Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I'm getting so frustrated and discouraged. My 4-5 month old Kingsnake is so feisty! I don't understand! For the past two days I've been trying to pick him up, and all he does is hiss and strike repeatedly. He just won't stop! I finally got him out of the tank, but he just wouldn't calm down, so I had to put him back. Maybe picking him up is stressful or something... When I walk by the talk he starts to strike. Are you guys SURE he will grow out of it, or did I end up with a terribly mean kingsnake?
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~Banana~

Not only will he calm down, but you'll get better at handling him in a way that doesn't scare him. As I write this I have a mandarin ratsnake curled around my hand who is so defensive that she strikes at the glass too- but I learned to pick her up in a way that works for her. Not that I don't get nipped once in a while, but what's a few drops of blood between friends?
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Peter: It's OK, I'll handle it. I read a book about something like this.
Brian: Are you sure it was a book? Are you sure it wasn't NOTHING?

Which way do you pick her up? See, I can't wait until I can just drape my snake across my neck or let him curl around my wrist; but the wait till then is painful!
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~Banana~

I have an albino black rat snake that was all attitude when I first got him. He would strike and nip every time I got him out. The best way I found to get him out was to make my hand flat and slowly lower it down on him until I completely covered his head and most of his body. Then slowly pic him up and use your other hand to help secure him. Once you have him in your hands, just handle him loosely. If you grasp him too tight, he may feel threatened and try to wiggle free and flail around. Just let him crawl through your hands and easily restrain him when needed.

If he bites you when you are holding him, dont immediately put him back in the cage. You do this every time he bites, and he will learn to bite you when he wants back in his cage.

It will just time and patience on your part. Stick with it and he will calm down with time and age. The older he gets the less insecure he will feel.
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Good luck and Happy Herping
Brian

but i'll take him off your hands for ya? i like em' like that!
shows "heart" or "spunk"

I use a cage hook for 'Ice Queen', because there's no other good way to pick her up. Anything like a ballpoint pet, a chopstick, or a paintstirrer can be used to pick up a small kingsnake. Then you just let it crawl from the instrument onto your hands. Being picked up is very scary for snakes, but the majority don't mind hanging out on your hand.
Don't make any sudden finger movements in front of the snake's face though.
Later you can work on picking the snake up with your fingers.
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Peter: It's OK, I'll handle it. I read a book about something like this.
Brian: Are you sure it was a book? Are you sure it wasn't NOTHING?

thats the funniest thing i've read for weeks lol

I just had a thought... are snakes more aggressive in the winter, cuz they just wanna be left alone?
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~Banana~

>>I just had a thought... are snakes more aggressive in the winter, cuz they just wanna be left alone?
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>>~Banana~

any chance your snake is "in shed"--are its eyes milky? when they can't see clearly they're far more likely to strike, to lash out at (vaguely) perceived threats.

Thank you everyone! No, my snake's not about to shed, he just did last week or the week before, but he's acting up just as much as if he were about to shed tomorrow! Well, I'll keep trying... I've sure seen my snake do some interesting things in the past few days, but I'm sure it'll all get better.
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~Banana~