Angry Coastal help

[Pauly]

Hi there,

I'm fairly new to all of this and I tried the search function and could not find anything encouraging.

I have a 9 month old or so coastal python who I have had for about 3 weeks and he seems to have a fairly nasty/scared temper. I have read that this can calm down as they get older (2 years?) but I have also seen plenty of photos of coastals on here being held and looking quite content whilst being wrapped around the hand of their handler.
Anytime I want to pick mine up, he either tries to bite me or sits still in position ready to strike, not looking anything like to picture of calmness I see in some of these photos???

Is it too early to tell whether he will always have this temperament or do I just need to chill out for a while longer and continue to pull him out of his cage every couple of days and dodge his attempts to bite me? (My only concern with this is stressing him out as it doesnt look like he is enjoying his little outtings too much.)

The person I bought him from obviously new what she was doing and I have no doubt he was taken care of, but I dont think he had much of a chance to get used to handling etc either, so im guessing this is the main issue.

I have the cage in a fairly high traffic area of the house in an attempt to let him see us regularly in the hope he might see we arent out to hurt him. Im not sure if this is a waste of time either?

Any help is welcomed.

Thanks in advance.

Pauly

 

[salebrosus]

To be honest it sounds like the animal didn't have time to settle in before you started handling and since it was a little snappy you are probably nervous about handling it from here on end.

How big is the enclosure? Any hide areas for it? How often do you try and handle it etc? Are you using a hook to get him in and out or nervously sticking your hand in trying to get him out?

 

[Pauly]

I read in a book that its best to take them out of the enclosure with a hook, which is what I do.

The enclosure is 600 wide 600 high 600 deep and it has a few good hiding spots he like to use most of the time except when he comes out for a look around when the light go off at night.

I generally pull him out once every couple of days or so.

 

[antaresia_boy]

the cae in high traffic is not good, it will stress him. try and put him in an unused room for a while to calm down, use a hook to take him out, and make sure u don't smell like his food at all.

Jamie

 

[jasontini]

in the 3 wks u have him, has he feed yet...?

 

[Pauly]

Yes, fed twice. No worries there at all.

 

[Chris1]

be calm when u handle him, move slowly and confidently, be gentle and dont pull back when he strikes.

try to make his outings interesting,..ie, give him a bit of a cruise around the floor, 5 mins in the sun or something and make the handlings short.

it took 6ish weeks for my new snappy bredli to calm down by handling them twice a week, once for a cruise (that was the same as feeding time) and an hour on saturday mornings in the sunning cage. (well, i handled them as far as putting them in there and sitting with them for an hour.

dont stress, it should calm down.

 

[Chelle]

Hi Pauly,
Carpets can be a bit grizzly every now an then, but you can bring most of them out of it.
Being in a high traffic area, although having good intentions, is probably making it worse. A carpet's main senses are heat sensing and tongue flickering. They don't have the best sight in the world. If you were to imagine being in your babys "shoes" inside that enclosure, you will constantly have people walking past all the time. What your snake sees though, is blurry masses of warm potential 'predators' walking past you, and not being able to smell what they are (therefore not knowing that they are a friendly keeper). Liken this to being in a completely dark cave where you can hear scratching sounds. Your ears are telling you there is potential danger somewhere, but you can't back that up with your main sense, which is sight. You adrenaline and flight or fight response is going to be going into overdrive. This is what is happening to your snake. If you move it to a quiet, darker area of the house, you may see improvements.
Regarding handling, they will get used to it. I find that finding a good balance between handling and rest is beneficial - say handle one day, have two days off. And perhaps only allow one keeper (ie. you) to do the handling, so that the snake is able to get used to the way you handle. Using a hook will be a less threatening way to get your snake out - again from their point of view, a small cool bit of metal is less scary than a huge mass of heat (again a potential predator). And try not to hesitate, or linger at the enclosure door, as this makes them a little nervous. (But also make sure the snake is awake so you don't give it a fright!!)
There are a few other things that make the difference as well: If a TV or CD player is nearby, the vibrations make cause a little stress. Some snakes get a bit jumpy if its a bit cool, so perhaps double check enclosure temps.

Hope this helps, and good luck!

 

[zinger]

i had the same problem with me water python.
i started feeding her out side of her enclosure and this problem pretty much stopped

oh just be confident about getting him out

hope this helped

 

[kensai]

Small water pythons usualy want to kill the world one person at a time, but coastal usually settle fairly quickly.

 

[cleopatra2285]

Hi Pauly,

My female coastal was the nastiest b!&*h ever, she use to wrap tight around my hand and move from side to side with her mouth open, she was absolutely horrible. I use to get her out wearing a small pair of white cotton gloves, she would bite the gloves on the odd occasion but it gave me confidence to get her out with my hand and get her use to being handled instead of getting her out with a hook. Now she is completely different 2yrs later i can stick my hand in her food cage and she doesn't even flinch.

I wish you well, just dont give up patience is a virtue.

Good luck
Bec