The importance of interaction with your reptiles.

[Endeavour]

For me one of the real pleasures of owning snakes is putting the time in and seeing real rewards with regard to being able to handle them without getting bit. My question is would you keep non venomous snakes that you could not handle?. What for you would be the deciding factors (if any) that determined you looked at moving on a particular animal.


Kindest regards


Endeavour

 

[ironized]

I would. As it is one of my Jungles is almost unhandleable. Not due to snappiness, but because it WILL make poopies on you.

 

[Sezzzzzzzzz]

i have a jungle i can't handle, but he's pretty to look at. i'd happily move him on (it would free up an enclosure for something that does like me) , but hubby quite likes him, lol. and he tolerates hubby, Some snakes, IMO, can't be "tamed" and don't enjoy handling.

 

[Justdragons]

Ive been lucky, almost all snakes ive handled up until now have been quite well behaved.. Im still dreading copping a bite from a 6ft plus python.. lol

I have a very snappy (young) bredli and its quite fun getting her out.. however ask me again in a year or two and im sure it wont be so funny. i couldnt ever let her go though..

 

[Endeavour]

Guess I must have been lucky as well, I have never had a snake that I have not been able to tame down into a very placid animal, that said I have always had snakes from babies which I think makes a massive difference. I once babysat a very aggressive Blood Python which was much loved by its owner, sadly not by me. I still carry the chaffing from those leather gauntlets today.


Kindest regards


Endeavour

 

[junglepython2]

I have a moderately sized collection and I rarely handle any of my snakes. The only time would be cleaning or when moving them for breeding purposes. The pleasure in owning them comes from other facets.

 

[ubermensch]

I love my babies dearly...but I know they simply tolerate my presence. When they are out they get to climb all over my head, hang off my ponytails and piercings, they've curled up and napped in the hoods of my jumpers and made cozy nests out of my bra...but if I don't handle them for a couple of months they are no different. If I handle them every day they still do their best to stay in their comfy comfy homes rather than come cuddle with Mumma. I think the fact that I haven't been bitten comes down to my snakes being nice snakes (and a quick reaction time with the little one...)

 

[serpenttongue]

You could think of snakes as a piece of artwork hanging on the wall. You never touch it, but admire looking at it. Just like fish in an aquarium, and also like our larger monitors that are too large or dangerous to be held, so we admire them by watching them. No holding is necessary.

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For me one of the real pleasures of owning snakes is putting the time in and seeing real rewards with regard to being able to handle them without getting bit.

I know it's nice to think that we have tamed an animal with wild instincts and there is now some kind of bond between us, but I don't think the snake see's it that way. They are just tolerating us. Here in Australia you can pick a large wild python up off the road and it can be more docile than a captive one. I think it comes with their age.

 

[Red-Ink]

I just like watching them do their "thing" (which mostly sit around). I don't handle for "cuddles" or companionship, I just handle them so I'm tolerated and will be perceived as a non-threat so my hemoglobin stays inside the receptacle when I need to do maintenance. The interaction during maintenance I have found is actually enough for my collection to tolerate my presence and intrusion.

 

[Baturb]

For me it is the fascination and mystery of snakes, I enjoy having mine out every day for a couple of hours, with exception after feeding, I won't handle him for a couple of days, I chose a placid breed, the MD, plus I got him young so we could grow together and learn from each other, there will be many many years of enjoyment, I would rather have it that way, if I couldn't handle or play with a pet why not get a stuffed example and just look at that

 

[sharky]

One of the biggest rewards I see with owning and interacting with reptiles is how you can share your knowledge with other people! I love it when my friends come over scared of snakes and then leave wanting one! It really adds a special feeling to your heart knowing that the reptile hobby is still alive around 'normal' people
I also love watching mine just move around, slithering and climbing in the great outdoors. They look so cool doing their thing Handling itself is cool....except when Jasper, my spotted decides to go in my hair....lets just say it takes me around 20mins to brush the knots out!!!! Oh well, she's cute! She can get away with it :lol:
Oooh, and everytime they do something "snakey" That is a reward in itself! Watching them drink, eat, flick their tongue, yawn (That is so cute!) and everything else are some of the most interesting parts of owning snakes! It also tells that your snake is happy and healthy
It's not much fun watching a dog or cat eat but it is fun watching a snake eat!

