Reptile & Amphibian Forums

well, about five minutes ago, i decided to go handle some of my less-handled snakes. so i started with my taiwans. they are CB 02's i'd say about 4-5 feet i purchased from Cunningham's Elaphe last year. beautiful snakes.
anyways, so i pull one out and she's trying to get away for the first 20 seconds or so, then she seemed to settle down a bit. when i have handled these, they always seem to want to crawl up my body, and over my shoulder and then God knows where while i'm left holding their tail. So today, just as she's getting over my shoulder, she grabbed the back of my neck. i don't have a camera to provide pics, but nothing serious. it's just red, with a few tooth marks. i didn't panic and pull her off, i just kinda stood there while she wrapped around my hand and waited for her to let go, which was probly about 30-45 seconds. then she grabbed my sweatshirt. i was waiting for her to calm down and let go of that, but after about a minute i just grabbed her behind the head and she let go, then put her back in her cage. any ideas why she'd do that? maybe she got a wiff of something she didn't like? i figured i'd offer to the more experienced to get their point of views. thanks all.
Travis.

I dont know if your Tiawans are like mine but if they are it might be more a case of she got a wiff of something she did like. Mine have absolutely no fear of me. When I open one of their cages they will crawl right out to me and started testing my body for smells as they go up my arm to the main part of my body. They amaze me at how fearless they are. If I have been messing with rodents I am fair game. That is one of the main things I like about them. Randy W.

Well, mine are a little different. when i open the cage, they go to the back and look for a way out. normally i'll just put my arm down the side of the cage so they can get use to it being near them, then just kinda scoop them up when they exit the cage. today i reached in and picked her up by the tail. i don't know if giving them less time to get use to me today made a difference but yeah. i did not handle them as much when they were younger, now that i just built my own snake room and moved them out of my apartment i'm trying to handle them more. I'm learning as i go. i've been into snakes for the past few years, but couldn't get any cause my mom would never let me. then i moved out, and a year later i have 46 of them. Mostly ball pythons as i'm getting a nice breeding group together, but also my taiwans, some yellow and greenish ratsnakes a few kingsnakes and some carpet pythons. So i've learned with a lot of them as they grow. i'm gonna go handle the other two now, we'll see how that goes. also, i haven't handled any rodents today.
Travis.

also:
one year ago my mom wouldn't even think of letting my bring a snake into the house. after moving out and starting my collection. i have since moved back in and have my 46 snakes in a room we built in the basement. my goal is to have her feeding them for me within a year...lol.
Travis.

You might not want to press your luck.LOL
My wife puts up with well over 100 in the house but she sure as heck is not going to feed them. I could just see a tiawan, blue beauty, bull or hogg island boa grabbing her by the face when she opened the front to put a rat in if she were even willing to try. Later, Randy W.

Yeah,
my former girlfriend put up with them good. she'd help me clean them out and feed them and whatnot. it sucks not having a helping hand with them anymore. but i think she misses them more than she misses me>LOL.