HELP! My new spotted HATES me!

[ShepQLD]

ok I am four days in to having my new seven month old spotted python and tonight she was striking at me constantly, she was smashing her face against the glass even when i decided it was best probably to leave her be. When I was holding her she was still staying in the strike pose. I rung the pet shop and they said to bring her in and they would do a personality test on her??? she was very placid and calm in the pet shop but has done nothing but try to bite me since I got her home. What do i do? she is beautiful but im starting to be rather scared of her, she goes into a strike pose even if i just walk past her tank. should I have gotten a younger one to start with? is it possible to get a rogue snake who hates people? Im sure I must be doing something wrong. I cant get anywhere near her now as soon as i open the door she goes into strike pose. How on earth do you get past the fear of getting biten! I hear it doesnt hurt but something in my brain screams WRONG when I see her about to get me! Is it possible to heal her of this habit or now that she has my scent will she always see me as a threat?

 

[hallie]

Let the snake settle in and dont handle for a couple of weeks...

Your snake is obviously freaked out with new surroundings...

Give it time to become comfortable in its new location...

 

[snakekid666]

you have only had the snake few days probobly just let the snake settle in to its new enclosure. theres new smells and everything so it might just need to to get use to everything wait about 2 weeks before handling her/him

 

[sweetangel]

first off leave her alone to settle in for a week. just leave her. she is probably stressed at her new environment. also make sure ur temps are correct and she has enough hides at botht the hot and cool end. if she hasnt enough hides she will be scared. then after you have let her settle in, use a hook to pick her out of her enclosure and the onto ur hand. that way u wont get bitten when she is feeling threatened in her cage. she will probably relax as she gets older, you will just have to be patient and let her settle first hope that helps!

 

[ShepQLD]

ah ok, I can do that, and it sounds like it would make perfect sense, poor little girl is just freaking out about the move even though she is in a much better place then a little plastic tub! the other question I have is that the pet shop have been feeding her one pinkie mouse every feed, and it doesnt look like its really enough for her. How do you know how much you should feed them? My friend has a spotted around the same age and she has hers on weaner mice. I was given some advice that if the lump in the belly is gone the next day its not enough food is that right?

 

[melgalea]

first of all, snakes are not pets that u should be constantly handling.
secondly, regardless as to whether a snake seems nice when u first get her, its gonna change. anyone owning any type of snake is going to get bitten at one stage.
personality test?? what a load of crap.
i would be feeding a velvet mouse every 7-10 days.
if ur after a pet that u can play with, i think u picked the wrong type.
alot of new people into the reptile world arnt doing there homework anymore BEFORE purchasing these animals, and i think thats sad as its the animals that suffer in the long run....

 

[rubysnake]

congrates on getting a snake!
hey heres a few ideas to help (anyone correct me if im wrong )
first of all give her a week to settle in
what do you keep her in? ie size of enclosure and does she have plenty of hidey places?
cover the glass so she cant see out and let her settle for a week
when i first got my jungle he constantly hit his the side of the container and ive heard of snakes doing damage to there jaw.
when it comes to trying to hold her get a hook there very good! hook her up and gently put her on your hand.
my childrens is cage protective and even walking by or opening to get him out can make him curl up so i always use a hook if he's in strike position.
even if he's not i still use one because unless i grab him straight away he gets snappy and i hesitate because im like you i dont like to get bitten.
as for personality test i dont believe there could be one done? sounds kinda silly. although i could be wrong hehe
hurc (my childrens) was fine at the pet shop and when i brought him home he was snappy and hid in his hidey huts unlike when he was in the pet shop he'd slither right up to the glass but in time he adjusted and so will yours.
no one likes to get bitten and ive been bitten heaps and i still jump a mile (my jungle bit me today the cheeky bugger) but it doesnt hurt when there little its just because there soooo fast and after all you just got bitten by a SNAKE!!! hehehe you'll become more confident with your snake as you handle it but its patience
as for getting a hatchy its a great because all snakes can bite so even if you got an older plaid snake you could still get a biten
hope this help a little and dont give up she's only little and think what you must look like to her

 

[rubysnake]

sorry i started writing all that when you didnt have any replies.. i was taking my sweet time haha so sorry for any repeated info!
cheers!

