Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Ok confused I've had my hypo brooksi since the 7/13 white plains show. She's about 15 inchs eats a fuzzy every 5 days and is held at least 3 times a week for about a hour each time. She's been a sweetheart since I got her, but the last two times I've held her she's attempted to bite me. I don't get it? What am i doing wrong

you're not feeding her enough... If she's used to being handled and is still attempting to bite, feed her more and she'll stop... Hopefully someone else will chime in with an appropriate amount of food to be giving her, but 1 fuzzy a week is not enough, my 15 inch Florida king is getting 5-6 fuzzies a week and I'm going to bump him up to more soon to get rid of the fuzzies and move him onto bigger prey items sooner...
-----
~Maggie~

"Not one shred of evidence supports the notion that life is serious."
1.1 Cal Kings (Spot and Fry)
1.0 Florida King
1.0 Ball Python (Mitch)
0.1 Red Belly Piranha (Fluffy)
1.0 Australian Shepherd (Spooky)
1.0 Springer Spaniel/Beagle mix (Snoopy)
0.1 German Shep mix (Shadow)
0.1 Cat (Echo)

OK that would be my next question when do you make the jump to the next size up, hoppers? I thought it might not be enough for her to eat. Once I put Purrel on my hands she stopped biting

Yeah, bump her up to hoppers or weanlings, depending on how thick she is...

If that one is all you have eating fuzzies, just feed her more of them at a time till they're gone, then move her up to larger prey...

I had a typo on the length of mine, he's closer to 25 inches...
-----
~Maggie~

"Not one shred of evidence supports the notion that life is serious."
1.1 Cal Kings (Spot and Fry)
1.0 Florida King
1.0 Ball Python (Mitch)
0.1 Red Belly Piranha (Fluffy)
1.0 Australian Shepherd (Spooky)
1.0 Springer Spaniel/Beagle mix (Snoopy)
0.1 German Shep mix (Shadow)
0.1 Cat (Echo)

I agree that it's hunger that's motivating your snakes to chomp on you and that feeding her more will do wonders in reducing her nippiness. Also, washing your hands before (and after!) you pick her up is always a good idea because snake olfaction is highly developed. I've been nipped at times by a snake just because it was smelling a thawing mouse on a counter about 10 feet away! One more thing about biting issues -- try to feed your snake in a container separate from her own cage. Snakes aren't terribly bright, but they can become conditioned and learn to associate your hands coming into their cages with being fed. I have found success by handling a nippy snake for a few minutes before putting it into a feeding cage (in the next room) -- this seems to reduce the association of hands coming into the cage with an immediately available tasty mouse meal. Good luck!

Thanks, I always feed in a seperate container, never in the tank. I purrell usually after and before handling. Just suprised she's been a sweetheart for months and all of a sudden she went for me the last two handling times.

Thanks for all the input I will be upping her food intake immediately

theres another reason why she would bite you. when handling her have you ever dropped her. when you drop snakes they get Traumatized and loose trust in the handler some will bite after this happens.

Your snake is starving.

Post a pic if you can so we can tell what size mouse to feed.

I kind of knew she would need more, normally she goes in her hide for 2 days after eating and is inactive while digesting. Last week after a feeding she was all around the tank which was odd. Not great with pics but I think she's ready to move on from fuzzies

yeah, fuzzies don't provide the proper nutrition that a mature mouse has.

remeber,, that in the wild these snakes eat and digest snakes larger than themselves. I feed very large mice to my neonate snakes and then people wonder why they look so healthy and grow so fast. Once you feed a large mouse and the snake can get it down it will have a growth spurt from just one meal. Then you can feed even larger meals. This growth happens A LOT faster than most keepers realize. They need that nutrition of extra protien, calcium and nutrients that a fuzzy does not have. Imagine eating only suger candy-that's kinda what your snake is experiencing.

There are several reasons a snake will bite unexpectedly. First, for a 15 inch kingsnake, I would offer 2 or 3 fuzzy mice every 5 days. Some may say I overfeed my snake, but he is healthy and growing quickly. I would not go so far as to say your snake is starving, but she is hungry. If you had the scent of mice on your hands, then you can hardly blame the snake.

It could be that you reached for your snake from a direction that surprised her. With getula, it is extremely important that the snake sees your hand before you grab it.

Pinstripe

i.m.o. i think it could be a couple things. like already mentioned, smell... i always use hand sanitizer before and after. they know i'm not a mouse that way

second, i'm not sure about yours, but i have a pair of w.s. brooksi that are cage aggresive. if they see something moving in the cage they WILL nail it. once i have them outside and am holding them... they are tame as all get out. they have never once struck outside the cage. i used to feed in seperate containers, but once i got into the multiple rack thing that got to be a major pain.

as far as feeding, everyone has their own opinion. mine is, i have to agree that your baby could probably benefit from some more mice. I FEED smaller mice, 2-3 at a time, just large enough to leave a small lump. i feed twice a week. by the next feeding day they have digested the previous meal and it has become a pile of poo, which is the goal for me. SMALLER meals more often are easier to digest. feed more often and a greater #. by doing this they take in more nutrients and grow faster. doing this they don't have as long of a lethargic period where they just lay around and digest. that is My prefered method. to each their own....

i would encourage you to stiil handle it on a regular basis. enough to know you but not so much as to stress it.

jonathan