my snake bites

[cris]

If i were you i would sell it and buy one that isnt snappy.
If you feel attached to it, just get bitten by it and you will realise how silly it is to be scared of it. The good thing about such small snakes is they never get big enought to hurt ppl.

 

[Ozzie Python]

Every snake will act differently, some get fed in their enclosure and still don't strike, others will associate everytime their door is opened as meal time. It's just one of the many practices that could be changed to help sammyj to have a less fiesty snake.

I do agree that there is no stress relocating after feeding, but i use feeding time as a great time to do a visual health check, get the scales out and record his weight before feeding and clean the viv right out so he can be left alone for days to start digesting his food.

 

[sammyj]

Oh my gosh! theres anothe fluffy out there!? haha when my brother named her that i was like... are you serious? .... we also have two convict fish (so, stripey) that he names spot and dot.... i sense a pattern haha

i will be so bummed if i have to sell fluffy, i already had to take my first snake back because he wouldnt strike at his food - i had to feed him, and he didnt always eat... i didnt want him to die so i took him back and got stimmy. it was sad but im ok now : )

 

[Ozzie Python]

your stimmie may grow out of it, but you will need patience to turn him around, and that will prob mean getting bitten, otherwise like cris said, maybe sell it and buy a more placid snake, perhaps a little older that is used to being handled

 

[ALLANA]

lol I know what the problem is, it's all in the name : FLUFFY. Our first python was a yearling Maculosus and my partner called him FLUFFY, same thing I laughed and told him it was the most stupid name I had ever heard for a python. And like yours was the most agressive little snake you would see. He bit everything, and not just once but it was nothing for him to bite our glove covered hands 20 times in a few seconds. Well end of the story he freaked us out that much we sold him for next to nothing compaired to the pet shop price we paid just to get him out of our hands lol. It's hard to remember what it was like for some people to have there very first cranky snake, expecially when they are not used to it. And to say just take the bite is sometimes more nerv rattling that most can imagine, so I know were your coming from. But after a few months and I got over it I tried again with a 5ft BHP who was placid as and I know have something like 17 snakes which at least 5 are snappy chaps lol. I have now been bitten well that many times I've lost count and it is honestly true that the bite dosn't hurt (from a smaller snake anyway) but until u feel it for yourself you wont know (if it helps close your eye's when it goes to bite you'll find it way less disturbing as it's what your seeing not feeling that causes you to be scared. In saying all this everyone else has pretty much covered every possible way to calm the snake down, but in saying all this I know a lot of stimmies, mac, childrens etc that are just natorious for being agressive like yours and they just never calm down. Maybe to do with the fact there a smaller snake they may feel more threatend I have no idea. Try what everyone has told u, the only other advice I could offer is maybe remove it from it's enclosure and put it into a tub (like a click clack but bigger) so that it has enough room but not too much and u may find that this will calm him down (less space to have to worry about). When picking him up like others said u can use the flat palm technique which he will strike at but won't usually be able to get u (if worried use a small face washer or something) and place over the front of his head to pick him up. He may stil bite once u have him but he won't be striking at you from below. Also hooks work good but I train all my snakes to be touched while in and out of there enclosures without hooks so that I can easily clean there enclosure. Best of Luck with the cranky one !!

 

[Chris1]

once i'd used gloves for a week or so i had enough confidence to just wear long sleeves and have them covering most of my hands so he'd bite them instead of me, that worked pretty well tooo,...i didnt have good 'hook control',....so i only used a hook once or twice,...

 

[Southside Morelia]

IMO, jump in both feet, don't give up, try to tame (within the relms) your snake, you will be proud of yourself when you do!
When you get your next snake, you will atleast have some knowledge on what to do from your prior experience and you will start to understand why these wonderful critters do what they do, which will hook you!
Be careful though, as others have pointed out and most ppl here will atest, it never stops at 1, 2 or 3.....
Cheers
Scott.

