Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hi,

I have this female Northern I got from Dan Felice - the snake is awesome, is laid back, very good attitude. I now have a male also, and this guy does not hiss, bluff, or strike, but he becomes a bullet whenever I open the cage - crawling backwards, darting around, coiling and recoiling but no aggression. I tried hooking him about 2/3 of the way to his tail - he actually backed off the hook rather than crawl forward. Doesn't seem to be a flight response either, as he does not try to escape. He tries to hide.

I am a bit tentative - I am afraid that he will bolt so quickly that I won't be able to catch him if I try and take him out of his cage. For cleaning I wait until he goes in his hide and then remove that (has a closable flap), clean, and put the hide back in.

I am not sure what to expect if I try to freehandle him. Can anyone please help me out? The snake should not handle the keeper.

LandonSJohnson
My Snakes

Well. Trying to hook him may not help too much. I did not see the part where you mentioned how large they are (may make a difference). Just pick him up and let him run thru your hands (hand over hand). His bite should not hurt too bad, it may draw a bit of blood and sting but you get used to it, promise). The temperature in the cage may be too warm. I've noticed snakes become more active (trying to get out) when the temps are too high. If he is roaming the sides of the cage or pushing in the corners you may need to give him more hides (try a hide up against the side of the cage so he finds it easier). Place him in a quiet area of the home where traffic is VERY limited, preferably in his own room or a reptile room. Does he have a basking light or heat pad. Heat pads are usually more efficient. You can control the temps of the cage with heat pads and offer a better gradient in temperature. Basking lights tend to heat half the cage hot and the other half warm (better suited for lizards or snakes that like it hot). Invest in a thermometer. Walmart has decent digital ones for $7-10.

I put a back on all of my aquariums and offer many hides. I like the hard molded food dishes (not sure what they are made out of exactly) that you find for $15 at petco or pet smart. If you can find one with a large footprint (bottom surface area) and place directly on the substrate. This offers a very good (cool) hide that your snake may utilize most. They will push thru the substrate (should be aspen, zoo med shredded aspen is a ) and hide there).

Sorry, not sure what you are really asking or experience so I started basic.
If he is flighty he may just need to be held more, if he is very active (normal and OK) then you can mess around. It's obvious if a snake is miserable in it's cage... But if that's not the issue frequent or infrequent your handling.

My snakes are mean as hell, but I like that, it keeps me from playing with them too much (let's them stay comfortable and keeps 'em doing snake stuff). When I pull 'em out after 2-4 minutes they are tame and enjoyable.... I just like to let them do their thing tho...

Anyhow, good luck and post pics if you can.

Clay

The crawling backward thing he does is normal... Most pits do it and it's very odd. Just hold him more... most snakes don't liked to get picked up... it's as simple as that. Sorry about the last post... I guess after the first sentence I forgot what you had asked, lol.

Clay

Thanks for your help - the male is about 5 1/2' long. He does not really prowl the cage - very serene and in his hide a lot. Temps are in the 70's - I use heat tape that keeps that end around 80. He only gets all nuts when I touch him. Like I said, not prone to any hissing or s-curves - there's no aggression. Will that likely change when I pick him up tomorrow? Who knows with these guys but I suspect he wants to run, not fight. I guess I don't want to have him start to get away from me and then squeeze him too hard.

I can't imagine a defensive bite from a pine to be too bad 0- I've been bit by an eastern indigo at feeding time (SFE) and I can't imagine these guys with their little heads could inflict too much damage.

With my snakes when they get flighty I direct them to a sleeve of my shirt and let them curl up against me for a little while. Oddly enough it seems to get them to calm down about 100% of the time. Just don't let them get too warm/cozy

No pics?

Clay

I think what you are seeing is just the snake being very cautious and perhaps nervous about being picked up by what appears to him, is perhaps a giant. ha ha!!

I see that often with a lot of pines and some of my bulls as well. Have you tried using both your hands and arms at the same time, providing the snake with complete support?

Nothing to worry about. The snake will have to get used to being held and to find out that there is no threat to his safey when he is picked up.
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Genesis 1:1

landon, that backing up motion is pretty common w/ nervous pits. it comes from their habit of inspecting & residing in animal burrows where they can drop back inside if they feel threatened. it does make them hard to pickup though better that than this, there is no backup in this girl at all! cleaning her cage is always an 'adventure'. :>/

Ah, your discribed what I reffer to as "the pine snake back scoot" LOL Every pine I have does this from time to time and agree with what was said in regards to the behavior coming from a tendency to back into a burrow.

As was said, it just sounds like the pine in question is nervous. Some always retain this flightiness and I actually enjoy the challenge of handling them. My 7 year old male does this everytime you hold him without fail. I also think part of it has to do with the fact that pines really have no business off the ground. My experince with pines fails in comparison to others here but considering their subterranean life style and the fact that pines have no arboreal abilities I think they get nervous being off the ground or at least pines seem too. The only pine I have which can be handled without too much of a fuss is my male black pine. He usually calmly sits wrapped around my arm but even he will do the back scoot from time to time.

Frequent handling is the only method that will calm the snake down. Try handling him a few mins every few day and see if this helps things.

Welcome to the wonderful world of pinesnakes

Take care,

Jeremy