Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hi I'm new to the forums and snake owning. We recently bought my son a tangerine Honduran, and he's great looking! He's a great eater, takes fuzzies within a minute, and hasn't regurgitated yet! But the one question I have is will he mellow out? He's really bitey, even a few days after a feeding, which makes him difficult to handle. I would love to hold him more but the biting isn't much fun for me or my son. Do we need to just give him his space or take the bites? I appreciate any advice!

Here's a pic of him eating last week.

Welcome to the forum!

Yes, young Hondurans, as well as MOST young milks are EXTREMELY nervous and flighty by nature. The best thing you could do is not hold it too often, and just let it be what it is, a nervous milksnake for a while.

Most of them gradually out-grow this behavior and become very manageable with time. I have raised some very easy-going milks right out of the egg too, but it is FAAAR more common for them to be nervous, biting, pooping thrashers for a good while. By their first year, most totally outgrow all that freaking out.

Just keep the faith..LOL!

As a matter of fact, this extreme hypo was an absolute SWEET-HEART right out of the egg, and has always been as calm and easy-going as could be!

~Doug

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"a snake in the grass is a GOOD thing"

my website -Serpentine Specialties

Welcome to the forum!

I second Dougs answer, I still have a few that just don't like to be handled by me, but my daughter can go right in the cage and pick them up no problem....They are both female snakes too imagine that....
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Jimmy Tintle

Thanks for the warm welcome,replies, and the advice! It's really appreciated! So far we haven't been pooped on, he did musk on us, not as bad as I thought it was gonna be, but still not pleasant, and so far he has only managed to grab my son's arm. But the boy stayed calm and still wanted to hold him! What a trooper! Another question, do I stick with the feeding schedule from the reptile shop? Which was 1 fuzzy every 7 days? From reading on here most seem to be on a 3-5 day feeding schedule. Just want what's best for Spike, yeah, that's what my son named him. I think it fits.

"Another question, do I stick with the feeding schedule from the reptile shop? Which was 1 fuzzy every 7 days? From reading on here most seem to be on a 3-5 day feeding schedule"

Every 7 days is okay for an adult, given it isn't a female needing extra body mass for egg production, or an adult male. However, very young growing snakes should be fed more often, as they utilize the extra caloric intake for optimum growth. I would feed that youngster a prey item like in the photo you posted about every 4 to 5 days. One that big every 3 days is pushing it, and you don't want to risk regurgitation!

Also, it needs a small portion(1/3rd to 1/2) of it's enclosure to be in the low to mid 80's so it can properly digest meals. Use under tank heat, as above light sources will dry the air out way more, and also stress them more because they are "hard-wired" instinctively to hide and be very secretive.

Also, remember to have a couple very low, tight hides for it to get into to stay hidden. This is VERY important for the young milk to feel secure and put the snake at ease and behave normally with far less stress. When young milks don't have access to tight hiding places, they feel FAR more exposed to predation. It's just the way small milksnake's are instinctively. To a small milksnake, humans are looked at as giant "MONSTERS" of doom!, and are to be hidden from..LOL!

~Doug
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"a snake in the grass is a GOOD thing"

my website -Serpentine Specialties

Just adding my 2cents worth. I agree with the other commenters. Your snake will likely gradually get calmer. I saved back several baby hondurans from last year. They all were biters at the start but by 5 or 6 months old none of them bite any more. Wish you the best!

--Dennis

What a great start you are off to....and you've come to the right place.

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Jerry Kruse
www.zonatas.com

And God said, "Let there be zonata subspecies for all to ponder..."

Ah yeeeessss!!

Had to rub my nose in a photo, didn't ya!??

LMAO!!!!

~Doug
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"a snake in the grass is a GOOD thing"

my website -Serpentine Specialties

I knew you'd catch that . . . .

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Jerry Kruse
www.zonatas.com

And God said, "Let there be zonata subspecies for all to ponder..."

Thanks everyone! I appreciate the advice! And you all have some great looking snakes. The one thing I noticed is that all the pictures I've seen from you guys is that you use aspen bedding, the shop I bought ours at used and recommended cypress mulch. To be honest, I'm not a big fan of it, there are huge sticks in it and I can't tell where the snake has pooped or if he has pooped! The only thing I really like about it is the look, and that he can burrow pretty good in it. Is it worth switching to aspen? I have a huge bag of the cypress and got it pretty cheap.

I think cypress mulch is too big a substrate for most colubrids based on the size and consistency of their poops. Aspen is more aborbent and much easier to see the fecal material for spot cleaning in my opinion. I will bet most of that small snake's poops are going to the bottom of the cage unseen. You can use what you got, but you may have to do more complete substrate changes to make sure the cage is indeed clean, and clean the bottom and sides as need as well more often.

That's what I was thinking, although it does seem to hold the heat in well from the UTH. I will use it up first then move on to aspen. Thanks for the reply.

Love the old "Davis" video clip too!..LMFAO!!!!

That had me giggling my freakin' ARSE OFF dude!!....then, AND now!..

~Doug
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"a snake in the grass is a GOOD thing"

my website -Serpentine Specialties

Some things never change homeslice . . . just glad I'm on the good-guy side of the fence and not the dark side.
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Jerry Kruse
www.zonatas.com

And God said, "Let there be zonata subspecies for all to ponder..."

But the dark side has cookies!!

Thanks for all of the replies and advice, it is really appreciated and makes me feel welcomed! I was a little intimidated to post here because of the amount of knowledge you all have.

One last newbie question, I've been feeding him in a separate tub outside of his tank, I've read conflicting things about this. What's the view on this?