Posted by:
ArtInScales
at Mon Jul 28 23:43:01 2008 [ Email Message ] [ Show All Posts by ArtInScales ]
First off burms and boas are completely different snakes. I know that sounds very basic, but hear me out. Burms are known as the gentle giants, typically if you are going to get bit by a burm it will be within the first 15 seconds of interaction. With a little bit of work, they can be very trustworthy, just remember they are still wild animals and anything can happen at anytime. Burms learn by repetition, we use a snake hook any time we are going to handle a burm and never when we are feeding. They have learned to associate the hook with handling, so when the hook comes into the cage the food response goes away and then we remove them from their cage. They are very docile after that because they understand they aren't getting fed. You don't need to pick them up with the hook, I would break my hook if I tried to pick one of our big girls up, just rubbing on the head or neck is enough.
Boa's on the other hand can be trained in the same way. The difference is when they are picked up. Boa's seem to have a fear of heights, once they are lifted up they have to hold on to something and have at least half of their body supported. If they don't they "freak out" and the head starts swinging as if they are looking for something to wrap around. At least this is our experience. We used to have rainbow boa's and one day I was holding one of them with one hand and part of his body was laying on my other arm. He slipped off my arm and swung like a pendulum, when he swung back to my arm he bit me just to catch himself. Does that mean he's aggressive? No, he was just scared, back to the fact they can do anything at anytime.
Your ball python has learned that if he bits you you will put him in his cage. Next time this happens, don't immediately return him to his cage. Work with him with very slow movements. I talk to ours in a very calm voice, I don't know if this helps the snake but it helps me.
Most snakes are not aggressive they are defensive. An aggressive snake will come after you, a defensive snake will try to retreat. The problem is in their cage or in your hands they have nowhere to retreat to and if they are unsure about your intentions they will react accordingly.
We have dwarf burms in addition to our normal sized burms. People say that dwarf burms are mean and aggressive. That's not true, they are scared and defensive. I have one female the was captive hatched last year and she will tremble for the first couple of minutes when I pick her up, but with slow steady movements by me she calms down and has never struck at me. Does that mean I trust her? No, her fear of me puts me on edge because I don't know what her next move is going to be, but she's a lot better than when we first got her. I have another female that is an 04 import. When she arrived she crawled out of the bag and up my arm, we've been best friends ever since. I have complete trust in her.
What I'm trying to say is it depends on the particular snake and how well the two of you work together. The main things are that if you get bit don't immediately return the snake to it's cage, use some hook training and don't show the snake any fear. Your confidence will go a long way to claming the snake down.
Sorry this is so long, but I hope it helps.
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Randy and Michelle
Art In Scales
(719) 439-4199
info@artinscales.com
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RE: Handling question - ArtInScales, Mon Jul 28 23:43:01 2008