How to gain more confidence....

[PCOOLEY13]

How do I gain more confidence with handling my BP? I've always been a littler nervous around snakes however I have always found them to be so beautiful and interesting and I have always wanted one so my wife bought us a 1.0 Coral Glow "Sunny" who is now about 6weeks old and 100g. I don't have an issue picking him up from his enclosure and holding him for a few minutes however now he is getting more comfortable and doesn't stay in a ball. He is starting to explore and be more active when I handle him and this is when I get a little uncomfortable and I guess nervous about him biting me even though he has never struck at my wife or I. He use to hiss when we would grab him from his enclosure however he doesn't really do that anymore in the 3 weeks i've had him. Any tips on overcoming this nervousness and being more comfortable?

[Jaust]

I have a Banana/CG that is named "Bad Attitude Banana" BAB for short. He was SUPER defensive, and would strike at anything when he was younger. I never owned a defensive/aggressive snake before so I would always be a bit nervous picking him up and letting him roam around my hands/lap. Eventually he settled down and stopped his nipping, but it took months!

Your nerves might be a lot like BAB (and other nippy snakes), where it just takes time with your animal to feel comfortable.

[Aedryan Methyus]

I highly recommend hook training. Before you reach in and grab him just rub him with a snake hook (or something similar) to make sure he's awake and let him know you're there. Then just keep the hook between his head and your hand and reach in and gently lift him out of his enclosure. Generally, most snakes aren't going to bite once they're out of their enclosure unless there is a sudden fast movement or something that startles them. Most snake bites are going to happen when you initially reach in to pick them up, but they will be fine once they're out. I'm sure there are nippy Ball Pythons just like any other species or any other kind of animal, but generally you don't have much to worry about with Ball Pythons. They are much more docile, shy and timid and less "aggressive" than most other species.

[bhsurf4]

That is a GORGEOUS snake! Congrats! If he's 100 grams , let him tag you once. You'll realize a mosquito bite is more annoying!

[Bistem]

That is a GORGEOUS snake! Congrats! If he's 100 grams , let him tag you once. You'll realize a mosquito bite is more annoying!

You beat me to it. My suggestion was going to be to go visit a friend that has a defensive snake and take a bite. As long as the friend's defensive snake isn't a 10+ foot animal, you will find out that even if you do get tagged, there is nothing to it. Then with this knowledge, your nervousness will go away.

[PCOOLEY13]

You guys are awesome, Thanks

[PCOOLEY13]

You beat me to it. My suggestion was going to be to go visit a friend that has a defensive snake and take a bite. As long as the friend's defensive snake isn't a 10+ foot animal, you will find out that even if you do get tagged, there is nothing to it. Then with this knowledge, your nervousness will go away.

This is what i'm thinking. The unknown is the scariest part. I mean he has never really showed aggression other than hissing in the beginning when trying to pick him up however now he doesn't really do it. I think things are going great since he ate F/T the first time for me, has had 2 successful feedings and his first giant poop that unfortunately my wife had to deal with since i was at work haha. I just want that first tag out of the way lol. I work in surgery and have had a surgeon accidentally stab me with a scalpel which i know is 100x worse than what the snake can do

[bhsurf4]

Did I mention how gorgeous that snake is? I thought I had my mind made up on my next one (albino black pastel) but good god, that one you have blows my mind!

[Bistem]

One of mine tagged me this past Sunday on feeding day. As is usually the case, if you get bit, YOU probably did something wrong and in my case I am guessing that I didnt have the FT Rat quite warm enough. My body was warmer. I had the rat on the end of 8" hemostats and she struck right past the rat and tagged my thumb on the hemostat handle. She turned loose instantly. Her bottom jaw teeth connected on the print side of my thumb and did not bring blood. The top teeth got skin where it is thinner just behind the thumbnail and it Barely broke the skin enough to make 1 big drop of blood. This was from a 400ish gram female Pied. Like I say though....I did something wrong to cause this. When I re-heated the rat to a higher temperature, her aim was perfect and she got what she was really after.

[Scott.S]

I got my first Ball Python about 3 months ago, at first i was nervous as well, my first mistake was thinking my new snake wanted to be friends right away, after initially putting him in his new enclosure i kind of put my hand in front of him in hopes of him wanting to crawl up it, well i learned quickly that was wrong. The bite didn't hurt, its more of a sting, but the feeling of how quickly they snap was startling for sure. He hasn't tried to bite me or bitten me since then. My suggestion for getting over the initial anxiety of putting your hand in and picking him up would be to use a paper towel roll or a clean rolled up cloth to sort of direct his attention while you move your hand behind him to pick him up. Also try to handle him a little bit every day (Besides feeding day and two days after or in shed) and he/she will learn your scent and associate you with something that wont kill it. My BP was a little hissy and stikey at first and i won't lie i was a bit nervous for maybe the first two weeks but now i am very confident not only with handling and picking up but also knowing what he wants. Usually if he's out and about in the evenings i will open up the door and let him come to me. He has truly been great curious and friendly snake. For example i took him out 3 days ago and noticed the signature pink belly and slight dulling of the skin, that was my cue that he is going into shed and wants to be left alone, sure enough today his eyes are clouded and he hasn't moved from his hide, the last thing i will do now is disturb him until he's done his shed (besides of course checking temps, and misting to bump up humidity) As long as your husbandry is good and you have confidence and handle often but not to often he/she will warm up to you just fine. They are really friendly snakes that really only will strike out of fear and distrust. Unless of course you smell like rodents, which brings me to my last point, sanatize your hands before attempting to handle or pick up, not only is it clean but the smell is sure to let the snake know that your hands are not food. Hope this helps.