How did you get over the fear of.......

[konp69]

Mine took a strike at me when my girlfriend and I first got him, he was cranky because he'd just been relocated from an environment he was comfortable with to a much bigger and different-smelling place. He didn't fully hang on, just gave me a tap - and it happened so fast that by the time my reflexes had gone "HAY DUDE YOU SHOULD REMOVE YOUR HAND LOL" he'd already retracted back from the hit. Didn't hurt, it was just a painless impact on my hand, left a few tiny dots. Since then I haven't been worried at all.

Don't handle your snake hesitantly. Make smooth (but not sudden) confident movements and don't be afraid to grasp the snake firmly. Unless they're in a really bad mood they'll pick up on the fact that you don't mean them any harm pretty quickly.

[Khagan]

As Baden said, invest in a quality hook. Even make one yourself out of a golf club or such if you have to. I personally hook them out whether big, small, nice or evil. I think being hooked is less stressful than a giant thing coming in to snatch them up.

[solar 17]

if its under 6foot it wont hurt, lol

l dont mind saying this sought of answer gives me a rash ....IMO being tough has got very little to do with it sure some people are naturals but a lot aren't and having worked with exotic cats weighing 150+ kgs respect and going with the flow in most cases will get you there quicker and reap some deeper understanding of an animals projected thought processes than being mr. tough guy whom over the years l find these people in a lot of cases to be hard on animals for sake of being "tuff"....solar 17 (Baden)

[CrystalMoon]

I am a huge fan of a hook, mainly because it is less stressful on the snake imo I have a big parrot ladder in my 2.5 year old Coastals enclosure and I just lift it and her straight out, then she is great to be handled. I use the hook on my younger ones because it allows them to then come to me when they are ready, they will snap at me religiously when I put my hand in their enclosure. They never strike at the hook, and within a couple of minutes on the hook they will wriggle up the handle and onto my hand/arm, I have not been bitten since using this method. I am not worried about bites(I have had many) I just find them calmer using this method I know I can grab them and reef them out bare handed anytime, but to me there is no point if it is upsetting to my reptile Kiddies I want them to associate handling/me as something pleasant not as something to fear/stress.

[Skeptic]

Mixed opinions... I guess when I said just get bitten a bunch of times I should have elaborated a bit. I do own a hook and use it a fair bit. But I've had some of my snakes for 10+ years and I know that with some of them I can just reach in after holding my hand near the entrance for a few seconds so they can have a whiff and they'll meet me half way but I also know with others that if i stick my hand in there it's going to come out covered in blood so I always use a hook with them. The real problem with being too scared to take the occasional bite is that it leads to neglect of the animal sometimes. If the owner is too scared to get the animal out then it may not be cleaned out as often as it should and really, whats the point of owning a snake if you're not going to enjoy it. So if getting the occasional tag helps someone get their confidence up, then thats a good thing IMO.

And no, I don't think there is anything tough about getting bitten by a snake. I actually get really embarrassed when I've just being showing some snakes to someone and spent 20 minutes reassuring them it's harmless and then the bugger bites me

[Bluetongue1]

Razeunit,
Upon re-reading your posts, I must admit that first time around I did not pick up on your reason for wanting to use bare hands only to retrieve your snake from its enclosure. Because your mate does it is not a good reason for you to do so. We cannot all be Steve Irwin and we need to know our limitations and work within them. If you then want to expand your limitations, work on it, by all means, but do it for yourself and not because of somebody else.

You have not given any details of your snake, especially behaviour. That would help others to guide you. We don’t know how stroppy it gets, if at all, when attempting to remove it. We don’t know if it settles when removed. We don’t know what it handles like and whether or not it is consistent in its behaviour when handled. For all we know the difficulties could be all due to the snake or all due to you. Without those specific the advice given must be of a general nature. If you want more specific recommendations then you need to fill in the blanks for other users.

Blue

[bugeye23]

the fear goes away after being bitten about 5 times, after my 5th im not too fazed any more comes with the territiry of owning snakes just like a dog i suppose..

[Python-Lover4lyf]

This helped me alot. Read the whole thing. It gave me alot of confidence and technique ideas. It's Great! (type this in google) SNAKE EMPATHY and the Art of Handling Pythons and it'll be the first one. I hope this helps you as much as it helped me And just saying this might just be for me but my snake gets WAY more stressed from a hook then my hand. It's alot less stressful to him when i just gently scoop him up and cuddle him in my arms as apposed to uncoiling him with a hook and pulling him by one point in his body out of the enclosure. Think about it ... would you prefer to have your whole body gently scooped up from your bed or be pulled up from your bed by say .. your arm?.

