Need help with very agressive snakes

[Pythons Rule]

Hi there, now it hasn't bothered me for many years with the agressive behavour 4 of my snakes show but it's gotten more and more tense with 2 of them mainly. my breeding pair Cape York Coastals are so agressive no one dares to go near there enclosures ba me. I refuse to handle them when I'm alone, I hesitate when my husband is home to help as well.

Little about them so you can help me further:

Medusa - she's a 9ft 4.5years a lil overweight so she's on a diet. she's been flighty and snappy since I got her but I never classed that as agressive. but since last breeding season after I stole her eggs she's been very overly agressive towards me and anyone that goes near her enclosure. the enclosure is 1220Lx720Wx660H there's plenty of depth and room to it, she's been in that one for about 2 years now. I've set the enclosure up so she can incubate her own eggs this year, hoping she does a better job then the incubator did last season and hopeing she will calm down alot by the exsperiance.

Arkillis - he's 7 - 8ft 8years and has always been agressive since the get go, I've owned him for 1 year and bought him from URS he bred with medusa last year so he is an absolute proven breeder. I didn't mind him being agressive if he's a good breeder but he's gotten bigger and he's more agressive and tries strangling me everytime I open his enclosure. I know he needs a larger enclosure its down stairs getting a make over to better suit the house and him. when he was in it last time he was strill pretty god dam agressive towards me. I think his main problem is when I first got him and pulled the camra out and he didn't and still don't like the camra. that and I seriously don't think he has ever been handled before I bought him.

Kronos - I think he just needs more handling but he is abit flighty. flighty I can deal with and he's only 2 years old so such a small boy gorgous though its only really when they get 8ft mark they start getting harder to manage. ( is there anything I can do to calm him down so he doesn't turn out like Arkillis?)

Calypso - is a 1 year olf female cape york and my god she can bite, meen she hurts more then medusa does, its not a bite and release she has going its bite hard and latch on as tite as she can and try eat the fingers. meen she love food love food lol she love a finger or 2 as well :shock: I finally found out what it's like for a young snake to eat your finger and not let go 2 days ago and let me tell you this......NOT PLESANT!!! she can't seam to aim for some reason....and she's only 70cm long so go figure. she's a lil tence when I go towards her enclosure but I am only covering her over and uncovering her container. I have her in a 51lt container, she's got a hide, waterdish, heat mat on one end, and one of those terra vines for her to clime so she seems confy. I know I know....suck it up and handle her more....which I will.

but how on earth did she get like this after a month of letting her settle in and how do I get her to stop biting the hands that feed her?


now this is for exsperianced keepers that have delt with exstremely agressive snakes before, I'm not talking just bitey here I am talking the hole kitten kaboodal, bite's strangling, bad temprement's, medusa puffs herself up like a balloon and then lets the are out for 20minutes or more when she is in an angry mood. tagging the cage every time you walk past, as soon as open the door's there there and ready to eat ya, agressive even out of the enclosure's the hole works.

do you have any good and much needed pointers and advice for me to try and calm them down?

Does medusa need to be calm for breeding? and how calm is calm enouph for such and aggressive individual?

I introduced them in a sepret enclosure recently and he wanted her but she didn't want him appeared to hate being touched and they battled it out, very violantly...has anyone exsperianced this before? They where seperated straight away and haven't been together since. I will re introduce them mid July.

thanx for your help

cheers Jody

 

[beefa270]

The golden rule I make when handling an aggressive snake is to turn the heat lamp off and let them cool for a while first but seeing as you are in darwin, it wouldnt get to cold I gues....

 

[Pythons Rule]

no not very cool here, its about 24 some early mornings but not all the time. I don't use heat lamps there's no need for it up here. she has some heat in her bax but only when she will have eggs and only if the temp drops to low. running off a thermostat so its never really on.

thanx for your time though

 

[craig.a.c]

All snakes are different, just have to bite the bullet and let it be.

