First off everybody has provided lots of very useful information and I really don't have too much to add. One other thought that I had regarding conditioning is that I never put a snake back in its enclosure right after it musks. Snakes musk because they feel threatened and it is possible that they may learn to associate musking with being put back down. Doing so may reinforce the musking behavior.


Most of my reptile experience is with field survey work so I've handled a LOT of snakes with no social skills. The best way to calm a snake down that is freaking out is to let it crawl through your hands. Support its body from below and as it moves forward move your hand that was at its rear to the front. If you keep doing this the snake is essentially "running" in place. Snakes aren't all together that smart and they think they are escaping. Once they feel they are away from danger they usually calm down and even though you are still holding it stop perceiving you as a threat. As long as you don't move suddenly it should be fine. As others have said, each species and individual is different. This method generally works for snakes up to about 5 or so feet in length and you can usually get even more aggressive snakes to calm down quickly.

Also, regarding the people who are not comfortable handling snakes. If you take the snakes out when they are in the area and they see that you are not being bit or hurt it eventually helps increase their comfort level as well. Very often in the field there are a couple people who get the shivers just looking at a snake. After a few days of watching me and other people handle them they get a little curious and come closer. Then maybe they just want to touch it's skin with you holding it (and keeping the head away). Pretty quickly you can get someone like that to hold a snake who was terrified of them before. Make sure to let them know that they can touch it or hold it if they like so they know it's an option. It's a much faster process then calming the snakes down Usually it's best if you only handle calmer snakes when you are around these people. It also helps to explain that common roses are more a threat to people than the snakes you have at your facility. chipmunks are a far greater danger and capable of inflicting much more serious injuries AND have been known to attack people unprovoked. The snakes you keep there don't do that.

The photo below is was taken last week and is of a person holding her second snake. Her first was a baby milksnake so this was a big step. Only a few days earlier she admitted that she was uncomfortable with snakes but seeing other people handle them and being gradually exposed really helps (looking, touching, holding, catching). It's sort of funny that we think more about how to socialize snakes to people but the bigger problem most of the time is socializing people to snakes.

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