In my opinion it is best to let hatchling and juvenile milksnakes stay well-hidden and secluded for the better part of their first year, which is basically how they are naturally "hard-wired" and just be allowed to be themselves (nervous) until they get a good bit larger. Constantly handling most young milks only seems to stress them out un-necessarily. When they start getting around a year old, they start developing enough size to where they don't feel so insanely threatened and stop biting and musking as well. Usually the biting stops first, then the musking. Milks are very different than say boas, cornsnakes, kingsnakes and many other colubrids. Just letting them grow enough first allows them to be less nervous and more tolerant of handling.

If you still feel the need to hold them, I would only do it maybe once or twice a week, and maybe 5-10 minutes at a time until they become larger and less nervous and less "thrashy". What "seems" to be them calming way down after madly thrashing from side to side is probably just them giving in to fatigue and their muscles building up with lactic acid. Some do calm down sooner than others, but most of them become pretty manageable in time. Some get really easy-going when they are larger and older, while even some adults seem to stay nervous and cranky, it really depends on the individual snake. It will happen with yours too, just let it happen gradually over some time, and don't force the issue too much.

After many years of owning and raising countless milksnakes, I have found that this seems to work out much better for the snakes overall general well-being..



cheers, ~Doug



-----
"a snake in the grass is a GOOD thing"

serpentinespecialties.webs.com



"some are just born to troll and roll"

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