Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I just got a young JCP,about a year old. I knew tha the had not been handled much,so I expected him to be nippy. But he will even strike when removing with a hook. I know that to get him to tame I will have to be bitten a few times,,,but I can not even get him to get near me without getting definsive. Should I just let him crawl out of his cage and let him slowly crawl onto my hand?
I have had snakes for years, mostly colubrids,,a few aggressive ones,,,but not like this. I know that it is a defensive behaviour and he is probably frightened. Any comments?

I have a few JCP's. I couple of them acted the exact way you described, but you dont have to get bitten. Accident DO happen though =c). But anyhow with mine, I would get them out with a snake hook. Once out of the cage, they would often leave their defensive position and I would slowly support there lower half of there body, staying clear from their head. I have found that many of them are just defensive when they are in their cages, but once they are out they are much more calm. This takes a couple of weeks. Work with just taking him out with the snake hook for a while. BUT I do have one that I think is just going to be a pisser for the rest of her life. She strikes at you if you walk by the cage. But I guess that just gives them character.
-Good Luck!!!
-Josh

thanks,,,,but now if I can get him to stop striking at the hook,,,,lol,,,I think I will let him crwl out oh the cage,,,then have him crawl on hook.
Well, I wanted a little more challenging snake than my colubrids,,looks like I got one. But he is beautiful !!!!

I've been helping out a buddy with a 1-2 year old JCP now for several weeks, and his is psycho, too. Never handled much when young, and is VERY difficult to remove with a hook unless all of his climbing stuff is out of the cage.

What I do is throw on the trusty welding gloves, grab him before he can wrap his tail/himself around everything in sight and get him out of his enclosure.

Over the last couple of weeks he has calmed down significantly once out of his enclosure, but goes right back into the psycho mode once back in...

//Todd
(I'm getting an '06 JCP here in a couple of weeks as soon as he starts eating on his own... can't wait!)

Just pick it up. Yes this will irritate it beyond belief. It is not going to like this. And it will probably bite you. But, baby carpet bites don't hurt. Seriously.

Your snake WILL learn that it's behaviour is not helping it to escape, and that you are not going to eat it. And it doesn't take long either. Just be consistent, gentle, and confident.

IMO hooks for baby carpets aren't neccesary. Your hands are better.

Have fun!!!
-----
Ben Team
Mark Davis
New Paradigm Herpetoculture
Captive Bred Morelia
404-438-2135
chondro776@yahoo.com

Thankyou...
Welders gloves, c'mon! If you gotta wear those, you're in the wrong hobby.
JCPs can be a hand full as youngsters but most of them grow out of it with enough proper handling. Some never settle in but most do.
Cripes!! WELDERS GLOVES???