Olive python hatchling being snappy

[Ccrystal]

Hi all,

I recently got myself an Olive Python hatchling and I’ve found that it’s a bit snappy, to the point where when I offered food it was going for my hand instead. Also when I walk into the room it starts turning into an ‘S’ shape. Also when I’m trying to change the water and I use the hook to steer it away, it strikes at the hook. He is currently in shed so maybe that is playing a part in this. My questions are: Is this normal or should I be worried? Will it grow out of this or should I start working with it to help with the snappiness? If yes, should I wait for a bit until it sheds then start working with it?

Any advice is appreciated

 

[Herpetology]

Picture of setup,where is the setup located (high traffic area) what are the temps, how are you measuring temps? What is it being fed? These will all help

for now I’d leave it alone for a while

 

[Ccrystal]

The setup is in my bedroom, which is not that loud as it is outside the main house. I haven’t gotten around to measuring my snake yet but I was told that this size tank would be good for it. I will measure it when it is calmed down. The current temps are at 31-32° warm side and 27-28° on the cool side. I’m currently measuring temps with a thermometer but I am going to order a temperature gun. It is currently on fuzzy rats and it surprisingly had one on it’s first night. It has a habit on listening for when I’m in the room and just checking me out, then when I’m near the tank it just turns into an ‘S’ shape. I am planning taking it to a reptile vet once it settles in so it can be sexed, I’m just wondering how long it might take for it to settle in.

 

[Sdaji]

Haha, sounds like a normal Olive Python, and sounds like someone bought an Olive Python without knowing much about Olive Pythons. It'll outgrow that cage (by the way, I'd avoid glass cages for snakes, especially pythons, for all sorts of reasons).

Contrary to popular belief, if you handle a snake like this in a bad way it'll usually train it to be more snappy, and I wouldn't try handling it until it starts to calm down (personally I wouldn't bother handling it ever, which is generally the best way to get a snake to calm down, contrary to popular belief, although my reason is that I handle snakes enough without needing to go out of my way to do it) but generally speaking Olives will grow out of this snappy stage within 6-12 months and become calm. Feeding it a lot and giving it a secure environment (a smaller plastic tub with opaque sides would be better, which you can upgrade to a larger plastic tub in a few months for trivial cost, followed by whatever adult enclosure you plan to use would be much better and a fraction of the cost of that glass thing which is about the size of the plastic tub I'd use as its intermediate enclosure for all of about 3-6 months).

If you're a nervous newbie with a baby Olive Python which is snappy and scaring you, it may be worth selling it to someone more appropriate and getting something which will stay smaller. One of the Olives I routinely work with is over 12 foot long and most weeks launches out like a missile, literally trying to kill me, almost every week. I absolutely love it and she's probably my favourite snake to work with, I love the enthusiasm she displays in trying to kill me (she's not at all 'snappy' like your hatchling, she's just convinced she would be able to kill and eat me so she does her best to try, it's so fun!) but it sounds like this experience is something you would enjoy far less than I do and by the sounds of things your experience level is insufficient for the task, which could make things dangerous, potentially even deadly to you. I had one friend killed by a large python, I'd rather not read about you in the news in a few years.

 

[Herpetology]

I haven’t gotten around to measuring my snake yet but I was told that this size tank would be good for it.

Who told you this is this the 90x60x45 enclosure?

 

[Ccrystal]

Who told you this is this the 90x60x45 enclosure?

No this is a 60x45x45, I’m planning on filling it a lot more with plants soon. My dad (who I live with) has a lot of experiences with snakes and is willing to help with desensitising it. I will consider rehoming it if the desensitising by my dad doesn’t work out. Thanks for the advice
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Haha, sounds like a normal Olive Python, and sounds like someone bought an Olive Python without knowing much about Olive Pythons. It'll outgrow that cage (by the way, I'd avoid glass cages for snakes, especially pythons, for all sorts of reasons).

