He won't stop biting

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I meant to say coconut cave for a hide.

Ok, I have to clean his enclosure out one day this week anyway, so once it's cleaned out I will leave him alone for a while.

Actually...I feed him in a different tank. If I choose to leave him alone for a while, will it matter if once a week I take him out to put him in his feeding tank and then back to his usual tank?
 
its your snake , but i know what id be doing ;) , just because u dont handle a snake for a week or 3 duznt mean it will undo all the handling work done in the past [ if it did i would be a walking blood bank with bite marks all over me]

+1

I have found with one of my snakes by leaving him alone for a month he is better to handle than he was when i first got him. I'm like you My_Snakey i handle my snakes twice a week or so, and was doing it with this snake after its 3 weeks settle in time. He was biting flat out so after a few weeks of gettin ripped to shreds (2y/o coastal) i left him alone for a month, using the hook to get him out and putting him in a bucket while i cleaned his enclosure. Have had him out 4 times in the last 3 weeks without a problem. Some snakes can take a month or 2 to get used to a new environment
 
Mate my jungle was a devil and still can be but I just put up with the bites they don't hurt at all and she now has the occasional go but very rarly. So I say frequent handling is the best way to go

Cheers, Matt
 
Ok, I'm going to leave him alone (although it isn't really a new environment, he's been there for 4 months now).

I just want to say thank you everyone for your help! I just hope these tips are going to help because he is going to be even bigger when I try again in a few weeks lol
 
LOL Matt! Just as I decide to leave him alone!

I'm still going to though, because handling him more often obviously wasn't working as well as I'd hoped (although it did help). So I am going to leave him be for a while.
 
I think the problem isn't as much with the snake as it is with you ;) Bredli's are snappy when young - mine is still snappy at 18mths. If yours DOESN'T calm down because you leave it alone for a month.... then what? The problem is your fear of being bitten. Once you lose that, you'll be much more patient with your little angry man.

We've all gone through it at some stage - everyone starts out having not been bitten and not knowing what to expect.

So, I reckon, take the gloves off, get the snake out and get bitten! Then do it at least another 5 or 6 times in the next week. Not only would it be great if Grinner settles down with age, but you also need to learn not to be afraid of being bitten, whether it's by Grinner or another snake you buy in the future. At 8 mths, it won't hurt in the slightest - less than a bloodtest or going to the dentist. So just do it.

Leaving him alone for a month might be good for the snake, but it won't be good for your fear of being bitten.
 
Mmm I know I should just suck it up and let him bite me, but I get scared.

Maybe I'm not cut out to be a snake owner :(
I guess we've all been through this - scared of the first bite.
A snake bite doesn't hurt that much. It's more of a nip. You'll feel the nip, but that's it. If you get stung by a mozzie or a bee, it will hurt 10 times more than a snake bite. When I got my jungles out the first time, my girl drew blood within 30 sec. I only noticed cuz my wife pointed it out to me.
 
All ours calm down at around a year and a half old. You could also feed him more as we find that they are a lot calmer if the are fed big, regular meals.
 
Is that what a bite from a baby feels like? A course velcro feeling? *scurries off to velcro herself* . . .
I just scoop him up. I just let him rest in my hands until he wants to start moving around, which isn't much anyway. He will slowly come up to my skin, flick his tongue and quickly move back. Although sometimes he will go on my arm, but not for long (mainly because he is coming up to my face and I get scared lol)..

The fear of the bite is definatley worse than the bite, especially from one so young. I was the same, and i can honestly say that having been bitten many times by a Darwin around the same age as your Bredli, that playing with kittens is far more painful ! ! Kittens don't back off.. at least most baby python bites are a hit and run affair, they are being defensive cos they're at the bottom of the food chain :) the 'quickly move back' comment you made shows he is nervous. One thing to be aware of, is how you smell, (I'm not being silly) do you use perfumes, body sprays, body washes that he may be reacting too ? their sense of smell is what they rely on, they don't 'hear' in the traditional sense, and their eyesight isn't the best either, so strange smells can make them edgy...
My darwin didn't like bright lights behind me - be it a sunny window or artificial light - all he could see was a large dark blur, once he taught me that he didn't like it, he calmed fairly quickly.

Lose the gloves, you can't 'feel' the body language with them on, just wash and rinse your hands well, and make sure they are nice and dry, you are doing the right thing when you get him out and he's not biting, so now for the next step. and don't 'hold him' he will feel threatened. all you need to do is support and guide away from where you don't want him.

so don't worry about finding the velcro, go find a cute furry kitten and annoy it till it starts fighting back, remember how it feels and then face your python with confidence,
 
The fear of the bite is definatley worse than the bite, especially from one so young. I was the same, and i can honestly say that having been bitten many times by a Darwin around the same age as your Bredli, that playing with kittens is far more painful ! ! Kittens don't back off.. at least most baby python bites are a hit and run affair, they are being defensive cos they're at the bottom of the food chain :) the 'quickly move back' comment you made shows he is nervous. One thing to be aware of, is how you smell, (I'm not being silly) do you use perfumes, body sprays, body washes that he may be reacting too ? their sense of smell is what they rely on, they don't 'hear' in the traditional sense, and their eyesight isn't the best either, so strange smells can make them edgy...
My darwin didn't like bright lights behind me - be it a sunny window or artificial light - all he could see was a large dark blur, once he taught me that he didn't like it, he calmed fairly quickly.

