like that; not sure how mature your daughter is but basically try to get her to understand the snake's behavior. People are usually fearful of things if they can't understand the way they work and predict their reactions. Additionally, kids seem to do better when they feel like an animal is more scared of them than they are of it. I remember hearing that old saying long ago (about bees, I remember!) and suddenly having a greater understanding of why animals seem to hurt people for what I had previously thought was no good reason.

Also, can I ask what kind of setup you have the snake in? A lot of babies are shy and prefer to have a darkened, enclosed living space. The fishtank situation is scary for some of them because they feel exposed on all sides. Lots of people cover the sides of their glass tanks either with a neutral paper that doesn't stick out too much among the decor, or buying jungly pattern wallpaper to make the vivarium look nice. Either way is up to you, but I do think that will help since your snake seems to be stressed from being vulnerable (i.e. not hidden away in its hide).