Posted by:
hiss_n_herps
at Fri Jul 13 00:08:58 2007 [ Email Message ] [ Show All Posts by hiss_n_herps ]
Most cage aggressive snakes are that way for a reason. I'm not saying that this is in deed your case but most cage aggressive snakes are that way because they have been conditioned to be that way. Conditioning of an animal can be intentional and it can also be unintentional on the part of the keeper.
I heard a story once about someone that had an extremely aggressive Boa. Every time someone walked past the cage the snake would strike at the passerby thru the glass. Upon further questioning, the owner admitted that when he wanted the snake's attention, he would simply tap on the glass to get the snake to respond. However, upon further questining, the owner also admitted that when it was feeding time, he also tapped on the glass before throwing the meal inside the tank for the snake to grab. Thus just as Pavlov's Dog learned to salivate at the ring of a bell, the snake learned to strike at any movement near the cage when it felt the cage shake. Be sure you are feeding you snake in something other than the cage it is being housed in to reduce this kind of conditioned response to a stimulus.
You also want to be sure that you are not wearing any clothes that are sented of any feeder items. This could also mean that if you have other animals such as a dog, cat or other small animals, you might want to try not paying attention to the furball critters before handling your snake. The sanke might just be sensing another critter on you that smells like it might be a meal. Since the snake can't really tell that something that smells like it's food is not actually it's food, it might be mistaking you or something else for a meal. I was accidentially bitten by a ten foot burmese python of mine once. It was clearly my mistake since I was handling feeders prior to doing anything with the snake. I failed to clean myself up before I handled the snake and WHAK! She tagged me on the arm. This was clearly my fault. So now every time I interact with any of my snakes, I am always sure to wash up before hand. And here's the real catch. I use the same brand of soap every time I wash up before I interact with the snakes and I only use this soap when I am planning on handling my snakes. This way, every time the snake senses that particular soap, they associate it with me and being handled and nothing else.
Of course I still get bit from time to time. These kind of things do happen even to experienced keepers. A snake may be a bit more hungry than anticipated, or it may be startled when it's not ready to have any interraction. But hey, thats part of the interaction I have with these animals. It's just part of what we do.
Hopefully, you are not feeding your snake in it's cage or taunting it. Hopefully there isn't someone else in the house that is doing these things when you are not around either. If the snake is housed in an area that has high foot trafic, try moving it somewhere in the house that doesn't get as much action. Also be sure to inform the rest of the family about the particular handling proceedure you want them to use when they may have to interract with the snake. This way, everyone in the household is interacting with the snake in the same way each and every time. And remember, no matter ho long we have been keeping these animals in captivity, they are not domesticated like a dog or a cat. They are still wild animals and they too will have their good and bad days. Just be sure to be careful about how you are interacting with the snake.
Hope this helps you a bit.
Chris
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Your reply sounds like a clue...... - hiss_n_herps, Fri Jul 13 00:08:58 2007