Anybody else do this when you go to pick up your snake?

[jewbo]

I have an African Rock python at 13ft long. Apparently these are the most aggressive species of python. All i did was take her out when she was little and expose her to other people (going to bowling alleys, movie theaters, and just walking my dog with her around my neck so people would stop and ask questions and want to hold her), I also take her out for at least 4 hours a week ( I personally think thats cruel so i take her out all the time). With time she became less and less aggressive. She did try and bite me when she was 11ft but she got sprayed with white vinegar and that immediately stopped that. Now I dont have to use too many precautions when handling my python, I can pretty much just take her out by grabbing her head and belly and just dragging her out. Just spend time with your reptiles and keep a bottle of white vinegar and spray her when it attempts to bite. Not for any other reason. Dont use alcohol, that can harm them badly. But I would also use the hook technique for right now.

Sylvias is right about the tank aggression by the way.

 

[A. gigas]

It has all been said for me. Hook training FTW.

 

[misstish]

when it comes to all 3 of my snakes, I use a different way of opening the tank.
If I do it quietly, it means he/she is just getting out, if its loud, then its feeding time.
I also tap on the glass a few times to get his/her attention and then wave the mouse infront of them, so they also know it means feeding time.
When it comes to just cleaning or getting them out I rub further near their tail so I have more of a reaction time if they were to strike me.

 

[chloe]

all my bigguns are tap trained.
when its feeding time i literally open the door chuck the rabbit in and close it. all done in 2seconds.
iv only ever been bitten once and that was a feeding response, was also when i didnt do the above lol.

 

[Experiment397]

thanks for all the responses. i will have to let him know

 

[chris.clay11]

Chizel is right if you feed them in the tank they asociate that with food eveytime you open the tank start using something like a rubbermade to feed them outside of the tank and maybe start trying to feed them frozen it is better all the way around. It is safer for you snake and the food feels nothing that way.

 

[lolpard]

The only times that I got bit by my favorite boa was if I had the smell of a rat on my hand or was putting one in the cage. He was a particularly sweet snake though. My other one was an escape artist and would try to bite me when I tried to catch him....managed to get me a few times too.

Get a "Gopher" tongs, the kind that you use to pick stuff up off of the floor with. They are like 10 bucks...very long and will easily pick up a dead rat...

Always feed pre-killed. Snakes have no problem with it but will sometimes stare at it for a long time to make sure it is dead before eating it.

 

[ScatMan]

I do not necessarily agree with the above about feeding... all of my snakes are fed in their cage (save for the kings in the summer because they are on sand) and the only one that is nippy at all is the carpet python..but it is not cage aggression in his cage it is perch aggression...much like a chondro...he gets happily curled up somewhere and he does not want to move, simple as that.

the problem of cage aggression comes when the ONLY time you go into the cage is for feeding. If you never handle them or do anything else except open the cage to feed then yes, every time the cage door opens.. it means food to them, however if you handle regularly or clean or whatever else as well as feeding, the opening of the door does not always mean food so they will not react that way.

the hook training previously mentioned is a great method that can be applied to many snakes but is most often used with larger constrictors.

+1 100% x 1,000,000

If he would feed the snake in another container the snake would no longer bite. This behavior is called tank aggresive. This happens if the snake is always fed in the tank that it lives in and assoicates the opening of the tank with being fed. After two or three feedings in a different container the snake will not longer strike when its cage is opened. This snake will also enjoy getting out of its cage. I have seen a few female balls reach right close to six feet long on a strong feeding regime. Hope this helps

Chizel is right if you feed them in the tank they asociate that with food eveytime you open the tank start using something like a rubbermade to feed them outside of the tank and maybe start trying to feed them frozen it is better all the way around. It is safer for you snake and the food feels nothing that way.

no, i have enough snake experience to say that this is just wrong.

i've kept snakes all my life and currently have 12 (in the process of downsizing from 20). for years, i did the "feed in different container" thing and it only resulted in getting bit way more and having snakes throw up their food way more or not eat at all.

it adds unnecessary stress to the snakes and gives the opposite intended results (you get bit more). timid snakes are less likely to eat and, if they do eat, are more likely to regurgitate their food.

anxious snakes are more on edge and more likely to bite out of fear when being moved about -AND- normally relaxed snakes assume they "should be getting fed any time now" since they've been taken out and start to hunt fingers and give more "feeding response" bites.

use the "tap on back" technique and always remove them with a hook or glove when you want to handle them.

this "myth" has been dispelled for quite a while now, i'm surprised it still pops up so often.

 

[AndyG.]

As others have said...hook training.

It's not rocket science.

Want to get bitten alot more? Start feeding your animals in different enclosures. That's the dumbest thing I've ever heard and has been proven, time and time and time again, to be completely incorrect.

Ever snake I've ever owned, from 18' and 300lb down to 5' adult Super Dwarf Retics, have all been hooked trained and I've had one bite...the one time I didn't use a hook.

All of my current 19 Retics are hook trained and never had an incident. It doesn't matter how you open the door, how you move, how you smell, how you talk to them (trust me...I've heard it all)...a snake hook is an ABSOLUTE must, for every snake owner. I don't care if you own a 2' Ball Python or a 20' retic.