Quote Originally Posted by vegaschef1
Just make sure that when you give a shot you get good control of the head.
Have you ever actually given shots to a snake before?

I disagree completely with this "technique" of man-handling the snake. Not only is it absolutely unnecessary for medicating ball pythons, it's going to turn an unpleasant situation into an intensely terrifying one. How would you like to be immobilized around the neck & then jabbed with something sharp? Ball pythons are relatively small & quite easy to manage, and if you know how to properly give an injection it takes mere seconds & the process is over. Not so if you're grabbing the snake, restraining it one-handed & then trying to give the injection with your other hand. It is MUCH easier to inject a snake that is calmly laying in it's enclosure than it is to wrangle one that is threatened & freaked out after being grabbed behind the head.

Stop and think...these are not mindless little beings. Snakes can actually associate events & experiences to some extent, and if you make injections into a horrible, threatening encounter, you're absolutely losing rapport with that animal.

Grabbing behind the head...no. Just...no.

K~