[cranic]

beautiful snake, had an unexpected moment a bit wife today on a photoshoot. These things happen. But lesson learnt, they can bite.

[PythonLegs]

Stand on an RBB. Pythons become far less scary.

[CrystalMoon]

This helped me alot. Read the whole thing. It gave me alot of confidence and technique ideas. It's Great! (type this in google) SNAKE EMPATHY and the Art of Handling Pythons and it'll be the first one. I hope this helps you as much as it helped me And just saying this might just be for me but my snake gets WAY more stressed from a hook then my hand. It's alot less stressful to him when i just gently scoop him up and cuddle him in my arms as apposed to uncoiling him with a hook and pulling him by one point in his body out of the enclosure. Think about it ... would you prefer to have your whole body gently scooped up from your bed or be pulled up from your bed by say .. your arm?.

I guess it gets down to what works for the individual 3 out of my 5 dont care one way or another, but I can tell you straight, my 2 Jungles absolutely stress to the max if I use my bare hand and bite/tag continually to the point they wont even settle enough to handle. They are slightly better if I use a towel/pillow case over my hand, but still too stressed/agro so it got down to logic with me. Keep going and possibly wind up full grown Jungles that associated me/handling with stress OR try a different method? Hooking may not be every-ones cup of tea and I can assure you I do not go pulling them any where lol BUT without my hook for my Jungle guys the only "cuddle" I am likely to get are the ones from their fangs passionately inserting themselves into where ever they can reach lol At least now they come to me calmly and without aggression. No I am not an absolute Newbie I still have a lot to learn and I have learned to keep an open mind as what may not work one day on one animal may very well work the next day with another animal

[sigridshurte]

get a snake hook, less stressful for all parties and more enjoyable for you

[Joemal]

How did you get over the fear of being bitten? I love snakes, I enjoy handling them but removing them from there enclosures where initially there more defensive always makes me nervous. Its not the bite I fear more the jump I get when they strike. I dont want to use gloves anymore or a hook just in and out with my bare hand. I fed my boy tonight so Monday evening I want to go in and grab him out but would love to hear from some people who overcame this irrational fear.

It's only natural to "fear" a bite from a snake no matter what size it is .I have copped bites from all mine from the Spotted right up to the Scrub and you get over it .Doesn't mean i go out of my way to get bitten but it's a part of owning snakes ,sooner or later it's going to happen and 9 times out of ten it is when you least expect it .I have been around snakes for years and i still do the Steve Irwin dance when i get Bitchly the Scrub out or when one of the smaller ones want to take a shot at the title .Hook is your best bet or you can go down the masochists track and just dive right in there like me and wrestle that sucker out of it's cage .

[-Katana-]

I guess it gets down to what works for the individual 3 out of my 5 dont care one way or another, but I can tell you straight, my 2 Jungles absolutely stress to the max if I use my bare hand and bite/tag continually to the point they wont even settle enough to handle. They are slightly better if I use a towel/pillow case over my hand, but still too stressed/agro so it got down to logic with me. Keep going and possibly wind up full grown Jungles that associated me/handling with stress OR try a different method? Hooking may not be every-ones cup of tea and I can assure you I do not go pulling them any where lol BUT without my hook for my Jungle guys the only "cuddle" I am likely to get are the ones from their fangs passionately inserting themselves into where ever they can reach lol At least now they come to me calmly and without aggression. No I am not an absolute Newbie I still have a lot to learn and I have learned to keep an open mind as what may not work one day on one animal may very well work the next day with another animal

I suffer multiple tags from my jungles and will continue to do so until such time as I can reconfigure their enclosures in such a way that involves a whole lot less stress for my jungles and myself to conduct basic and necessary husbandry.
I have resigned myself that these animals have a highly defensive nature and I don't take it personally.
You learn to handle or perhaps, not to handle, according to the animals individual temperament and comfort zones.

[CaptainRatbag]

Rather than use gloves, try using a pillow slip, handtowel or the like. Place it over the head. Use another to lift the snake out.

Hey Blue, if you put the first pillow case over your head, how can you get the other one on the snake if you cant see it?

Just kidding mate, all good advice.

Alot of folks just tend to use the hook to hook out the snake? The hook can do lots of things, if you pick up the snake in your hand and with the other hand use the hook (shaft) to stop the snakes head from being able to get at you. I used to always keep my hook in my off hand just for control purposes, generally with mine (except for the spotteds which have never even looked like biting) it is the transition from the enclosure that upsets them the most. Once out they calm down almost immediately, but having the hook in your other hand and just controlling where thier head can and cant go is good.

I made my hook, actually 2 hooks by buying a wood broom handle and cut in half, then each of them screwed in a plastic coated hook from bunnings. Cost less than $10