Bit unsure when to handle my MD

[kaino]

Hey all
Bought my little Zoe, a 1 1/2 year old MD last week

Anyways she shed her skin on Sunday and i feed her yesterday evening. and she looks great.

But I'm a little unsure when to handle her or hold her without being tagged. My partner when to pick her up on Monday night and she got a little snappy but i put that down to being hungry

any advise i get a little nervous at times.

Shes my first ...... Here is a pic of her

[Emzie]

give her about a week to settle in the her new surroundings

and try not the handle around 48 hours after feeding

[jasontini]

as emzie said, best to leave her alone to settle in...n have her to feed a couple of times before trying to handle....
good luck..!

[benmcalpine]

i calmed my darwin down by putting her in an open tub in the lounge room while we watched tv etc.We put a hide in the tub and eventually she got curious and came out to us everytime. But i would definetly give yours a week or so to settle in.

[bundybear]

as already said, let her settle in a bit with plently of hides.
if she still gets snappy when you go to get her out, don't stress too much, it's normal for them to be a bi deffensive or cage protective.
you could use a snake hook?

is it just the photo or does she have a bit of red in her too? looks great anyway.

[kaino]

no its just the photo no red in her. Also 1 other thing how often should i feed her at her current size, shes about 1.5 to 2 foot long

[benmcalpine]

prob every 7-10 days

[Slytherin]

My MD took around 2 weeks to settle and really didn't get placid/easy to handle until around 4 weeks, after his first shed and short handling times.

I don't handle Snakey after feeding until after 48hrs.

[kaino]

yeah i went to pick her up today and at frst she was kind of ok but then snapped at my hand so i think ill let her be for a another few weeks. shes almost 2 and the breeders i got her off have quiet well natured snake ( very human friendly) but im not sure how much handling this little ones had.

Although i had to laugh today when i saw her yawn.

[Khagan]

Once you give her a week or so to settle in, just start off slow and short. Before you handle make sure she knows you're there otherwise you will scare her and try not to make any sudden movements with your hands, just gently slip your hand under her and support her body with your hands rather than grabbing snakes don't really like being grabbed. Just start off with a couple minutes every few days then once she has calmed a bit could increase the length of time, but remember that if you handle too much you could run into problems due to stress.

[Troyster]

i found the best way to pick up my murray is to just reach in and grab him with no hesitation,if you hesitate thats when you get tagged.they can sense fear and will use it against you to bluff you,however if you just reach in with some confidence you will be able to pick him/her up without the striking and biting

[kaino]

yeah troyster thats what my firends do with their boy they just reach in and grab him and its fine. Me on the other hand i get a little shaky.

Also with my firends we are bout 90% sure they are brother and sister which we think is good