Reptile & Amphibian Forums

hey guys! this is long, sorry!

Ive got a year old JCP and when i first got him, like every other baby JCP, he bit! It was abit of a shock cos i knew they bit but it was strange just because ive never had a snake bite me! It wasnt the pain cos it doesnt hurt at all but more just a shock really. I was told to ease getting him used to me i should wear thin cotton gloves with my smell and ever since ive been handling him with those and now he doesnt make any effort to bite but is still quite nervous. When i go to get him out of his viv (slowly of course!) he just makes a dash for it. I used to have a big 5 1/2 ft corn snake and he was more then happy to come out, he would even come out on his own accord to see me!
Im just wondering really, whats the best way to approach getting him out? he sometimes wraps himself right around the branches n im afraid i might hurt him trying to untangle him. He gets himself right in the corner occasionally aswell and makes things difficult but never strikes anymore which is good in the sense he doesnt bite but bad that he's still nervous. How should i go about it?
Also, when should i take the gloves off? hopefully by now he knows thats im not going to eat him so hopefully he wont tear me up when i take them off!! I want him to relax cos hes such a beautiful snake and i want to show him off to the family but they dont completely trust him... I mean he has calmed down loads and he is still only a year old so i might be being hasty. The bloke i bought him off breeds carpets and says when there adults there one of the best and easy going snakes around, he let me hold one which was about 6 maybe 7 ft and that was incredibly gentle! Since then ive fell in love with them!

As i said, ive got experience with snakes but this ones a tricky situtation it seems!!

Sorry about the long boring email!

Bring him around family? Sure! Trust him? Probably never! Even though you've got a captive bred and born animal, he is still a "wild" animal with all the natural fight or flee instincts. I've got carpets that I let my 4 yr old handle (supervised of course), and I have one who's yellow on the front third of his body looks orange every time I place him back in his enclosure (yellow and red make orange.....figure it out). In short, a nervous snake is usually a defensive snake. Defensive is the word most people forget exists when discussing "agressive" snakes. Good luck and I hope he mellows out. If not, enjoy him for what he is - kinda like a model....pretty to look at, but you may want to keep your distance if you're worried about attitude!
Mike

I find that a swift, deliberate aproach is better when dealing w/ a defensive snake. Ironically, going in nice and slow and gently makes your warm-blooded hand look like a rat size morsel wandering towards him. While trying to put him at ease, you're putting him in feeding mode. W/ my less tractable ones, if they're perched I use a hook, and if they're on the floor, I approach them qickly and deliberately (hook if they look to be "on point". Hope this helps.
Mike