When I got my BHP he started out fine, could handle him whenever, he is now 3 years old and wants to take chunks out of me when I go near the enclosure.

 

[Pythons Rule]

yeah I had one like that too but I managed to do a swap for Kronos. so whats your thoughts one the hole breeding thing? does she have to be calmed down to be able to breed or will she adventually accept him when july comes around?

 

[craig.a.c]

yeah I had one like that too but I managed to do a swap for Kronos. so whats your thoughts one the hole breeding thing? does she have to be calmed down to be able to breed or will she adventually accept him when july comes around?

When breeding season comes around instinct will kick in and they should be fine.

 

[Colin]

Pythons Rule, I'm guessing they are cage defensive and aggressive towards you when you go near their enclosures.. because you feed them in their enclosures? by tossing a rat inside and quickly shutting the glass doors? would this be right?

Or do you remove them from their enclosures when you feed them and put them in a large tub or plastic gargabe bin to feed them? this method would be recomended if your not already doing it. Always use a hook to remove them from their enclosure.

what are they like when they are out of their enclosures? most "aggressivbe" pythons (in my experience) are usually not as aggressive out of their enclosure as in.. kind of like a barking dog on one side of the fence once your on his side of the fence most freeze and dont make a sound.. but as soon as your on the other side again they go beserk.

I have a sort of aggressive older female jungle. she's the oldest and the biggest and she also hovers near the glass waiting for me to put my hand in to change her water etc.. and what I've found a excellent way to deal with her is if shes in one of her moods I have the plastic water bottle sprayer and give her a squirt with a light spray and she soon slithers over to the other side of the enclosure like a sook until I finish what Im doing. Try this with the coastals.. Im not saying it will definitely work but you never know. Just use the lightest spray you can but give them a good squirt if they move towards you and see what happens Its only clean water so cant hurt them.

your coastals have also probably gotten very used to their cages and setup and may react differently if you move them to a new cage thats set up slightly different and has new hides etc.

best of luck and keep us informed how you go.

 

[Pythons Rule]

all enclosure have pet mesh and chicken wire, I do now and have only resently started feeding in the enclosures, but this is cause there agressive towards me going near or opening the enclosure. there pretty much the same when out of it too. apart from the smaller ones. its mainly medusa and Arkillis who are the problems. I used to place them in a terra mesh enclosure that I sometimes still use for feeding, might start doing it again I think. especially with Calypso the finger hungry one, and Kronos. I should really finish Arkillis's cage and get him out of the new one it is too small for him and I feel its too dangerous having him in it. he is only in it till I have completed his bigger one.

so the spray bottle sound great I'll have to try that. and maybe turning on the aircon and cooling the room down before I get them out.

anyone else have any other methods. I've been keeping for 5 years I've been dealing with the agressive behavour for a year but its just gotten to a point where its just too dangerous. and need to be managed and taken care of. without me selling them that is.

I feed my big ones 1 medium per month Arkillis and 1 -2 super large rats a month for medusa.

 

[Cheyne_Jones]

The only thing i can recommend is being very confident while handling and not let them have it over you, IMO this can make a difference as to how a snake behaves.

Then again a bite from an 8 footer will make the toughest person nervous.

 

[cleopatra2285]

Hi there Pythons Rule,

My smaller female coastal (venus) was 9 months old when i first got her. She was what i thought to be the most nasteist thing on earth, so instead of using a hook i put on some welding gloves first and got her out with those, to get her use to being handled. When she calmed down a bit i tried cotton gloves from coles (white ones, i think two pairs come in a packet fairly cheep). I would never dare put my hand in her feed cage when she was little but now aged three years, after the rat, chicken, quail, baby rabbit, guinea pig has gone down i can pick her up give her a cuddle or a bath if she has guts on her and you never would have known she was nasty at all.

Your could try the welding gloves with the bigger ones or look around hardware stores to find something that may help. My personnal thought about hooks, Ask yourself : would you liked to be picked up around your stomach with a steel pole and suspended in the air? I wouldn't. I think hooks are great in some occasions but i wouldn't like to use mine all the time. I'd rather get bitten by the little ones so they end up thinking this isn't working anymore why am i still doing it ( if you get what i mean ).