 

[SteveNT]

We dont handle our snakes all that often but they are all pretty relaxed when we do. Of course the file snake doesn't get handled.

With the others we open the cage and leave it up to them if they want to come out.

I needed to rebuild the bhp's enclosure recently, parked his temporary home next to his existing one, opened the lids and he came straight out and across to his new home. A few days later we did the reverse process lol. No hands involved!

View attachment 276636View attachment 276637

This is sweetie. I only got her because she was badly treated at the LPS. She was really flighty when she was young. She's pretty cruisy now though.


View attachment 276638

 

[NTNed]

My intro to snakes was a baptism of fire. My first purchase was a B&G Jungle and she was the devils incarnate, there was no way she could be handled. After several months of going against "best Practice", that is handling her (and getting bitten to the point of anemia...lol) at levels that others would deem excessive. She is now an awesome 2yo that I'm happy to hand to anyone to handle. She "tolerates" people.

I also think that they pick up on peoples feelings of fear in a huge way. I say that because I just picked up female BHP from some owners that were terrified of her. The story was that the owners went to Bali for 2 weeks and when they got home she latched onto the mothers hand and wold not let go, to the point that they had her in the sink runnig water down her mouth and nose to get her to release. When I went to have a look at her she was absolutely gorgeous and around 1400 long. I asked if they minded if I got her out, they said no we'll go and get the glove. I said no I'll just she how she goes, as I reached in to grab her I could see all the family edgy and fidgeting and yes, just after I got her out she latched onto my hand. It took a couple of minutes to get her to release she then just relaxed and crawled on me like I'd owned her her whole life. Concerned, I asked my house mate and his girl not to handle her unless I was home. I figured I always wanted a BHP and even if I couldn't handle her she would be a good display and/or breeder. After a couple of days to settle down, we decided to see how she was this time round. She is an enormous pussy cat, if I (or anyone else) opens her enclosure she leans out and climbs up onto me. To me this is not tolerance when she willingly comes out. She climbs over everyone and everything and she is an incredible change to what I first picked up.

For me, I'm happy that some people get put off once they"ve been tagged by their snake and stop handling them, otherwise I wouldn't have got a 2yo, 1.4m long female BHP with her enclosure for $300 just because they wanted to get rid of a python that they couldn't or wouldn't handle.

Cheers,

Ned

 

[thomasssss]

i have a coastal who was mistreated by his previous owner and was really skinny when i got him plus when he was fed it was live food as apparently he just wouldnt eat dead food (funny thing though he took dead food on the first night with me ) when i first got him he hated humans , just didnt want anyone near him now that ive had him for around a year his really starting to calm down , he will still have the odd go at me if i startle him like yesterday haha but compared to when i first got him his an angel , ok maybe not an angel but his not as bad as he was , all ive done is fed him and left him be only getting him out for cleans , no trying to handle the snappiness out of him or anything as i dont think its the best way to do it myself i tried it for a few weeks but he only seemed to be getting worse and was always on alarm when i entered the room

 

[Taylor125_2]

I always wanted a snake since I was little. I found them beautiful animals and very misunderstood.
I finally got one last year.

For me it has been the handling, watching him calm down, me calm down and his little personality come out. He's only 9 months old and the most bomb proof snake I've handled. My kids can throw him around like a shoe lace and he couldn't care less. He's also started recognising people, my partner recently almost knocked his tank over, the little guy wouldn't have a bar of him for a week, biting, hissing, even from across the room but he was happy to play with me.
For me it's seeing the life in them.

 

[blakehose]

I get the most enjoyment from watching the way in which my animals behave and caring for them, rather than handling them. If it was an animal that I enjoy looking after and can admire then whether it bites or not isn't important.

 

[PythonLegs]

The notion of 'taming' snakes is one of the biggest misconceptions out there..

 

[bk201]

Importance for who?

 

[NotoriouS]

I just like snakes being snakes.. I don't handle mine much - but when I do they're very placid. I like setting up display enclosures for them and creating the environment. Watching them feed is another thing I quite enjoy (usually get a few kids come around on Sundays to watch too - opportunity to educate).

 

[Red-Ink]

Importance for who?

The person that owns the snake...