Advice - Aggressive Woma

[gmcoulton]

Hi there,

I am new to this forum... Long time owner of lizards, but have recently made the jump over to snakes.
I picked up an 8 week old Woma yesterday. The breeder (very reputable) informed me that he had not handled him as much as he would have liked so he may be a little nippy, but with some patience he should turn out to be quite a placid and loveable addition to the family.

When we got him home last night, I picked him up without incident and he was actually very cuddly (if you can describe a snake like that) and seemed very affectionate and enjoyed being handled, even to the extent that when I put him on the floor he slithered over to me and curled up on my lap.

This morning when I walked into the room he started hissing and striking in my direction continuously and only stopped after several minutes. I initially thought I startled him but later in the day I was sitting on the couch, in his full view, and he was fine... when I stood up he started striking and hissing again. It definately seems to be more defensive then a feeding response and was after some advice from some more "seasoned" Woma owmers.

To help with the advice I will give some details:
* He is 8 weeks old
* He hasn't been handled much at all in his very short lifetime
* He is house in a 10L tub at the moment, he has two hides but seems to refuse to go in either rather wishing to lay ontop of both of them
* His last feed was 6 Days ago, I thought he may be hungry and I will attempt a feed with him tonight
* His temps are are all ok (28-30 degrees)
* Whenever I get close to him, he assumes the "S" strike pose. I have heard that it is mostly a bluff but hes had three solid attempts of taking my hand off (So I am hoping he is just hungry)
* Even though he is living in a 10L tub, the tub is sitting inside my 4ft viv (could this be the problem? he doesnt feel safe and secure)

I understand it will take hime a few weeks to adjust to his new home but is this super aggressive behaviour common of a young Woma that has just been relocated? I have done a lot of research and people have indicated that some young snakes can be "nippy" and will grow out of it but there seems to be a difference between being nippy and wanting to rip your face off if given the chance.

I also understand that he has been with us for only 24 hours, I just wanted to know if this is common behaviour.

He is a gorgeous little boy and I love him dearly and hope this is just a "phase" he is going through.

Many Thanks

 

[andynic07]

Firstly you should give him at least a week to settle in before trying to handle him. Most small woma pythons will assume that position when approached because you are very large and they are very small and vulnerable. Secondly I would have his hot end temperature at 33 degrees and the cool end at ambient room temperature and make sure this temperature is accurately measured with a probe or IR heat gun. Usually a fear bite will be more of a head butt but he may have an open mouth and a hungry bite will result in him wrapping your hand. I usually feed my hatchlings of that age between 5 and 7 days apart so he may be getting hungry as well buit I would think he is biting out of fear especially if your container is clear plastic. Usually if my hot spot temperatures are right my hatchlings will curl up in their hide all day out of sight and be on the crawl at night if hungry.

 

[gmcoulton]

Firstly you should give him at least a week to settle in before trying to handle him. Most small woma pythons will assume that position when approached because you are very large and they are very small and vulnerable. Secondly I would have his hot end temperature at 33 degrees and the cool end at ambient room temperature and make sure this temperature is accurately measured with a probe or IR heat gun. Usually a fear bite will be more of a head butt but he may have an open mouth and a hungry bite will result in him wrapping your hand. I usually feed my hatchlings of that age between 5 and 7 days apart so he may be getting hungry as well buit I would think he is biting out of fear especially if your container is clear plastic. Usually if my hot spot temperatures are right my hatchlings will curl up in their hide all day out of sight and be on the crawl at night if hungry.

Thank you, this confirmed what I was assuming. I will up his temperature as advised.

 

[RedFox]

All sounds fairly normal. Try feed him tonight then leave him alone for at week. It he keeps striking the plastic as you walk past cover the front, so he can't see you. Andynic has pretty much summed things up, womas can handle it being a bit hotter. I have 34 hotspot and 27-28 at the cool end.

Could be pretty stressed from handling yesterday. Some hatchies get defensive and strike if they are super stressed others go really quiet and limp making it seem like they are 'happy'.

Should calm down fairly quickly. My little woma was pretty defensive for the first few days, but is now frightenly calm. Relocations especially freighting can be very scary for them.

When you do start handling it keep the sessions short and sweet until it relaxes, say 5-10 mins.

BTW great choice for a first snake.

 

[thomasssss]

what your seeing is defensive behaviour , not because he is hungry if they bite and coil than that is a feeding response , what your seeing sounds very much like a small defensive woma

when i got my first woma i had pretty much the same experience , got him out of his bag and he was a dream to handle , put him in his tub and came back to check on him and he did the same with striking etc
i covered his tub with a towel and left him to settle for a week or so , he still did it every now and then when i spooked him but after that settling in period it wasn't as bad
now a year on and he never gets defensive with me , he does however have food on his mind alot of the time so i do have to be careful of that but slowly approaching him and letting him come out of his enclosure and realising there is no food on offer helps there

anyways mate all the best he will probably settle down over time could take days ,weeks but can take months every snake is different

 

[gmcoulton]

Thanks for the replies, his first feed went great... He seems to have settled down tonight... I will leave home be for a week or two so he can adjust.

 

[andynic07]

Thanks for the replies, his first feed went great... He seems to have settled down tonight... I will leave home be for a week or two so he can adjust.

Just keep an eye on him for regurgitation just in case the temperatures are a little low. Good to hear that he ate and good luck , they are an awesome snake to own.

 

[Brodie]

Baby womas rarely bite too. Normally, a closed mouth strike is as bad as it will get. In all the woma clutches I've raised, I've only been bitten twice.

 

[syxxx]

Some great advice above and it sounds like you are on the right track, just a quick note on temps please keep an eye on the temps when keeping a small tub in a large tank as it is hard to get a good temperature gradient, this is easy to achieve with a heat cord placed under one end of the tub as the heat is localised but using the heat globes heats the air, it is difficult to create a gradient so you need to be vigilant in ensuring the temps are correct. Watch the snakes behaviour. Andynic07's comment in regards to the snakes being in their hides during the day and out and about when hungry at night is correct and when they have a full belly he should be sitting at the hot spot to help digestion.
As others have said great choice for a first snake they are great snakes.
Cheers

 

[Morgan_dragon]

Thanks for the replies, his first feed went great... He seems to have settled down tonight... I will leave home be for a week or two so he can adjust.

Personally I would leave him until his bump disappears and then try...if you leave it another week and then try and get him out he will more then likely be hungry again. That said out of a clutch of 9 bubs last season I had one that was 'strikey'. Was the best feeder but that hungry he didn't settle until he was a couple of months old and had got some decent feeds into it on a regular basis. Like kids some hatchies need to be feed more often then others or have bigger feeds. Womas by and large are sssssooo placid and do tend to headbutt before striking unless hungry

 

[Darlyn]

He could be stressing out. Or maybe you are. Leave him to settle.

 

[gmcoulton]

Wow, what a difference a good feed and a few days can make.
I had to change his paper today and was sitting on the floor next to his tub, I had the lid off and he was quite relaxed and explorative.
I sat and watched him and then after about 4-5minutes, he slithered out of his tub, on his own, and into my lap. I just sat there to see what he'd do and he explored for a bit and curled up on my arm...

After months of considering what breed of snake I wanted, I am very happy I settled on a Woma.

 

[reptalica]

Great result OP. Even better when someone posts a thread seeking advice, takes note of same, uses said knowledge and a positive result comes of it.

Well done.