Handling feisty snakes - Info

[tattoodfreak]

Any useful tips on dealing specifically with a feisty, hissy bull snake?

[masticophis]

Yeah, Ignore it.

Bulls tend to be 99% bluff, so just pick it up. It may well hiss and strike, but chances are that it won't actually bite. Even if it does then ignore it and it will soon stop doing it.

Mike

[carpy]

Originally Posted by ogawa only

your post dosn't make sense , you picked up a thrashing 12ft snake , that you new to be aggresive , then it got round your neck , then took 20mins to release ,and now your trying to put it in a rescue center , this is rather a strange first post !!

that and the fact that by my reckoning not a single full stop was used in that sentence!

[nicola1b]

I've just recently bought one of these, he's a lovely fellow but hisses and strikes quite a lot even when he's inside his tank. I've no experience of snakes but desperate to learn and want him to calm down and to be in a position where i can handle him regularly
When he's hissing and striking (he's bitten me once, 2nd day of owning him, 1st time trying to get him out) i do get a bit nervous, can anyone give me any advice on how to pick him up, or calm him down? Or, if i should just stop being nervous and get on with it...

I held him in the pet shop and he was fine, the guy in the pet shop took him out no problems and said he took him out on a daily basis and he'd never bitten anyone. I'm wondering if it just a nervous thing cos of new surroundings, and if so, how soon should i try to get him out again?

Any advice would help! Cheers..

[ratboy]

Originally Posted by ratboy

Now please do not post jokes or comments on other peoples posts. This is not what the thread is about. If you have an opinion on what someone posts, please start your own thread on the topic and discuss it there.

polite reminder....

[ash_dude]

i work with reptiles of all shapes and sizes the way we tend to do it is depending on the aggression and size, either pin the snake with two fingers behind the head or if the reptile is small enough place my hand over the whole of the snake mainly around the head as it works in the same way as the towel.

but once you get used to a snake i find i can tell if or when he will strike

hope that helps in any way

[Aconite]

I have worked with snakes for ages and I love watching how different people handle aggressive snakes. Basically snakes are all about overcoming the fear. They unleash some primal instinct in us and we are irrationally scared of them. (Ok with a mamba the fear is not irrational- but with a corn or a bull it is.) I used to work in a place where no one would handle some of the smallest snakes because they were scared of being bitten and I used to see the humour in that, as it is the snakes best defense.

As some others here have said, it is all about bluff. The snake, like an egg-eater will act ferocious, but will actually have no teeth and will harm themselves much more than you if they bite.
So I tend to calm myself first - and by being calm I can approach the snake in a way that I wont be tense, I wont make sudden movements and so it wont get scared. Because a scared snake bites, simple. So my husband laughs at me when I talk to my gtp when I take him out the cage. Of course he cant hear me, but chatting away makes me calm and as I tell him how i love him I feel serene and warm and he responds to that. I am not jumpy and neither is he.

Then again with bulls you just have to stick your hand in there- distract with the one hand, lift with the other. Once they are off the ground they forget to be grumpy.
And again, if they bite just be calm, talk yourself thru it and if necessary get help from someone else who can remain calm.

Also, the cover their eyes trick does work. I used to catch all my snakes in the wild in that way. I would see a snake, whip off my t-shirt and cover the snake with it. Pick up snake and snuggle it.
Oddly enough no one complained when this mad woman walked around holding a snake- proclaiming how lovely it was- wearing only a bra and a pair of jeans.

[Skytwin]

I couldn't agree more with the bluff statements and the fact, initiially snakes are scarey even if its just a corn.

I've a 1 year old cali king and she's very bitey. I've owned her for just over 6 months and I'm only just at the stage where her bites don't bother me. I know they don't hurt, she's only small (2 foot ish) so it is completely irrational.

Initially I went with handling her with gloves on. She doesn't like being held around the head so I normally go for a scooping action about a quarter down her body with one hand and support the rest of her body with the other.

Her bites now are purely defensive and she doesn't grab hold. She'll literally strike and then sit back. After a few minutes of my hand being present in the viv, she's ok with it.

For me, using gloves was a crucial move. It got my irrational fear of a biting snake in check, and the more she was handled, the better she's got. I tend to not use them now as we're both used to each other. I think they provide a psychological barrier more than anything else.

[debor10]

Originally Posted by Barry.M

Depending on the species,size,aggression etc I either just pick em up,hook them or for the really nasty big ones I use closeable hide boxes that I can lock and just take out the viv.
Generally a good hook is more than adequate though.

i keep a nicaraguan boa she is only a juevnile and is very good tempered i heard that dwarfs and subs species of boas can be nasty tempered especialy nics but the only time she struck was the first time we feed her i think she was scared shes small enough to put in a pocket so somtimes she sleeps in my pocket when i watch tv i love herps and would like to beable to keep some large snakes sutch as burms or rectics and also some monitors

[masticophis]

Originally Posted by Adams

Hi, new to forum, got myself a couple of Sand Snakes,Psammophis schokari, the larger one of the two is quite feisty, i have them in a 45x45x45 Exo Terra Terrrarium.

Does anyone elso have this breed of snake and could they tell me how venomous they are and what kind of bite could you expect to get.

I had seen them handled in the shop and both did not seem streessed by it, they are very active, always climbing around and digging, the smaller one of the two has not eaten for a while as the larger one seems to get to the food first,

One more thing they currently eat House Geckos that are near deaths door...any other food i could try on them ie Frogs....

Many thanks for reading

Hmmm Sounds dangerous, ...............

I mean did the shop not give you an idea of these snakes, as they have only just come off DWA and IMO are worse than a mangrove. If the shop didn't tell you (which I gather from your questions), then really I worry about that shops advice, i certainly don't think I'd trust anything I was told by them.

They tend to be very, very fast, not normally aggressive but they have a fair set of fangs and VERY big venom glands. Bites usually give a golf ball sized lump and pain. They have been known to put people in hospital though. Not beginner snakes, but fascinating snakes none the less.

If you do free handle then maybe wear a long sleeved top and light gardening gloves, that way if bitten most venom will soak into gloves.

Also they are probably psammophis sibilans, they may be other species but sibilans are the most common over here. Can be very tricky to work out what subspecies though as some are very similar.

Normally they will eat mice pretty easily if sibilans, most others will take rodents as well but some are trickier to get started.
I'm waiting for a couple of sibilans to hatch at the moment and they have been mating almost all the time since laying so might be getting a second clutch.

PM me if you want any more info, plus if you do think of getting rid then I'd be interested as they are one of my fave snake species. If you are lucky then you may get to see them scale polishing, a few species of sand snakes seem to do this.

Mike