Handling advice needed.

[Macca2301]

Hi,

I have recently purchased a 18mth old jungle and placed him in a 900 x 900 x 600 enclosure with branches. Before i purchased him the previous owner had only been bitten 5 times and was quite placid and no bites/anger in 12mths. Since he has settled in the last 4 days after transport i have decided to get him out and start to handle him and he is persistant to hold onto the log and strike at me a dozen times really anoyed.

With most of my snakes i have had from hatchies i have always touched them with a snake hook to let them know i am there and then picked them up and never been bitten. With this 18mth old and a 2.5 yr old i have just aquired i have tried this and think that they dont like or are use to getting led out with a hook and are quite disturbed/angry. Should i just place my hands in and grab them. What does eveyone else find is easiest way not to startel them.

Any ideas how to get the 18mth old out without stressing it out to much and getting a thousand strikes my way. Think he will be fine if i can get him out.

Regards,
Luke

 

[nagini-baby]

some take longer to settle in than others. i have a female carpet that doesnt like change we moved her into a new enclosure and it took her 3 weeks to calm down and shes usually very sweet. leave it alone for awhile

 

[Reptilefreak95]

The thing i find with new snakes is it takes a little while for some to settle in and i agree with nagigi-babby leave it for abit. dont use a hook either, u r in no danger and the snake will be more at risk of injury from striking a metal object than striking ur hand, be very confident, just go straight in and grab it from underneath, just be chilled and the snake will be chill hopefully too. handle regularly and carefully. usually they strike a bit then chill out. hope this helps
Ryan

 

[snakeynewbie]

If you find it hard to be confident without the hook in the face of an almost certain bite get a pair of leather gloves, i got a great Pope brand pair from bunnings for $15, they are thick ut soft and make it easy to gently pick them up, its been great actually for geting my murray used to being picked up with hands without copping those first few bites, now he just head butts and i just use my bare hands and i expect over time he wont even bother with the head butt

 

[Macca2301]

Thanks for the feedback guys really appreciate it. With the gloves how thick do you need so they dont break through all the time. Have owned pythons for over 2 yrs and never been bitten so cant gauge how long there teeth are.

 

[hugsta]

Don't be scared to use a hook, the risk of injuring the snake is pretty much not going to happen and just because you stick your hand in there does not mean in any way shape or form that the snake will settle down. It may help, but it may just be the temperament of the snake. Ask any keeper who has kept and bred many jungles and they will all have animals that no matter what you do, will still try and take your arm off. Using a hook is a good way for the animal to realise it is not being fed and is going to be removed from the enclsoure. Try to hook the midsection and once they start to move away you can then move your hand in to remove them. As they are trying to get away, there is a reduced chance of them biting you rather than going head to head.

On the topic of being snappy, I find a well fed snake is usually much nicer to handle. for whatever reason, they seem to be way more settled. So maybe bump up your feeding a little and see how he/she goes.

 

[snakeynewbie]

sorry i dont have the packaging any more but they arent as thick as the cheapo ones, i suspect the teeth of a big snake could still go though them but i sacrificed a bit if the thickness in favour of them being a bit softer and more pliable. The point of them was just to reduce the rsik of copping the worst of the bite. For reference the brand is Pope, theyare yellow with red around the wrist and they were about $15 from the garden section of bunnings.

 

[hugsta]

Just buy a nice thick pair of leather welding gloves, any type really if that is what you wish to use, they are pretty thick and should stop the teeth sinking in. I personally don't like using gloves as I think the snakes are at more risk of loosing teeth by getting them stuck in the leather or the loose bit that come off and get caught in their teeth, I also think you can handle the animal better without them as you get a better feel for what the animal is doing and also a better grip on him/her. This is just my opnion and if you feel better/safer with gloves, then go for it. The risk are minimal to the animal really.

