Handling feisty snakes - Info

[carpy]

as above on all counts, this snake is not one to take lightly, indeed i would treat as venomous - i.e use hooks etc.

as mentioned the trickiest part is converting them onto rodents, something that is often not managed which is what results in death ultimately

if you want info, help or anything else feel free to pm. and as above if you want to get rid i would also be interested - this has happened alot with me and Mike wanting the same stuff! what shop did you get them from?

Alex

[MrsRaven]

Originally Posted by 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.

My female ATB is more nervous than aggressive. So long as I am slow and careful in my movements, don't grab her (and yes, irrational as it may seem, I talk to her!) she's fine. There are times when I'd be crazy to try and do try and do anything with her, like in the evening when she's in hunt mode. But generally she's far less aggressive than the male I used to have. Even then applying the same principles I could usually do what was needed with him.

We have a a pair of Macklots, the male is about seven feet long and an absolute pussycat, but the female is a bloodyminded old baggage. She is about eight feet long and quite heavy. Her head is three inches long and sometimes she's fine and other times you don't go near her. It's all in the body language. She is not a snake that you fetch out to show people because she hates strangers. Nine times out of ten, if you rattle her bars she'll just head-butt you, but the tenth time she will bite. She's never got me yet, because I don't do anything to encourage it, but she had my other half a nice one the other day. Well, he was warned.....

[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

[carpy]

Originally Posted by masticophis

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

Originally Posted by carpy

as above on all counts, this snake is not one to take lightly, indeed i would treat as venomous - i.e use hooks etc.

as mentioned the trickiest part is converting them onto rodents, something that is often not managed which is what results in death ultimately

if you want info, help or anything else feel free to pm. and as above if you want to get rid i would also be interested - this has happened alot with me and Mike wanting the same stuff! what shop did you get them from?

Alex

see quote adam

[Stavros88]

Hey, dont know if PMSs have been covered already, but i'll chuck in my experiences with Houdini - less than a year old.

Houdini moves erratically and rapidly when upset/ threatened/ frightened - which is most of the time since he's a young PMS. I'm told they calm down when they reach maturity, Ive held a fully-grown PMS and it was pretty friendly, just lazily explored my hands etc.

Sometimes he can be jumpy for the whole time I have him out (usually not longer than 10 minutes at a time) but can also be chilled out within seconds.

Doesnt like to be touched on his back, this spooks him (doesnt like to be petted either...).

Has only bit me twice, but he's small, so it doesnt hurt.

Recently he's taken to pissing or urating on my hands as soon as I get him out, hoping he'll stop this in time...

[PrimalUrges]

My new Jampea dwarf Retic is probably the feistiest snake I have ever handled, plus the fastest.

If he is snappy, its usually because he doesn't want to be disturbed, so I generally leave him to it, maybe trying later when he's calmed down a bit.

Otherwise he is pretty defensive when you try to get him out, so I use a hook, and as soon as he's out he's as good as gold.

If he is in a flighty mood, I let him slither away from me through my hands until he is calm.
He is still young, so will calm down with handling, already seeing results after a week!

[squirl]

ive found that keeping calm helps alot when handling aswell. always having a hook to hand helps just incase anything happens. as for the actual handling id say the distraction method works well with feisty species, once you have it distracted you can either slide your hand under the coil or just tail he snake and support the weight with a hook(unless its got a fair bit of girth).use the hook the distance the head from you and you arm thats holding the tail and hopefully it should chill a bit and let you handle it, or just guide it into a sack and do what you need to. ive found that if your trying to tame a biter handling pre bask will make you get biten less and hopefully help the snake realise you dont want to eat it. the main point is dont hesitate coz that could get you tagged.
cheers
squirl

[evilangel]

Originally Posted by ratboy

I have bred my Taiwanese beauties for the last two years. My take on the hatchlings is that they bite without warning... No tail rattling or S'ing up... just chomp.

Unusually, picking them up does not seem to bother the babies in the slightest. The baby was simply interested in the big wide world as soon as the lid was lifted from it's tub. If getting on my hand was a means to getting out... that was fine. They really did seem to view me as a warm tree.

Once out... extremely inquisitive and placid babies but they would bite at anything that moved too quickly for them but then carry on as though nothing had happened.

my 1st snake was a tai beauty and i had to dodge the strikes then grab her!! Damn she was feisty! but for any of mine that show aggresion, out comes the snake hook!

[annsarocker]

Originally Posted by ratboy

What I would like to try with this thread is not a discussion of handling techniques but rather the actual experience of keepers of different species.

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.

Basically I would like each post to be your methods of dealing with whatever feisty species you keep coupled with your opinions of why your methods work either on a particular snake or on a particular species. At the end of the thread we will hopefully have a pinnable thread with some insight into different species and their handling without the opinions of other keepers on your techniques.

This is the key point. I do not want to see peoples opinions of anyone elses posts or their content, as said, please start your own threads if you wish to do this. Jokes and off topic posts are also not welcome. If you consider a post to be dangerous or offering dangerous advice, report it to a moderator so they can use their discretion to deal with it.

This is really just an idea to see what happens and if it descends into the usual chaos.

hi ive just posted a thread bout my very aggressive cali. king...hoping for some advice ? ann

[TCReptile]

Hey guys, I haven't read the whole thread, so don't knoe if it's been answered, but what my brother-in-law does it put the snake in a pillow case and sit calmly with it on his lap. He'll 'stroke' the bag, more and more each day so that it gets used to contact but without getting as stressed, until eventually he can start taking it out of the bag and sit calmly with it in his lap.