Snakes: To Handle Or Not To Handle?

[Chris1]

of course i'll cover his eyes, no animal should be subjected to such trauma! LOL!!

snakes cruise around in the wild when they feel like it (damn that god man is irresonsible,...!!!),...its not like i hold Loki for 6 hours, i let him cruise around and have a stretch,...!!

and i learnt from Homers mistake, Loki doesnt get hot baths, he has warm showers with me! ;P

 

[xScarlettex]

yeh i say handlings ok, ive handled my stimson from day one about 4-5 times a week n shes fine, she reaches for my hand when i put it in her enclosure, she practically lives more in my shirt than she does in her tank.

 

[Hetty]

No matter how much people try to justify annoying their poor animals, all it should come down to is what is best for the animal. Handling the animal (for the human's enjoyment) is not what is best for it.

 

[Colin]

damn that god man is irresponsible

its not like i hold Loki for 6 hours, i let him cruise around and have a stretch,...!!

and i learnt from Homers mistake, Loki doesnt get hot baths, he has warm showers with me! ;P

OMG yes he is we agree on that for sure

thats ok then.. letting them out for a stretch is different to constant handling for long periods of time. thats what I dont agree with.

lucky loki :lol: a snake massage afterwards maybe? and a glass of red?

he's one smooth bredli dude this loki :lol:

 

[Saz]

I don't believe my snakes enjoy being handled, although I don't think it stresses them out to the point of damaging their health

For example, if I put their hide near them when they are being handled, rather than continue exploring they will slither off if given the opportunity and go curl up in their hide. That says it all really.

I only handle them for cleaning, other than that they get left alone which seems to suit them.

 

[sweetangel]

I dont think my snake loves being handled or out of his enclosure. on the contrary i think he would prefer to be left alone under his log. but i do still take him out occasionally so he can get some real sunlight and fresh air. I also some times take him out to show people, alot of people are scared and have the 'a dead snake is a good snake' attitude. so i show people that they are not all that bad, they are beautiful and not at all slimey.

on average i take my snake out once or twice a week, at the most. not becaue i think its wrong, just because i dont think he loves it and it can be hard to get him out some times due to the amount of stuff i have in their, he loves it though.

my monitors also hate be ing taken out and handled, but i try to handle them more so that they are used to handling. when they are quieter i will probably take them out less. at the moment its a conditioning thing. take them out about 4 times a week.

 

[tattoolizzie]

OK, so obviously there is a general consensus amongst both those that like to handle and those that don't is that prolonged stress is not good for a snake, can impact health/feeding and so on and interfere with normal physiological functioning - this is a phenomenon well documented in complex animals as well.

I just want to put an argument forward though - that when looking after any animal, in the interest of it's health and welfare, it should be allowed to display it's natural behaviours. for example, an aboreal snake should be able to climb, a burrowing snake should have a substrate which allows it to do so etc etc. What I'm getting at with this is: if a snake has a natural tendancy to be stressed by percieved threats, would it really do any harm to the snake for it to be handled (in moderation) and experience the physiological effects of mild stress every now and then? Isn't a stress/fear response a natural/instinctive behaviour? And no, I am not trying to say it's fine to expose any animal to deliberate and prolonged stress - however, I am still not convinced by the 'never handle they don't like it' view. Even if they are just tolerating it - in the most case (ie when is not affecting the animals health in any measurable way) how can you be sure it is doing any harm?

PS. Opinions are like a*******s - every ones got one

 

[DDALDD]

Even if they are just tolerating it - in the most case (ie when is not affecting the animals health in any measurable way) how can you be sure it is doing any harm?

That's an interesting point, if the snake is still eating, shedding, growing etc regularly how can we know if what we're doing is harming it?

 

[shiloh2768]

Every snake is different. As is every other animal. Some tolerate us, some don't.
My snake gets handled every day either by myself or my family. I am ALWAYS watching for signs of distress as opposed to stress. If I thought for one minute that Stuart was not tolerating handling, then he wouldn't be handled.
Each to their own, I say. Each keeper knows how much their snake can tolerate.

