Handling Questions

[trin_007]

I've had our jungle python for nearly six months now. He is approx 2yrs old and is now 900gms - up from 320gm when I got him 6 months ago!!

My question is about his behaviour when it comes to handling. He has never struck me but he is very difficult to get out of his enclosure and i'm not sure how much he has actually been handled. He will wrap himself around the wood and ornaments when I try to get him out. The only way I can get him out is when he is just basking on top of his box in a coil. When I do get him out, he always seems to reach out/down as if trying to escape, and doesn't seem comfortable wrapping around my arms/body/shoulders etc.

I have tried to let him get accustomed to me by spending time around his enclosure, sitting without touching him, or just putting my hand in close to him and letting him sniff/taste me, but when I touch him in anyway he completely recoils and takes off for cover.

Does anyone actually have snakes that like to be handled - as in, do they willingly come out of the enclosure onto/into your hold? I've seen pictures of people putting their snakes outside to bask in the sun, but I'd be sure as eggs this boy would head for the hills and i'd never see him again.

Any tips on helping improve his handling?

 

[Stompsy]

In my experience, most snakes display the behaviour you are describing. Snakes don't enjoy being handled but tolerate it. Your snake grabbing hold of the enclosure furniture is perfectly normal and he/she will probably never stop doing that. (It can be uber annoying and frustrating at times!).

I tend to limit handling to once a week, usually on feeding day and I'll only handle for a maximum of 15 minutes at a time.

As for taking your snake outside for some sunshine, before I moved to not so sunny Melbourne, I used to take my guys outside onto the grass quite often. They never tried to escape, more so tried to hide underneath me!

It sounds to me like he's behaving like a normal snake!

 

[Iguana]

Sounds exactly like my jungle As Stompsy said, most snakes are like this and will cling onto anything to avoid being pulled out. If he is fine when outside of his enclosure I wouldn't worry too much about it. What can help is removing certain ornaments he may cling too, before removing the snake. I wait until he is in a easily 'grabable' place, remove most of the surrounding ornaments/branches and then pull him out.

 

[trin_007]

Thanks for the reassurance about his behaviour. I was hoping to be able to get him out more frequently to improve his handling, particularly so my son (his supposed 'owner') can spend more time with him. I guess we'll just have to take what we have and be thankful at least he's not a biter!