Contrary to popular belief, if you handle a snake like this in a bad way it'll usually train it to be more snappy, and I wouldn't try handling it until it starts to calm down (personally I wouldn't bother handling it ever, which is generally the best way to get a snake to calm down, contrary to popular belief, although my reason is that I handle snakes enough without needing to go out of my way to do it) but generally speaking Olives will grow out of this snappy stage within 6-12 months and become calm. Feeding it a lot and giving it a secure environment (a smaller plastic tub with opaque sides would be better, which you can upgrade to a larger plastic tub in a few months for trivial cost, followed by whatever adult enclosure you plan to use would be much better and a fraction of the cost of that glass thing which is about the size of the plastic tub I'd use as its intermediate enclosure for all of about 3-6 months).

If you're a nervous newbie with a baby Olive Python which is snappy and scaring you, it may be worth selling it to someone more appropriate and getting something which will stay smaller. One of the Olives I routinely work with is over 12 foot long and most weeks launches out like a missile, literally trying to kill me, almost every week. I absolutely love it and she's probably my favourite snake to work with, I love the enthusiasm she displays in trying to kill me (she's not at all 'snappy' like your hatchling, she's just convinced she would be able to kill and eat me so she does her best to try, it's so fun!) but it sounds like this experience is something you would enjoy far less than I do and by the sounds of things your experience level is insufficient for the task, which could make things dangerous, potentially even deadly to you. I had one friend killed by a large python, I'd rather not read about you in the news in a few years.

Also thanks Sdaji, but in your opinion do you think that most Olives grow to be like yours, or not? I understand that they are all different obviously, but I just wanted your opinion

 

[Sdaji]

No this is a 60x45x45, I’m planning on filling it a lot more with plants soon. My dad (who I live with) has a lot of experiences with snakes and is willing to help with desensitising it. I will consider rehoming it if the desensitising by my dad doesn’t work out. Thanks for the advice
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Also thanks Sdaji, but in your opinion do you think that most Olives grow to be like yours, or not? I understand that they are all different obviously, but I just wanted your opinion

She's not mine, just part of a collection I routinely work with.

She's been (unintentionally) trained to behave in that way. I could very easily train that snake to behave completely differently if I wanted to, but it's more convenient the way things are, and I love the extreme, unbridled feed response she has and she's hands down my favourite Olive. There are several other Olives in the same collection including some gorgeous albinoes, they're all individuals, but my favourite is the one which literally every time I work with her tries her absolute best to kill me. If she was snappy I wouldn't enjoy it at all because it would mean she was stressed/scared, I could still deal with it, but it wouldn't be fun and I'd just feel sorry for the poor thing, but this girl, she's just so full of passion, and it's so enjoyable to see a powerful 12' snake demonstrate so much passion and desire for something (and I generally reward her efforts with a feed, which reinforces the behaviour, which is a situation I'd never recommend for you, but you would most likely do the same thing.

The thing is, if you don't know what you're doing, you might end up with a snake which behaves like this (or cranky, snappy one) and unlike me you're obviously not going to enjoy it at all. The snake will suffer and you will be unhappy and perhaps injured or worst case scenario dead. The fact you are asking the questions you are means that you should be getting more experience with smaller pythons before taking on an Olive. I thoroughly enjoy working with these things, but when I was a young fella around 19 years old, no shorter than I am now (6'3") but with a lot less experience with large snakes, a large Olive constricted and almost killed me, which was a real eye opener for me at time. A large Australian python literally killed a friend of mine (that snake had previously belonged to a mutual friend of ours who died not much earlier, it was a snake we all knew quite well, and as much as we all loved him, he was quite a dangerous creature). Olives grow large and unless you're starving them they grow more quickly than you're likely to gain experience unless you're mad keen and living and breathing dangerous snakes, which it sounds like you're not. Safety is important not just because I'd prefer you not to come to harm, but negative situations, whether it's you being injured or you having a snake which isn't being kept well and scares you, doesn't paint a good picture of our hobby, and that harms all of us.