 

[draqonfly]

i dont have a snake... but what i do believe is

every snake has its likes and dislikes. strength and weaknesses.
maybe a snake doesnt like your scent and wouldnt like you to hold it. maybe one would like your scent, attracted to it, and enjoys you holding on to it.
maybe some snakes really hates their enclosure, maybe some may love it so much that they dont want to leave.
maybe some are heavy sleepers and waking them up from a wet dream would really piss them off.
maybe your body temperature is warmer than a person next to you, so your snake likes to slither on your body to feel warm and soft.
maybe your house is colder than the enclosure.. therefore taking the snake out will upset it.
maybe the way you handle the snake has got to do with its happiness. probably let it slither around you rather than restricting it to only move around your hands and arm. im sure if i was a snake and the only place i could go is around the hands and arm after slithering like a maniac out in a cold room would really upset me... hell i would bite more than once hehehhehe ! and ill bite again next time for even trying !!! itll be my only way of communicating to say " piss off " ! :evil:

anyways sorry to barge in this thread. nice reads though !

 

[Harmony67]

Very interesting thread

I have read this thread and am surprised by how adamant people are who do not believe in handling at all.

I have had many snakes over the last 10 years and have handled particular types of snakes quite frequently, while avoiding handling other types.

My colombian boas are held often and I enjoy their company. It's nothing for me to sit for several hours with a snake on my shoulders or curled up on my chest. I have only two young boas at this time and I alternate days that I hold them. Both are very resistant to being returned to their enclosures and hold tight to me when I attempt to release them. I used to have a very large, very old male BCC who would lay anywhere warm, with anyone, for many hours. When he tired of human contact he would take himself off to a warm enclosure off the edge of the room and curl up in there. He was taken out of his regular enclosure a couple of times a week for exercise and never showed any signs of stress.

My jungle-corns are very flighty when first removed from their enclosures but seem to calm down very nicely after exploring me a bit and just sit quietly tangled in my hair or on my shoulders. I handle them less frequently as they are not my favorites and were purchased for my boys. They also resist being returned to their enclosures and seem content to sit on a person.

I only handle the hatchling corns to keep them docile enough to be fed and to have their enclosures cleaned. They seem to prefer to be left alone so I do so. I am keeping these snakes for a friend temporarily and don't feel the need to treat them as pets as she doesn't handle her snakes anyway.

My spotted python, which is my newest snake and the first spotted I have had, is quite young and extremely bitey. I handle her to try to see if she is hungry bitey or leave me alone bitey. So far hunger has been the clear winner. When she doesn't want food (which is seldom) she settles right down and sits calmly in my hand. She is the most entertaining of the snakes at this point because she knows I am not food but seems to comprehend that if she repeatedly "tastes" me I will feed her.

I used to keep blood pythons and blue beauties, neither of which were handled except for feeding and cleaning. I also kept royal pythons which were rarely handled as they were mainly wild caught rescues that I was trying to rehabilitate. I am against keeping wild caught animals as they have established patterns and shouldn't need to adjust to captive life, let alone deal with uneducated keepers who get them cheap as a novelty and abuse them.

The king snakes and rosy boas I used to keep also were rarely handled. Smaller more active snakes just don't seem proper for handling, imo.

All in all, I keep snakes that I feel are fine with being handled. As stated by a previous poster all creatures have their own set of characteristics and some of a species with accept attention whilst others will not. I believe it depends on the snake.

 

[Azzajay77]

very well put colin
mel

I agree, very well put Colin.

It does become confusing for a newbie though who i trying to do the right thing by coming onto these forums for advice only to be bombarded by differing opinions.

You can only ask for so much advised before you head tries to explode from the you should do it this way, no that way, no this way replies.

I appreciate that people are going to have certain opinions and views. Who is to say what is right though and what is wrong.

It's like the dog on the lounge.

So many people treat their dogs and cats and other pets in a way that would make some people shudder and get their backs up due to the difference in how they keep their own.

Is there ever going to be a right answer?

There is definetly a wrong answer - when the animal is put in obvious danger.

Sorry i probably shouldn't comment. I don't have a snake. I am looking to get one but one of the main reasons i haven't is due to the conflicting information re how to look after one.

Personally though if i was to get one i'd probably opt to handle it more often than not, i find that less crueler than keeping one in a click-clac.

 

[Insane]

Gday all,

just a quick question, there seem to be people in this thread confusing "handling" for "taking out of enclosure and letting roam a bit"

could you guys that are AGAINST handling, please define if you are against say, letting a python out of its cage to roam around a warm loungeroom for a few hours?

or if you are just against trying to handle and "pet" a snake.

Cheers,

Daniel