Reptile & Amphibian Forums

well sneaky bastard, my latest acqusition, the one that came from the person who had lost the snake for 2 months. Well i have only held him a few times since having him, about a month i guess, and that was normally just to put him in his feeding tub, each time he seemed like a sweetheart. I hadnt seen him in about 2 weeks, he was opaque for ages, and was just in his humid hide. Got home tonight an he was out, and there was a nice perfect shed, so i stuck me hand in to get it out, and i swear he must have launched at me a good 2.5ft. He missed and i jumped like hell. Tried again and same happened. So i left the skin in there, and just watched him for a while, while he watched me waiting for me to stick my hand in. I hope he was just having a bad day, as he had probably just shed. But he certainly did seem up for a fight tonight!!! As i still havent been bitten yet, i was tempted to just put my hand in and get tagged, just to finally get it over with, but after 12hrs at work, i just didnt have the guts to do it!!!

dave 0 - sneaky bastard 1
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Dave

2.2 Normal BRBs
0.1 Anery BRB
2.1 66% poss het anery BRB
1.1 het hypo BRB

Paid for, but stuck in europe somewhere hope to get from next german show
1.0 Anery BRB
0.1 66% poss het anery BRB
2.5 66% poss het new european line hypo

Dave,
...Consider the possibility that by letting him strike and then not picking him up you are training him that striking makes the big bad human leave him alone. His first strike was most likely an instinctive feeding reaction to the first thing he saw move after he shed but the repeat strike might actually have his itty bitty brain thinking that striking is an effective tool for making you leave him alone. Our snakes are always telling us something. The challenge is for us to figure out what it all means.
Jeff

>>well sneaky bastard, my latest acqusition, the one that came from the person who had lost the snake for 2 months. Well i have only held him a few times since having him, about a month i guess, and that was normally just to put him in his feeding tub, each time he seemed like a sweetheart. I hadnt seen him in about 2 weeks, he was opaque for ages, and was just in his humid hide. Got home tonight an he was out, and there was a nice perfect shed, so i stuck me hand in to get it out, and i swear he must have launched at me a good 2.5ft. He missed and i jumped like hell. Tried again and same happened. So i left the skin in there, and just watched him for a while, while he watched me waiting for me to stick my hand in. I hope he was just having a bad day, as he had probably just shed. But he certainly did seem up for a fight tonight!!! As i still havent been bitten yet, i was tempted to just put my hand in and get tagged, just to finally get it over with, but after 12hrs at work, i just didnt have the guts to do it!!!
>>
>>dave 0 - sneaky bastard 1
>>-----
>>Dave
>>
>>2.2 Normal BRBs
>>0.1 Anery BRB
>>2.1 66% poss het anery BRB
>>1.1 het hypo BRB
>>
>>Paid for, but stuck in europe somewhere hope to get from next german show
>>1.0 Anery BRB
>>0.1 66% poss het anery BRB
>>2.5 66% poss het new european line hypo

cheers jeff, never thought about it that way. But i think im wearing gloves today
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Dave

2.2 Normal BRBs
0.1 Anery BRB
2.1 66% poss het anery BRB
1.1 het hypo BRB

Paid for, but stuck in europe somewhere hope to get from next german show
1.0 Anery BRB
0.1 66% poss het anery BRB
2.5 66% poss het new european line hypo

That's it, take one for the cause, it doesn't hurt (a lot)

The main thing is to not pull away, I know - easier said than done. Remember, their teeth are evolved into very effective prey catching tools. They curve back so when the prey tries to get away, the teeth sink in deeper and increse the snakes hold on the prey. If you pull away one or more things can happen none of which are good...

- Increase tooth penetration - what could have been a parely breaking the surface bite can be turned into deeper "holes" = longer to heal and more likely to bleed.

- Tear your skin - not that bad but now instead of little punctures, you have larger tears.

- break off snake teeth in your skin - duh, not good for the snake or you.

- launch the snake - done that a couple of times myself, when it strikes defensively, it bite and releases fairly quickly. If you're pulling back as it hits, that dircetional energy will be transfered to the snake, then it lets go and when you stop, it keeps going. All happening in a fraction of a second.
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Thanks,

Dave Colling

www.rainbows-r-us-reptiles.com

0.1 Wife (WC and still very fiesty)
0.2 kids (CBB, a big part of our selective breeding program)

LOL, to many snakes to list, last count:
26.49 BRB
20.21 BCI
And those are only the breeders

lots.lots.lots feeder mice and rats

I did that once... felt soooo bad after. My little snake went flying at least 10'. Poor guy!

Yeah but mine didn't seem any the worse for his flight!!
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Thanks,

Dave Colling

www.rainbows-r-us-reptiles.com

0.1 Wife (WC and still very fiesty)
0.2 kids (CBB, a big part of our selective breeding program)

LOL, to many snakes to list, last count:
26.49 BRB
20.21 BCI
And those are only the breeders

lots.lots.lots feeder mice and rats

Mine either. He was totally fine, I just felt bad. They can be so resilient at times!

Yeah, I wonder how we'd look after being flung 5X+ our body length and landing on some random surface (not a airbag etc.)
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Thanks,

Dave Colling

www.rainbows-r-us-reptiles.com

0.1 Wife (WC and still very fiesty)
0.2 kids (CBB, a big part of our selective breeding program)

LOL, to many snakes to list, last count:
26.49 BRB
20.21 BCI
And those are only the breeders

lots.lots.lots feeder mice and rats