Getting Over The Fear

[Renenet]

Something that worked for me: drill it into your head that if your snake bites you and you snatch your hand away, you could hurt her. You could rip a few teeth out, or if she's still attached, you could end up bringing her with you and accidentally flinging her across the room. An APS member described this happening once. The first time my snake bit me, all that flashed across my mind and I managed to keep still.

 

[Tobe404]

I'm going to go against the flow here and say handle it as much as you want. Even from day one.

I have done this will all my Pythons and got them feeding within a week (well bar one but that was more to do with the fact I was offering Pinky Rats and not Fuzzy Mice [She's now 10 months old and over 1m - never bitten me]) of having them and haven't looked back.

There was only one out of the three that was a little snappy but persistance and regular handling has changed that. Only ever been bitten once by him and that was a feed response.

 

[saintanger]

i have a hatchy jungle male, most beautiful boy and one of my first snakes. i only handled him the day i got him to pop him in his enclosure. then left him alone for a week after that i would try to get him out and he wanted to kill me, but i persisted. he is now very placid on the odd occassion he has a go at me but rarely these days.

don't pull away stick you hand in and keep still, you wont even feel it. then you'l relise it doesn't hurt and can just pick him up.

 

[GeckoRider]

Prescription: take 2 table spoons of concrete a day for two weeks, morning and night..

This should harden you up

 

[JasonL]

Make a fist
Shut your eyes
put fist in front of snake
feel a "tap" on your knuckle
then wonder what all the fuss was about

 

[Endeavour]

So i've got a Jungle hatchy and she's very cute and small, I got her yesterday and well she's pretty snappy. Like I know Jungles are snappy and will almost always try to bite you but because she strikes with such speeds it freaks me out

So is there any tips on how to over come this little fear, or should I just get bitten a couple of times just so I realize it doesn't hurt as much as I think it will

Best advice I can give after she has been given time to settle in is to buy a thin pair of leather gloves and handle her frequently. I always wear gloves even with the smallest snake when it is continually biting because try as I might I cannot suppress the instinct to pull away. To pull away when a young snake bites could do it real damage so i just think (for me) gloves are a good idea. Its nothing to do with being scared its just a common sense practical thing that protects the snake as opposed to me.


Kindest regards


Endeavour

 

[Gruni]

Best advice I can give after she has been given time to settle in is to buy a thin pair of leather gloves and handle her frequently. I always wear gloves even with the smallest snake when it is continually biting because try as I might I cannot suppress the instinct to pull away. To pull away when a young snake bites could do it real damage so i just think (for me) gloves are a good idea. Its nothing to do with being scared its just a common sense practical thing that protects the snake as opposed to me.


Kindest regards


Endeavour

At that stage I have often thought golf gloves would be quite good.

It still bemuses me that Slytherin jumped in and bought a jungle as a first snake even though they have a rep for this behaviour even when they have grown bigger. :facepalm: Wait till it's half or full grown and decides to give him a tag and can really draw some blood. At least a full grown Anterasia that stays snappy still can't do any real harm.

 

[Endeavour]

At that stage I have often thought golf gloves would be quite good.

It still bemuses me that Slytherin jumped in and bought a jungle as a first snake even though they have a rep for this behaviour even when they have grown bigger. :facepalm: Wait till it's half or full grown and decides to give him a tag and can really draw some blood. At least a full grown Anterasia that stays snappy still can't do any real harm.

Thin leather driving gloves work well, anything that is close fitting and enables you to 'feel' whats going on. With regards to bigger snakes biting this is why I always put the time in when they are young, its very important to 'get them on side' when their teeth are small. Snakes grow so quickly so if you are not prepared to put the hours in taming them down before to long you have something that can do real damage which you really don't enjoy handling, and so the vicious circle begins. This is why I would never allow my collection to grow to an extent where I could not handle all my snakes frequently.


Kindest regards

Endeavour

 

[Gus20]

i used to be **** scared of snakes until my mates 5 year old dropped a stimson's into my lap about a year and half ago and its just steamrolled from there. I found out the hard way that a pythons bite doesn't really hurt( until they get some size to them) the thinsulate gloves that u see in coldrooms and other really f!@#in cold places work but i reckon you still have to get bitten by one just to see wat it feels like. when i get bitten it happens when i'm gettin them out of their box so try no to act in a predatory manner to it when you're gettin it out. even holding their head down (gently!) as you're picking them up or moving them might stop you from gettin bit. but in all honesty if you're gunna own reptiles expect to be bitten sooner or later. jst hope like hell its not a tiger or brown that does it haha

 

[Slytherin00]

Great advice Endeavour, after I feed her on monday i'll leave her alone til about thursday then I'll handle her with gloves that way she kinda gets use to handling and then I can progess to being gloveless. And yeah I know it seems like im being abit of a wuss having to use gloves. But I just got to look at this objectively and say which is more important my pride, or the health of my snake. Cos I would hate to accidently flinch or pull away and dislocate her jaw or something.


And I've read a few posts on here people saying they have adult Jungles which are quite calm, so I think it would be unfair to say all Jungles are psycho's. I think with regular handling she will turn into a calm adult who only has a nip of me occasionally

 

[Gruni]

Let's be clear I didn't say they are psycho, but they DO have a reputation of being feisty. Many of the feisty ones I have read about are snittish when they are being gotten out and once in hand they are fine.

Because my habitat is top opening and Skittles was a bit toey at times when I tried to get her out early on I started using a small snake hook to help get her out. These days she feels the hook and tends to relax knowing it's time to come out for a stretch and explore. So it's not a fear of getting tagged but simply a practical thing even though some people would say using a hook on a Spotted is being a wuss.

 

[bohdi13]

There is no "problem". It's a young snake following it's natural instinct to discourage a large, strange animal from potentially eating it.

There's plenty of threads on how to handle snappy animals so maybe have a look for a method that's right for you. I personally like using a hook and letting it come to your hand on its own terms. It requires lots of patience and some people will say using a hook on a python makes you a pussy but it worked for me a few times in the past.

yes , sorry it isn't a problem , but it is for him at the moment .

 

[Gus20]

yea u know wat happened to that bloke?
he sank

 

[Omgitschris]

Get bitten a couple of times.