 

[snakeynewbie]

Oh yes shuld say i generally only wear one, i reach in with a gloved hand nd gently tease out a loop and start pulling him out amd then usemy barehand to support the rest of him. Generally he willonl snap the once at the first hand that goes in so this works for us

 

[Pazzy]

I have a 6 foot carpet and she is the same except i dont have to let her know i am there she stalks me through her tank. I just get her out with the hook and she is usually alright i have copped a few bites but that comes with owning snakes. One observation I have mad is that if she feels that i am nervous she will bite but if i am calm then most of the time she is too..

 

[hugsta]

I have a 6 foot carpet and she is the same except i dont have to let her know i am there she stalks me through her tank. I just get her out with the hook and she is usually alright i have copped a few bites but that comes with owning snakes. One observation I have mad is that if she feels that i am nervous she will bite but if i am calm then most of the time she is too..

I do agree with you there, I believe they sense a prescence of calmness in people or I suppose confidence when handling them. Interesting.....

 

[Yodel]

When I was young and juvenile I used to catch young spotteds or carpets and bring them home and tame them or sell them at school (I do not condone this activity and I myself would actively pursuade others against doing so, however I am sure it is how many of you first became interested/associated with reptiles.)
Anywho, when I first started with snakes I would use a hook (usually made out of a coat hanger) however I found that the snake would just hang on tight to the hanger and would be impossible to remove. But i'd just let it sit there and rest my fingers on it to get them used to my presence. When i tired of this and wanted to handle my little friends properly i resorted to gloves. However I found this to be far worse. It makes it difficult to pick the snake up originally, they do nothing to associate the snake with you as a living thing, they just treat you like a tree because they cannot feel a pulse or whatever. Also I had incidents with the snakes diving under the glove
If i obtain a new snake these days the best way I find is just consistency in holding it. I would use bear hands and accept the fact I would get tagged occasionally. However I find the risk worth the inconvenience of gloves. Be passive and calm, the snake will follow. Nothing sets you back more than recoiling and shaking the snake about in fear of a bite. Or shaking like mad (particularly for little snakes). I have never owned a jungle, or any snake that was unable to be tamed, however I am sure individuals that do exist. Best to stick at it, he will only get better.

 

[Macca2301]

Thankyou all for the sound advice. Will let him settle over the wkend and then persist at it. I had a 11mth old here that was very agressive and used gloves and in bit over a week now can handle him fine.

 

[John_lisa]

hey iv got a jungle myself witch has never even struck at me i all ways on all my snakes except my GTP use my hook as someone else said just to raise its body let them know its not feeding time and there coming out then i go in with my hands.

i have a bad bredli atm and he is getting so much better but he was really bad for a few weeks when i got him couldn belive it thought it had to be something other then settleing in with how long it was going on for but as the days whent bye he got better and better been a month now still bites but so much better so i think it does depend on the snake to how long it takes to settle in.

just one more thing i didnt see how u picked ur snake up but a breeder told me that if the nerves snakes try aproching the snake with ur hund UNDER it not above the snakes as normal instinct would be that something large comeing above is bad and to attack it as i said i didnt see u say how u did it just thought id throw that in as that what i do with my jungle every time seems to work
good luck

 

[Macca2301]

Hi John,

I have his enclosure ontop of another one and sits about eye level on the highest branch. Just opened the door and touched him with the hook and he was startled as they do and instantly started lining me up.

 

[longqi]

Think about how the snake feels
New house
Scared stiff
Cold metal hook

We relocate retics and burmese here [along with cobras etc too]
Never use a hook except for vens
In every case we use calico bags to pick pythons up
Very rarely do they even try to strike and if they do they only hit the cloth
We never grip the snake but gently ease it into position touching it only with the cloth
As soon as hot sweaty human hands or metal touch the same snake they usually go crazy
and a 4 metre retic going crazy is never my idea of fun

Ive been tagged once in the last 6 months
So it works

 

[Macca2301]

Thanks longqi for the tips. The more information the better. I have only owned pythons for about 2 years and still pently to learn.