Mean Snakes??

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jason longboard;1144963; said:
it also helps if ppl would look up the natural environment their animal comes from,summer and winter climates,humidity and food
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While it is a good idea, that information doesn't even help with some species like the BCI and BCC. Some of them are from regions that are recorded with extremely high humidity and high temperature (90-100+F), but most of the boas are found in the cooler regions (70-95F) of the forest floor where there is less humidity.

The best way to get information is go to a local herptile society and ask them; usually they have good care sheets. Another option is ask a reputable breeder, although some of them have posted their care sheets on their own website.
 
There are lots of perfectly good internet care sheets and web pages designed for a lot of herps. Yes, there are bad ones but if you look up enough, it becomes quite evident quite quick which ones are crap and which are useful. Knowing where the source is from is useful also. Its people that read one bad one and think they've learnt it all thats the problem. It's people that don't have common sense that miss out on this. There are so many ways of gaining information... care sheets, scientific papers, books, magazines, articles, forums, talking to breeders/other keepers.

Any snake can be "mean" any snake can be timid and placid-there simply isn't a rule.
 
There is no 'rule' but there are certain species more inclined to be defensive simply due to the certain predators they face in the wild. Any animal that has to put up with jaguars and harpy eagles has good reason to be skittish. ;)
 
well like has been pointed out, a lot of the time it can be different with captive bred animals... to be honest though, anyone whose reason for keeping an animal because it is "mean" is getting into it for the wrong reason.
 
well i def believe that if you know a breeder,pick his brain.and if you are a breeder,let your brain be picked.i hate to say it but its like church,in my town some churchs claim to be better than others,way to stick together for the cause,these forums are great because most of us want everybody to be sucsessfull.unfortunatly you learn alot from trial and error,but dealing with animals lives here,just get as much knowlage as you can.with snakes your temp and feeding is key,lizards need much more diet atention.dont ever go too long with wondering about something without asking on here.and dont just go off your first answer.as said before,some ppl keep something a short time and then think they can give good advice.how far off topic are we know:ROFL:
 
I've had my ball python (Doom) for ...4? sheds now.. she's always been pretty cool. She doesn't like quick movements. She nipped me the other day.. ...I didn't realize she was about to shed.. so.. how about when she nipped me this morning? ...hungry.... when she's full and happy she comes out and around the tank at night and I can pick her up with no problems..

my snake has an attitude.

and coincidentally "Snuggles" who I picked up today is probably the friendliest snake I've ever handled ever. no signs of aggression whatsoever.. ..except towards his dinner. :D
 
There are some snakes that just dont prefer human interaction... ha ha ha ha ha you have to be able to read your animal and then adjust to it. Only he/she will let you know when its ok to interact. Ive always been a big advocate of letting the animal get to know you rather than force handling. I think the only animal I keep that I can just pick up and throw on my lap is my bd I wont do that with any of my monitors, ever; i have way too much respect for their bite and claws. Knock on wood I ve never been tagged by a monitor because of my approach... only been tagged when I force handle for one reason or another. Same thing with any of the snakes I have.
 
I have found that any Boidae, save P. regius (ball python) tends to develop a bit of an attitude once they get longer than ~2m (unless handled frequently).

Of all the snakes I've tended, the smallest (a Sonoran Kingsnake) and largest (a tie at ~2.5m between a reticulated python - bad news, and a burmese python - not as bad) were the most difficult to get along with.

I had to glove up to move either one as the King was too small to stick-handle. He would start snapping at the air whenever I opened his cage. I once had the retic. wound on one arm when he slipped his head out of my glove and waited until I tried to sneak a peek at where his head was going, then he tried to bite my (entire) face. I whipped my head around so fast, I launched my glasses (he missed). I had a third party glove my free hand so i could regain control of the snake.

I have found garters to be uniformly disagreeable as well - bite first, assess the threat later...
 
Handling frquently gives them more reason to hate you if they already do. Thats just more forcing and confinement. If my hognose doesnt want me to hold her, she gives me a little hiss and she goes straight back. If she doesnt give me a warning, I let her crawl around me while I read or watch TV and she'll find a nice spot to hide under my shirt or something. Only time I actually PICK THEM UP is to transport to one spot or another. Once I'm there, they do the exploring.

Whats wrong with a fussy snake anyway? It keep you on your toes to have a spunky one!
 
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