Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Well I went to the Nebraska Reptile Expo and picked up a baby Bull Snake. She's maybe 20" long.

I did alot of reading prior to making this purchase, but having only corns and balls up to this point I was looking to expand my horizons, so to speak.

Heres whats gone on so far. First week I left her alone, only changing her water. She didnt hiss, but would rattle her tail when I did this. Second week, I fed her outside her enclosure, using cottons gloves. (Yeah, I know Im a wuss) She would hiss and strike at my hands quite often. Ok, very often to be honest.

She just finished shedding(so havent been holding her for the past 7 or so days), so i fed her yesterday. I held her for about 15 minutes and there were maybe 5-6 strikes(which is a decrease from what it had been), not a ton of hissing, but non stop tail rattling. This week i will be holding her alot more (48 hours after eating, of course).

Now for my questions:

I use a hook to get her out, is this wise?
The reason I do this is because I can change her water and such without worry, but if I go in to pick her up, she works herself in a corner and strikes out. When she is in the corner there really isnt a way to pick her up without comming at her head, which Im sure makes her feel threatened and stressed. With the hook she doesnt hiss, I just pick her up, get her to my hand where I can hold her correctly, then the hissing begins (But thats to be expected). If I use a hook now, will I always have to use a hook as she matures?

Second question:
I know most Bulls calm down with handling and time. So Im working with her, but Im wearing gloves. If she calms down with me wearing the gloves and I then remove them say 2 weeks down the road will she notice a difference? From glove to bare hands? Also, never have been bitten by a snake Im curious as what to expect from a small bull. Will it break the skin? I guess Im "Unnerved" by the unexpected more so than the bite itself.

She's a gorgeous snake and will actually come up to the glass and watch me as I work in her room(no hissing at all). Im committed to making this a great experience for her and myself, just looking for a couple answers.

Thanks!

using the hook to remove the snake can be a wise decision as many snakes calm down once they're actually removed from the enclosure.

If I were you, I'd start handling the snake without gloves while it's still only 20" long. Get it used to actual hands. If it's suddenly in fleshy hands when it's 36-48" long and it bites, you'll regret it.

A bite shouldn't be that bad. The anticipation is far worse. A snake's jaws are fairly weak. And from my experience, pits strike a lot, but let go almost immediately. It will break the skin, but a bite is no more than a small scrape. Just wash it with anti-bacterial soap (which you should do to your hands after holding the snake anyway) and rinse it off. You don't even need a bandaid.

After a few bites, it won't bother you and soon you won't even flinch.

And that's another thing. Every time you try to get the snake and it hisses or strikes and you back away, you're teaching the snake that it's behavior is working. IGNORE the striking, hissing and tail rattling. Teach the snake that you don't recognize its threats. It'll eventually learn that it's not working and give up. It'll still hiss, but you won't be bleeding.

Also, hold the snake BEFORE you feed it. Handle him for about 15 minutes and then let him wait in his enclosure for about 5 before offering him food. He'll learn that he gets handled before he gets to eat. He'll associate the handling with the arrival of food. I have a pissed off gopher that actually climbs into my hand now. He still hisses and rattles his tail, but he comes to me willingly because he knows that he'll get a feast when the handling is done.

And if you want to get accustomed to snake bites, catch a watersnake. They chew and their saliva is an anti-coagulant, so you get to bleed a little.

Good luck.
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1.0.0 Great Plains Ratsnake
1.0.0 Corn, Lavender Aztec het for Amel
0.1.0 Black Ratsnake
0.0.1 Texas Rat (tame)
1.0.0 Broad Banded Water Snake, Hypo
1.0.0 Black Bassador Retriever
2.1.0 Godchildren, 1 Evil, 2 possible hets

I use a small hook to pick up all small snakes as a big hand coming at them can and often does frighten them into a defensive mode. I transfer them into my bare hand and rarely have any problems after that. Tail ratteling is common for Bulls. Even my adults do it but they have never bitten me.

my snow corn is pretty much the same way.
what i do, is take out her little hide exposing her and waking her up, at this point you would be a lunatic to stick your hand in. i usually let her uncoil and start to move before picking her up. this seems to cut down in strikes because she isn't just waking up and in ultimate defense mode. also, being a baby doesn't help they're usually kinda nippy. just handle a few times a week, and try not to startle her.
-Jason
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1 snow corn
1 redtail
1 baby BRB

I've had 1.2 Kankakee County bulls since the beginning of June. To this day they are still a handful to handle. They have tamed down some but nothing that would be consider easy to handle. Only 1 of them will take food off the tongs the other 2 I put it in front of their hide spot and they will take it. I hope they will calm down or they will be a pain in the but to handle when they are adults.
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1.2 Black Pines
2.2 Northern Pines
1.2 Kankakee County Bullsnakes
1.1 Albino Northern x Southern Pinesnakes
1.1 Deppei Deppei

1.1 Cornsnakes