Woma Temperament

[arevenant]

So I've just purchased my first ever Aspidite, a 5 year old Tanami Woma.
She's been kept as a breeder, and never really been handled.
The previous owner said it had a bit of an aggressive temperament, and though never bit him(he always poled it and was pretty untrusting and wary of it), had bit the original owner, and it did bluff a little when first taken out of it's enclosure when I bought it.
Now everything I've read and heard from other keepers is that Woma's are renowned for having one of the most docile temperaments around(aside from feeding obviously).

I've only just gotten her into her new home, and will be giving her a good week or two of alone time to settle in before I bother with handling her. I'm not afraid of a tag or two and am happy to play this one out and see if she settles - if she actually is a bit of a nutter.
Either way she's beautiful, I got her for a steal and am looking forward to getting a male and breeding her up over the next few seasons.

Now for a couple of questions;
Anybody ever dealt with an aggressive Woma before? Did it settle? Anything particular you did to help change the temperament?

Here she is, just on 6ft and about 3.5kg I'd say.

 

[cagey]

Nice looking Woma

 

[arevenant]

Nice looking Woma

Some pics I took today showing her true colour, so happy with this beauty, also gave her a measure - bang on 2 metres, a big girl!

 

[Stuart]

I liken mine to my bhps in that because she is not handled often, she is not aggressive but very, very food orientated if close (~ 7days) to being due for a feed. If she isn't hungry, she is incredibly curious and will quite happily be handled if you let her leave the enclosure on her own terms.

She was also sold to me as a "very aggressive animal" who apparently would go for you for no reason however I found that her "aggression" as just purely down to being underfed. Not saying yours would be in the same boat but maybe a possibility (although the pics look like they prove me wrong)

That's a very nice looking animal there mate, congrats.

 

[arevenant]

I liken mine to my bhps in that because she is not handled often, she is not aggressive but very, very food orientated if close (~ 7days) to being due for a feed. If she isn't hungry, she is incredibly curious and will quite happily be handled if you let her leave the enclosure on her own terms.

She was also sold to me as a "very aggressive animal" who apparently would go for you for no reason however I found that her "aggression" as just purely down to being underfed. Not saying yours would be in the same boat but maybe a possibility (although the pics look like they prove me wrong)

That's a very nice looking animal there mate, congrats.

Hey thanks for the info!
She's 5 years old and was a breeder for Rob Sullivan, then the second owner I got her off didn't trust her so also never handled her so perhaps it's simply as you stated. She was sold as 'aggressive' too which is why I got her so cheap...
She is extremely calm and curious in her enclosure and hasn't displayed any aggression to me, though I haven't attempted to handle her yet to let her settle in.
She was fed Friday, is 7ft and probably close to 4kg so her condition is excellent. Rob Sullivan's a pretty top Aspidite breeder here in Vic, so I've no doubt she's been treated well, but I guess simply never really handled.

 

[onelife]

ha -i used to think mine was well rounded until i saw this one very nice

 

[Stuart]

I know Robs name and I will definitely retract my underfed statement as I know I am wrong.

 

[Umbral]

Wow that's pretty big for a Tanami, my female maxed out at 1.2m and my males 1.1m.
nice looking woma.

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Here's a pic of my male

 

[arevenant]

Yeah she's a big girl!
is that the male you have up for sale [MENTION=27245]Umbral[/MENTION]?

 

[Umbral]

Yea it is.

 

[arevenant]

So I had her out just before(couldn't help myself) and turns out she was placid as a sleeping baby.
Had zero interest in me whatsoever and was just calm, relaxed and checking out the surrounds. Hopefully it's not a one off and this continues. Needless to say I'm very happy.

Thought I'd post a pic showing her size, as you can see she really is a solid 7ft!

 

[Dr-Zoidberg]

Impressive to say the least, she's a beauty mate.

 

[Wiganov]

Jesus, for a Tanami that is immense. Congratulations.

 

[cement]

In my book theres no aggressive snakes.
There is only keeper level of fear. Snakes don't like being disturbed by humans wether they are pets or not, sure they tolerate it and get used to it, and (unless of the aspiditis family) they will generally learn to not associate our smell as food.
Your new woma is likely to have its moments, but it is because it is reacting defensively out of fear of you, because you inadvertedly snuck up on her and she didn't realise you were there.
You may even find that at times you'll get her out for a motor on the ground and she'll be fine, but she may even get so absorbed in her own world, forget your even there and then when you go to pick her up she may display threatened posture.
For a keeper to sell her off as being aggressive, to me, seems like they misunderstand the animal.

 

[salebrosus]

Womas are not aggressive, they are however very food oriented. You can add up all the species of snake bite ive had and it still would not be close to the number of times ive been tagged by womas. When you feel them get tight around your arm, gently nudge you skin and do a couple of short licks it would be a good idea to move its head away from any meaty bits......I often have to use a hook to get mine out to assist in them distinguishing its clean and handle time not feed time.

 

[Ekans]

When you feel them get tight around your arm, gently nudge you skin and do a couple of short licks it would be a good idea to move its head away from any meaty bits

Valuable info, this is what I look for when I handle my boy

 

[arevenant]

In my book theres no aggressive snakes.
There is only keeper level of fear. Snakes don't like being disturbed by humans wether they are pets or not, sure they tolerate it and get used to it, and (unless of the aspiditis family) they will generally learn to not associate our smell as food.
Your new woma is likely to have its moments, but it is because it is reacting defensively out of fear of you, because you inadvertedly snuck up on her and she didn't realise you were there.
You may even find that at times you'll get her out for a motor on the ground and she'll be fine, but she may even get so absorbed in her own world, forget your even there and then when you go to pick her up she may display threatened posture.
For a keeper to sell her off as being aggressive, to me, seems like they misunderstand the animal.

Womas are not aggressive, they are however very food oriented. You can add up all the species of snake bite ive had and it still would not be close to the number of times ive been tagged by womas. When you feel them get tight around your arm, gently nudge you skin and do a couple of short licks it would be a good idea to move its head away from any meaty bits......I often have to use a hook to get mine out to assist in them distinguishing its clean and handle time not feed time.

So, turns out she isn't aggressive in any way whatsoever. Had her out today and she was draped over my partner, her son, as well as handled by myself and a friend for a good half an hour without so much as a sideways glance at anyone.
The original breeder didn't have a problem with her at all for 3 years, and as you say, I beleive it was just the previous owner not being confident in handling her is all. She's a puppy dog.
I think I put it down to how the previous keeper handled it too, he'd take it out and place it on a large low table with a sheet over it. I assume he used this for all his snakes and so had all their scent on it which probably set it off.
Either way, she's nothing like she was described and am thrilled to say the least.

 

[Umbral]

The female I had used to crack me up. She would be sitting the happily and the slowly open her mouth almost like slow motion and then latch onto a finger. It's like she wasn't sure what it was and was being careful. She got me twice doing that and I stopped her another time lol.

 

[reptalica]

For mine, aggressive is a word too loosely used.