Reptile & Amphibian Forums

First of all I want to thank all those who responded to my previous post, all your answers were very helpful. I purchases an 11 week old albino het for granite female from gm conner. She is very hissy and nervous and so far hasent tried to bite. I was wondering if she could bite through a pair of leather gloves? They are thin like horseback riding gloves. I want her to get used to being handled and I know Im going to get bitten sooner or later but I figure why not take some precations since I know she is hissy right now. She is also always trying to get away!! I dont want to scare her and I try to move as slow as I can without losing her. Any info on taming her down alittle and about the gloves would be great. I also have a granite male and he is a total sweetheart!!! I will be sure and post pics later this week.

You would probably be alright with the gloves but if she gets used to being handled with the gloves she might still bite once they're off. Try handling her with the gloves and while holding her slip one off and touch her with your bare hand. You will get a reaction out of her. They can tell the difference between the glove and your hand. Best bet in my opinion is just handler with your hands. Be gentle and she will get used to you after a little while. Also don't be affraid to get bite it will feel like a pin prick. The ones that hurt are the 10-20 footers LOL!!

We have sibling's hatching all year round at the shop, so we alway's have nippy babies lol.
I have some 10 mth old p.m.molurus at the moment and they are all huff and puff. They just pick-up that you are nervous, which set's them off.
We have a guy in our shop that used to work at a zoo but he get's worried by the little baby rainbow boa's, lol
It's all part of the fun with these little guy's you get your confidence now and you'll never have to worry about it when it get's to 14-18 feet.
Just grin and bare it

All the burmese I have handled, both juvenile and subadult, have been persistent hissers, it seems to be this species way of saying "hey, I can feel that--someones touching me!!" Biting rarely follows, but sometimes juveniles will snap. You should be fine with the glove; even if you do get bitten the pain is minor, like small pinpricks...The bite from small snakes usually makes me itch, I find this more annoying than the bite itself. Very slow movements along with daily handling should tame down the snake nicely. But keep in mind even tame burmese will give that "who's touching me!" hiss all their lives. Believe me, this can be very intimidating from a snake over 8 foot! As your snake grows larger, be sure not to startle your snake when you pick it up out of its cage, and always watch the body language, if the hiss is unusually loud and the snake pulls its neck into an 's', you may have woken him up or caught him on a bad day...try a little later. Good luck!
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Heather J. Martin
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1 Solomon island ground boa, female
1 Green iguana, male
1 Ball python, gender unknown
1 Green anaconda, juvenile, gender unknown
1 Burmese python, 9', female