Goodluck with them.

Hope that helps.

Cleopatra

 

[Pythons Rule]

Cloepatra hey there I personly think welding gloves is alil exstreme lol. sorry but I have never used gloves, or a hook for any of my snakes don't want to start wearing them ether. I am used to getting bitten by medusa though have never been bitten by Arkillis but there will be a first for everything I just don't want it to happen. I'm very confedent in handling them and try to over power and show who's boss but it does seem to have changes with there level of aggression if you know what I meen. medusa she's heavy got size to her and god is she strong I exsperianced stranglation with her about a month back, wile putting her back in the enclosure I was alone in the house it was one of the scariest feelings I've ever felt and having to untangle her from my chest and right arm is very difficult. I am considering using a hook and only taking her out with someone here like I have always done. but that day I took her to the vet.

sorry if I'm all over the shop. I keep remembering random moments etc.

 

[Lonewolf]

i would suggest changing their names lol coz the names have a bit of an aggresive background lol

 

[cleopatra2285]

No worries, sorry if i offended you at all.

Good luck with them i hope to breed my girl this year

Cleopatra

 

[Pythons Rule]

none taken that was you oppinion and I respect that.

hahaha yeah hints why there called what they are hehe.

 

[grannieannie]

oh my lord.....you people totally amaze me....lol. I've got a stimmie, 14 months old and I used cotton gloves picking him up at first......roflao !!! There's no way in the world I could have a snake over a metre long....but I'm glad some people are braver than I am..... lol

 

[Pythons Rule]

lol yeah well from the get go I've been a large snake fan tehe. even though there agressive I still love them, I do how ever have some absolute fantastic natured ones that are or where around 2.5metres long one of my older cape yorks that I owned before I sold him was so gorgous in temprement, he was a dark scatter patterned one and 9 ft. but the others are just angry buggers.

is it just my lot of cape yorks that are this agressive or have any other capie owners exsperianced this by there's. and how was the breeding with there's such as temprement way? was the female alot more defensive then a normal coastal and how where they to you taking the eggs if you used an incubator?

just curious if its just mine or the breed in particular....yet it would be the breed though seeing I've owned some others that are gorgous temp's. such as medusa and Arkillis hatchy from last season is the most stunning and most placidest capie exspecially coming from the most agressive pair I own.

any ways I will update you all as time and progress goes by.

if anyone else has other methods please share them with me.

cheers

 

[bitey]

Thanks jody but what do you mean "exsperianced".

 

[Pythons Rule]

anyone that has owned or had to manage very agressive snakes out of there collection or someone else.

basicly if you have any success stories or methods to help me out then that is appreciated.

cheers

 

[Colin]

Your could try the welding gloves with the bigger ones or look around hardware stores to find something that may help. My personnal thought about hooks, Ask yourself : would you liked to be picked up around your stomach with a steel pole and suspended in the air?

welding gloves personally I find this a bit over the top and not a good idea (no offence) using body armour like this it only restricts your sense of touch, movement and feeling and could lead to holding the python too tight and cause it alarm.

I wouldn't advise using a hook to hold a python in mid air by its stomach. Especially one with some size and weight. That method could possibly injure your animal or cause it some distress.

If you use the hook to allow the python to rest the neck area back from the head so theres really not much weight distributed on the hook and support the middle section of its body with your hand this takes most of the weight and most pythons dont find this particularly restrictive.

using a hook with larger and heavier pythons is to keep the head under control so it doesnt turn around and bite you.. not for supporting the pythons weight mid body as a carrying tool.

 

[edgewing]

Maybe try the hook. My darwin is very defensive inside her enclosure but once on the hook and out, she turns into a big sook and then likes to explore. Been bitten with my hand in the cage or opening but never been bitten once she gets out.

Regards