Lose the gloves, you can't 'feel' the body language with them on, just wash and rinse your hands well, and make sure they are nice and dry, you are doing the right thing when you get him out and he's not biting, so now for the next step. and don't 'hold him' he will feel threatened. all you need to do is support and guide away from where you don't want him.

so don't worry about finding the velcro, go find a cute furry kitten and annoy it till it starts fighting back, remember how it feels and then face your python with confidence,
X's a million!, and the kittens reference is totally accurate! if u can take a scratch from some scum cat/kitten/wildlife slaughterer than a juvenile bite isnt even gonna register my 1st and only bite i didnt even kno she bit me till my missus pointed out i was bleeding.... lose the glove it is worse for tha snake than a bit by about 10k to 1 be confident and steady when holding and lose any weird smells on your body b4 handeling my partner couldnt hold my lil new snake cause she was smelling nivea cream and perfume if she handles the snake straight after a shower shes ok soap smell dont seem to bother her but pungent(from a snake point of view as they see in smell) aromas from perfume lotions really pissed her off ...
 
if you can get him out with the gloves, and he seems settled, slowly try and remove one of your gloves and just slowly work up to putting him on the gloveless hand etc.
 
My bredli was snappy when I got him (he's about the same age as yours), but I went the other way - I handled him twice a day for only a few minutes & now he seems to be getting used to me. He's nowhere near as snappy as he was. Plus they most definately pick up on how nervous you are. I found the best way was just to take him hide off, grab him quickly (before he has a chance to freak out) and hold him close to my body - I found that if you let their bodies go out too far (like a ruler) they start to freak out & start biting. If you keep them close, just letting them curl themselves around your two hands they settle down. Also I found it helpful to pick him up & then start doing something else while I was holding him (ie change his paper, take him with you while you walk outside, - just something that doesn't require too much effort) - not only was it a distraction, but I found it got rid of that anxiousness a lot quicker.

The first time he bit me I wasn't sure if I'd scratched myself a little or he'd bitten me - it really IS that painless. The anticipation of the first bite & the nerves that go with it are 1000X worse than the actual bite. It is just the shock of it biting that gives you a fright - it's certainly not painful. Trust me - I'd tell you if it was painful & I most definately wouldn't have gone back for another three snakes (we have five altogether now) if the bite had been painful - I'm a wuss!

Jax is 100% on the mark - kitten scratches or puppies with their needle teeth bites are HEAPS more painful than python bites - it's just coz they're cute & cuddly that we don't have the seemingly inbuilt fear of them like we do with snakes. You'll be fine I'm sure - I think a lot of people worry that they're "not cut out" for snake ownership if they're worried about the biting - it does pass (usually after you get bit & then go "pftt! - that didn't hurt!") but until then it's stressful. I'm sure you'll be fine when & if it happens & then you'll be on here telling everyone about your first bite & feeling much less worried about it!
 
Before I got my first snake (Childrens) I wanted to know what it felt like to get bitten so I wouldn't panic when I got bitten at home alone..I went to Tonys house (the guy I was getting the Childrens from) and asked if he had a snake that would bite me..he said YEP..he put the snake (not sure what it was, but he said all it did was bite) into a crate and told me to make a fist and put my hand in..I did and got bitten..all I can say "Its not that bad..my imagination had it much worse"..A green ant bite is worse :)
 
Leave it alone. Snake dont like to be handled they tollerate it, its the keeper that thinks they like to be cuddled!.
Most snakes will calm down with maturity and with very little handling, As a juvie anything larger than themselves is a threat and they react with thier only form of defence an bite!
Basicly your snake needs time
 
wow i am really shocked to read all of this we got four baby bredlis two weeks ago and they are the most beautiful placid snakes, they are even tolerate being stroked and love being held (not ever wanting to go away) sexing them wasnt even a hassel i honestly assumed that all bredli's were like this... we love them atm our little girl is curled up asleep on my lap... would like to add i too am scared of the first bite but not to scared as we just got our jungle jag today and it smashed my man so bad 4 times in seconds :) he didnt even realise (bit of blood tho) 2yrs ago i was petrified of snakes (one of the weird ones that wouldnt even be in the same room) now i love my 6 so much i would be lost without them defiantly part of the family :) hope your lil man has calmed down <3
 
I have a female Jungle that is 18 months old she was terrible. I was to scared of getting raged for the first time. I mean I weigh 140 kg and 6 feet tall. Siegel I got tagged it's like what the hell. I was scared from you lol. Now she has calmed down alot. She can be still be cage defensive. So I approach her slowly and from underneath her as that way I don't appear like I'm going to attack her. I find this less stressful for her and find this way suits her and I don't get taged. But if I do I just laugh at her.
 
My bredli sounds exactly the same as yours, same age aswell. But he has started getting a little better but wont be scared to bite. He is good with my brother, but no matter what he will bite me.
 
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