Reptile & Amphibian Forums

My gtp is very wild! captive bread but never seems to settle down when handling. Ive been feeding all my snakes out of cage for years so they dont associate my hand with prey when i just go in for routine tasks such as cage clean up water changes ect.... latley... especially when hungry he seems dead set on striking anything that enters his environment. He will even travel from his perch to where im working just to strike at me... I keep getting bit and an wondering if there are alternative methods to feeding him so he will learn that my hand is not prey.....imbetween feedings i am able to take him out and he will eventualy settle in my hand but when he is hungry it seems im on the menu... any advice here? I handle him almost everyday as he is only a few months old as to tame him....is this a lost cause? should i just learn to observe him and not handle or are they tameable? any advice will help and my bloody hand will thank you!

you shouldn't handle your gtp at such an early age. As they grow so does the strength of their bones, as young ones their spines are quite fragile and handling could lead to spinal kinks in adulthood. I wouldnt worry so much about the handling of your snake quite yet. most specimes tend to lose their edge as they grow yet some never do. For now i would be happy that your snake has such a great feeding response!

Andrew
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1.0 cb pastel bp
1.0 cb high contrast albino bp(Russo Line)
0.2 cb normal bp
0.1 cb Brazilian Rainbow Boa
1.0 cb Hogg Island Boa
0.1 cb Cyclops Mt./jaya GTP
1.0 cb aru GTP
0.1.0 cb OS High Yellow GTP(Russo Line)
0.1 cb savanna monitor
1.0 wc scottish terrirer

so should i just feed him in his cage then that would make my life a whole lot easier.....also he is already able to draw blood so im concerned about trying to handle him when he is bigger what size is appropriate to handle him?

All my arboreals are fed in the cage. I have some that if you were to take them out to feed, they'd never feed. It would stress them too much. Even my tamest animals are not handled daily. I would get bitten, even by my most docile animal if I were to stick my hand in after dark. During the day though...I can handle almost any of them with the exception of two. While my one Biak has mellowed as she's gotten older, It stresses her to take her out so I avoid it as much as possible. The other, my Aru male, will bite you anytime until he's out of the cage.
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5.5~Cornsnakes
3.4.1~Green tree python
2.1.2~ATB
Dogs, cats, horses....
www.franclycac.com

what a bust good thing i have a cat to play with lol but man are gtp's beautiful!