You guys may have seen a post a week ago about bringing home my first pet snake. Just out of curiosity, did any of you all have issues with that first plunge into the tank? He/she was pretty bitey when I placed it in the terrarium, but hasn't struck out towards the wall since. So, should I just get over it and scoop her him/her up or is there some ancient snake handler wisdom? To recap, baby ball python.
These are an invasive species in the Everglades. So when she/he is large enough to eat you or the kids, make some boots out of her/him. Feeding live prey prevents me from having anything larger than my native garter snakes
Always move slowly around her. You can try covering her head first with a small cloth, then either gently scooping her up, or using a finger under her mid-section to lift her. Sit quietly with her in your lap, or even around your neck (our warmth and pulse is comforting to them).
And IF you should get nipped perchance - not to worry. But stay calm. If you jerk away, you can easily break their rear-facing teeth, and they may develop an infection. As for you - if there is a skin break - simply treat it as any scratch or cut. Even a chomp from a full adult is not much to worry about.
And by terrarium , do you mean a moist tank with plants ? They need to have a dry surface to live on - with newspaper being the easiest material to use. And always a box, or place to retreat to - when she's had enough of you ! Ha.
Sage advice below, to be sure. Try not to force handling, at least for now, until he or she settles down a bit.
Ball Pythons by nature are pretty calm snakes.
Provide plenty of climbing "furniture" and hides, plus a deep substrate. Hiding will provide security.
You might even throw in a live plant
@Graceylou was spot on... baby snakes live in a state of nearly constant fear of being eaten, and for good reason. They do eventually settle down, but it can take a while. I did not force mine to much handling when young. I just let them learn to associate me with good things, like lunch. I also provided fairly deep substrate, allowing them the option to build custom burrows. I am not sure if pythons do that, but my baby kings sure loved it.
Congrats on your new baby! (:
Babies tend to be snappy because in the wild baby snakes are snacks for everyone. A week may not be long enough to let the snake adjust but you can try. If you’re worried about getting bitten you can wear gloves. You can test out to see if s/he is not as stressed out anymore and can start to be handled. If s/he still seems stressed just leave it alone for a little longer. Adding more hides may help it settle in and calm down better (you can use a plastic tub with a hole cut out if you don’t have another hide). Lovely baby. Good luck.
Some might not think this as sound advice, but I'd say just do you and take the bite. I'm not a professional snake owner, but I've kept pet snakes and interact with a lot of wild, non venomous snakes. I've learned that they quickly learn to not be so quick to bite once they learn it has no effect. Now if you're handling it and it bites you, don't stop. It doesn't want to be held cause it's scary to it, so it'll react and bite. If it learns that biting you makes you stop holding it, it won't stop using that as a defense. Once it learns that biting you doesn't have the effect it intends, it will give the snake time to learn that being held isn't scary. It'll take time and possibly several bites, but you should always accept the possibility of being biten when handling a snake. Now if it never warms up to you, I'd try to see if something is stressing it out. Is it the correct habitat.. Are there any other animals or children bugging it.. Things like that. If it's living in a stressful environment, that'll hinder or prevent a bond forming.
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