A tricky rehab, help and advice much appreciated!

[Namea]

Time, that's about it. You can do the water taming an all the other tricks. But with an old snake that wasn't taken care of, just take your time. You would be able to tame a wild snake faster then this one. Tap train him an handle for short periods.

Now, did the Vet check his eyes? Old snakes sometimes go blind, mine at 13-15y. Poor feeding can bring it on sooner.


Good luck!

Hi! Thanks for your response. His eyes seem to be in good shape according to the vet. I do think it's just a rather intense feed response. Heck, snakes aren't that bright but they do have enough cognitive ability to know if a human scent always meant either stressful situations or food, either of which would trigger that response. I've just never had it take so long with a bp before.

It's funny that you mention wild snakes because literally the day before we got him we ended up with an injured little garter snake from the local animal control. They call me when they find a snake that needs help. She's tamed down perfectly already and actually got so accustomed to us that I went against my usual rehab and release policy and decided to keep her. Especially knowing that my son was so excited about his own first snake and Snoot just isn't going to be it, at least not any time soon. He'll be a spoiled family pet someday but he's probably gonna end up being mine. So yeah, definitely taming down a little wildling was quicker than this boy. He's worth the effort though!

It sounds like he may have been underfed for a very long time and thus assumes that fast or sudden movement is food until proven different. I would try treating his behavior as an extreme food response rather than defensiveness or aggression.

So, start by using a small hook. When my retics show me that they're being extra stupidly foody one trick I use is to rub a tiny bit of scented hand sanitizer on the hook and on your hands. Scents like lemon or "fresh scent", which are very sharp, work well. Just crack the door or tub lid enough to slip the scented hook into the enclosure and let the snake smell it. Usually once they smell it they back off. Then rub or touch the snake with the hook, and then open the door after the snake's posture shows you that it knows it's not getting fed. At that point you can put your hand into the enclosure.

With my bigger snakes I do the above steps every time I open the door. It might be overkill but I really don't need an ER visit because one of my 16 footers mistakenly thought that my hand was a rabbit.

I'll try that. I've been doing so with my hands but I'll see if scenting the hook makes him back away rather than attacking it.

I feel you with the caution though! Last week I finally was able to declare a 15 foot retic ready for home and I'd been using that trick with him for months. I do have a 13 foot burmese girl that I don't ever do that with but she's been with me for about 6 years now and I swear this gal is the most chill gentle giant ever. I'd keep her as a pet too if she wasn't already spoken for.

Today he's been exploring a ton and showing some more positive signs of being comfortable. I'll do some light tap petting tomorrow when he's more sedentary.