 

[martyn_tann]

if u put a peice of soft cloth in front of it. it will strike and strike, keep waving it round untill it stops. then it will get used to it and accept it. do the same with ur hand. just don't look. its not the bite that i was worried about its the fact that a snake is attacking u, and ur letting it that what freeked me out. face the other way a give it a high five.

 

[bredli84]

hey good luck.
i have a water python which is similar, he will strike at whatever moves. in the last few weeks he has noticeably calmed down (still bites, just not as much). i used the method of calmly handling him, i let him bite me whenever he wants without flinching or pulling away.
move slowly but confidently. dont hesitate. the bites really dont hurt.

 

[sammyj]

to everyone....

i am still scared of fluffy because im a wuss, my friend (real blokey guy) put his hand in her tank and she bit him only about a billion times... but it was obvious that shes just scared....

im slowly trying stuff with her when i get the chance, im trying to wait untill shes out from her rock so im not disturbing her.

ive been better though, able to clean her tank out properly and stuff, she is just scared and scary...

thats all

 

[cement]

have you got anyone with real experience to be there with you to help train you to handle her. Show you the methods. My 13yr old daughters maccy is still a bit snappy but i showed her the right way to handle and she is slowly but surely settling her down. Try to learn the snakes moods and most importantly the snake body language. If she's in the strike position just freeze until she begins to move or use the coathanger to pick her up. With this sort of knowledge you will be able to read when she's hot or cold.
But don't give up, If you do you may miss the best learning curve for your future....

 

[tonk]

i named a diamond python fluffy at wildlife pk i work at sometimes, she had the best personality ever never bit and was always calm even as a hatchling.. unfortunately some scumbags stole her then the police recovered her after a tip off, then a few mths later she was stolen again never got her back.. someone who visited the pk and saw how good she was obviously wanted her more then us!! shes microchipped so ill never give up hope!!
good luck sammy
tonks

 

[sammyj]

are you serious... thats so extreme, i hope that you get her back

my fluffy is always in strike pose and wants to hurt me haha bitch

 

[Tatelina]

As my male friend always says to me when I'm acting like a princess... "be tough woman!"
The bites won't hurt...You'd be suprised at just how dainty their teeth are..you won't even feel it.

If worst comes to worse... I am more than happy to take it off your hands.

 

[NRE-808]

how long have you had Fluffy, how large an enclosure is he in, are here plenty of hides, is there anything around that might leave a smell of food in there air or on you, do you wash your hands well before trying to handle/clean???

 

[sammyj]

i want to be that tough woman! trust me haha

we have had fluffy for about 10 months... she is in a little tank (which is inside a big tank which is heat controlled) her tank is about like 30cm x 17cm. she has a rock she can hide under and her water bowl she used to get under but i think she doesnt like it very much now because she is too big? i guess the food smell can be in her tank, but it wouldnt be on me... she acts differently when shes being fed to when shes being harrassed by me hahaha i wash my hands and we have a special gel stuff u put on ur hands too.

that was heaps of questions lol

 

[sammyj]

thanks everyone for your replies

 

[moosenoose]

so far i have:

- put a rag with my sweat on it in the tank for about a week or two (which is weird but whatever)

- wear leather gloves to start with

- pick her up with tweezers

- just get bitten and take it like a man....

what about the feeding, i have been feeding her one furry baby rat once a week, i thought i read on here the other day something about feeding more than one rat in a feeding, as in - when shes eaten the first one, offer her another

thought?

Wear a blindfold

 

[tonk]

yeah shes been gone for bout 8mths now sammy but shes got a stumpy tail from bein caught in enclosure door when she was little befor we got her and microchipped so ill never give up..

 

[NRE-808]

all those questions did have something to do with why SHE might have been acting stroppy... tried using a snake hook to get HER out as SHE might just be cage defensive... i havfe heard some nasty things about tongs though so if you choose to use them... be very careful

PS --> sorry about the gender confusion