help please

[jasethenut]

hi guys and girls
i have 2 hypo bredli hatchies
ok now when i got these little guys thay were realy dark but no black now realy red very nice looking bredli
ok my prob is there getting very snappy i meen VERY snappy
is this all hypo bredli???
i have a standed bredli and she is the best snake i have , you can do anything with her
i dont feed them in there click clack i feed them in a tub
but ever time i get them out the male bites my atleast 15 time and the females 20+
so please helpme
what am i doing wrong
tank set up 30 hot end 23-25 cold end a climbing log a hide each end
a small water bowl no trafic passing them
i got hypo bredli as i have wanted them for a few years now .... and now i dont know if i want them or not :?:?:cry:

 

[JAS101]

how long have you had them for?

 

[dixilizards]

Have you tried upsizing their feeds or increasing the time between feeds, this solved our problem a few years back.

 

[jasethenut]

i feed them ever friday
feed are getting bigger and bigger each week
there just cranky little sh@ts lol
started with 2 x 5 day old mice then 2 x eyes open aged mice and now fuzzy rats
so each feed is bigger in size and weight
had them 2.5 mths or so

 

[Mayo]

How old/big are they?

 

[briiiziii]

maybe time for a shed? hmmm but maybe not if its been going on for that long :S

 

[Chris1]

my 3 were all snappy as hatchies and with regular handling calmed down into really nicely tempered snakes by about a year or so old.

id say theyre perfectly normal.

 

[goneself]

Probably worth trying a decent length break in the handling..say sat-friday with nothing at all, then slowly increase in the weeks after,like starting all over again. That's how I treat new arrivals and seems to do ok..

 

[jasethenut]

cool
i only get them out fridays for a bout 10 min then i fed them later that arvo /night ii
i have left them alone and only handled them b4 feed time
there about 50cm
and the male just shed ..so i will miss this feed and dubble upnext friday or feed him monday night
but i have tryed feeding all different time mid day 3 -5 7 dark time morning
thay hatched dec 09

 

[Slats]

Pretty early for Bredli

 

[adfel]

cool
i only get them out fridays for a bout 10 min then i fed them later that arvo /night ii
i have left them alone and only handled them b4 feed time
there about 50cm
and the male just shed ..so i will miss this feed and dubble upnext friday or feed him monday night
but i have tryed feeding all different time mid day 3 -5 7 dark time morning
thay hatched dec 09

So do u mean here that u only handle them on fridays for 10 mins or you handle them everyday for ten mins??

 

[dougie210]

Maybe try and vary their feeding times/days. As in the wild they dont feed every friday say 9pm. Some times they dont get a feed for two weeks, maybe week and half etc.

 

[Fantazmic]

I think in babies the biting can come from fear

I am wondering of you arent handling enough
we left our girl for a week to settle in and then did just 10 mins of handling every day. At first she was very snappy but has now settled down beautifully.Every time we get her out she is more settled.

Another strategy we have been using is food in food out. So every time she pooed I gave her a pinky mouse so she was feeling nice and settled....this seemed to help with the biting. My boys wouldnt go near her when she was in 'hunting mode' so keeping her well fed seems to have helped her to be more settled

Now she has got the idea we are easing her feeds back.

The other thing we find really works is covering her over with a towel.......it increases her feeling of security because she isnt catching movement past her click clack.

I have also been giving her time to realise it is me. So i talk to her first (I know it sounds silly but i am sure she knows it is me) then i put the back of may hand in and let her taste me first before I try to take her out so she can have a minute to get her head around what is happening and that I am going to pick her up I am finding it is making an enorous difference she seems to know I am going to pick her up and she is heaps more settled.

Just some ideas.......hope they help

good luck

Elizabeth

 

[pythonmum]

Do you always use your hands to pick them up or do you use a small hook? One of our Bredli hatchlings was snappy, so I'd hook him out and just hold him on my flat hand for a while, then put him back. I gradually worked my way up to longer periods, movement, etc. By 2 years he was an excellent handler. The hook is less scary than the hand. A hand coming down on a tiny snake is like a predator swooping down to eat it (in their tiny brains).

Feeding them in a separate tub may be part of your problem. Half of the time, a hand in the enclosure means food. Give them a couple of weeks with no handling (feed in enclosure/click clack), then try hooking them out and handling 3 or 4 days after a feed - very simple holding on a flat palm for 5 min or so. Don't handle on feeding days. I also use antiseptic hand wash before handling, but not before feeding. This gives the snake a clear scent clue that there will be no food coming. It also tastes bad!

There shouldn't be any temperatment difference between normal and hypo Bredli. You may have two really cranky individuals, but right now it sounds like they are pretty normal hatchlings. Be patient with your babies and think of how nice they look as they try to draw blood...

 

[1stprincess]

i was advised to feed on the same sized feeds for longer periods. you said that you give a bigger size feed every week.. eg, when i got my murray darling, she was on pinky mice.. i was advised to keep her on pinky mice for a couple of feeds.. then i moved her onto pinky rats for mabey 2 months, now shes on small mice. she has had probably 8 feeds on these, and she is very settled. Im not sure what other people do or try, but this seems to work well for her.. good luck...

 

[jasethenut]

yep i only try to hold them on fridays sum timesi get them out a couple of time a week but i try to leave them alone till thay pass the feed thay just had
but will try ever day for a couple of mins and work my way up from there
and i will keep ever 1 posted and thanks for all the info
cheers the nut

 

[adfel]

yep i only try to hold them on fridays sum timesi get them out a couple of time a week but i try to leave them alone till thay pass the feed thay just had
but will try ever day for a couple of mins and work my way up from there
and i will keep ever 1 posted and thanks for all the info
cheers the nut

I leave mine alone for 48 hours after they have fed and then pick them up and hold them a few mins each day increasing the time each day.... Once you start handling them more often they will get used to it and be less likely to snap at you....