Posted by:
bootsiecollinsus
at Wed Jun 11 01:45:06 2003 [ Email Message ] [ Show All Posts by bootsiecollinsus ]
Hmmmmm....it certainly sounds to me like she is horny, lol. I think your little girl has indeed become a woman =) The 'twitching' movement you mentioned is something you usually see often from horny and/or mating snakes, and usually indicates a state of arousal or just plain excitement. My husband calls it 'The jerky jerky dance', lol.
I have had similar experiences, one with a female and a couple of times with males. I actually still have the 2 males in question, one of which the story is almost exact. He was very small when hatched, and still is for his age. He's a beautiful snake though and continues to grow, despite being over 5 yrs and at last measure was 3'11". When he reached sexual maturity his attitude hit the toilet, seriously. This year was the first time I cycled him, made no difference. Unfortunately I tried to breed him to my main female and she decided he was lunch all 3 times. I do not know if it was because of the size difference (because I have bred smaller males to bigger females successfully before) or she just didn't like the way he smelled...maybe it was his nasty attitude, or the fact he's an albino? Who knows. He has been nasty for almost 3 years now, and we have tried and tried to calm him down to no avail. This guy is one of those who thinks he's a cobra...rears right up at you and weaves, while rattling away and hisses the whole time when you go to take him out..heck, sometimes he does it when you walk by the tank. When held he musks and rattles and whips and squirms, but doesn't outright bite..he gets you by surprise like yours does.
The other male is actually a big snake now, and although still has attitude it seems to be calming with age, he was a rescue, and I think he was just maltreated before I got him.
The female I had like that was a few years ago, she escaped from her enclosure somehow, ate my rosy boa and a few months later unfortunately got fried on our furnace motor. It's weird because her sister turned out to be one of the best and nicest breeders I've ever had. And you know what's even funnier? The small bad tempered albino male in question is her nephew...I've often wondered if he somehow inherited his aunt's attitude. All other snakes in that litter did well from what I know, and he was indeed the runt.
My best advice to you, if you are interested in breeding, is to try it. Get a nice male, cycle them this year and try breeding next year. It may calm her, but be warned it may make her worse.
Simply smelling another snake, a male, in the house may do the trick, but this also may backfire and make her worse. Just be prepared, I think it's worth a try.
In the meantime continue handling her on a daily basis, she may eventually just get tired of the biting, at least we can hope!
Good luck to you.
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RE: major behavior change in Cal King. long post - bootsiecollinsus, Wed Jun 11 01:45:06 2003