 

[sweetangel]

a rule of thumb when feeding is that they should eat twice the size of their head, but they can eat things twice the size of the largest part of their belly wich can be much more than twice the size of their head. they should have a noticable lump and should poo in a week. if she hasnt pooed out a larger size mouse then leave it a bit longer before feeding again

 

[grannieannie]

sorry i started writing all that when you didnt have any replies.. i was taking my sweet time haha so sorry for any repeated info!
cheers!

Ruby....I think you gave some very good advice....

 

[ShepQLD]

Ive been researching this for well over a year, had the tank set up and running to make sure the temp is right and all sorts before i bought her home. I do understand that she is not a toy, I dont intend to 'play' with her but i dont want her to be attacking me when I open the door to clean up after her or to take her out to feed her etc. I thought the same thing about the 'personality test' hence the ??? after it lmao. Ive been a wildcarer, a vet nurse, dog trainer you name it. I know to do and have done my research and i am prepared to do whatever I need to do to ensure she is happy and healthy. Hence my questions. I didnt mean to offend you melgalee but I do believe its better to look a fool and ask what may appear to be a silly question to an expieranced handler, rather then stay silent and do the wrong thing by any animal. i think there are some things you cant learn unless you actually have the expierance of sharing your life with these amazing creatures. And thank you for confirming my thoughts on her feeding.

 

[rubysnake]

Ruby....I think you gave some very good advice....

wow thankyou .
i love this site it's helped me heaps so im glad when i can pass on something

 

[melgalea]

glad to know u have done ur research. and my apologies for wondering if u had.
just seems to be a lot of new keepers that buy first and ask questions later.
unfortuntely any snake is going to be snappy at some point or other. my method i use is only handle when nessesary, majority of my pythons can now be hooked out for cleaning without any dramas. but in saying that, there will always be the exception of some bugger that wants to latch on.
some snakes will settle with time, but some will be buggers till the day they die. lol
cheers
mel

 

[ShepQLD]

Thanks so much for the fantastic advice people, I will cover up the glass for a few days aswell as leaving her alone for at least a week and see if that helps to. This is such a great site! she does have plenty of hides but the cage is ALOT bigger then what she was in at the pet shop! hence it would make sense that its freaking her out. Thanks again for the help people I really appreciate it, Im sure Eve appreciates it even more lol

 

[amy5189]

i would put her back into a smaller enclosure. my 7 month old spotted is in a click clack that is about 30cm long, 20cm high and 20cm wide (these are very rough estimates). and she doesn't have a problem. i got her out on day two just to give her a quick clean and there wasn't a touch of evil in her.
so i would just down grade the enclosure size to make her feel more comfortable, and upgrade enclosure sizes gradually.

 

[ShepQLD]

oh ok, yep I can do that. she's sleeping peacefully at the moment on a branch near the heat lamp but when she is on the move again Ill put her back into the smaller container again. The actual tank really is very big (about 5 foot high 4 foot wide) with shelves and things everywhere. (I made a little ledge right in the middle for the container to sit on but i thought she would prefer more space) lol it does make more sense that she would feel more secure in a smaller space. thank you

 

[Asharee133]

that is ALOT of room for a little snake!im gettin a stimson and just putting him/her in a click clack

 

[melgalea]

my god, an adult spotted doesnt even need an enclosure that big let alone a hatchy.

 

[mis-devious]

????

hey guys im new to this place and i need some help with my juvy coastal carpet python. But i cant figure out how to post a thread on this site?? Please help thanx

 

[ShepQLD]

lol no I know, but I wanted to make it as natural for her as I could. I admit i did make the cage before doing to much research and i thought I could have two in there but since then I have come across an awful lot of stuff saying you can't keep two in the one enclosure, so I guess she just gets a mansion all to herself! lol I dont think she will complain once she gets used to it