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I have a 8" albino burmese with a RI. I have to give her an injection every other day. Unfortunatly I'll be giving them by myself, fortunatly the first went bite free (although she didn't think too highly of the idea). She is normally a very docile snake, but I think it may be a matter of time before I have stitches. Any ideas or input on how to secure or hold her would be appreciated. The last time I put a towel over her head.

Thanks in advance

This may or may not work depending on the temperment of your snake, but after a fair bit of struggling with pythons that were not the least bit calmed by the old towel over the head trick, I found a technique that worked much better (for my snakes at least).

I just find the largest open area I can (like the middle of the living room) and let the snake crawl around. Then I just move with it and give the injections as it goes. None of my snakes showed any defensiveness during this procedure, only some annoyance like they thought it was an insect bite or something. I could fairly easily give injections to my 12 foot burm by myself this way.
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Larry D. Fishel
Side effects may include paralysis
and death but are generally mild.

Thanks! I'll try it that way tomorrow. Oh yeah, I used the towel as a barrier between myself and her teeth. I didn't even think about the possible calming effect LoL.
Thabks
Bob

Hi Bob –

We were discussing this on the Blood Python forum recently. If you want to read the whole thread click here. Robyn from ProExotics recommended a method which just might work for you. Get your syringe ready with the proper amount of meds. Take your snake out of her cage, eyeball the spot on her body where you want to inject her, then let her begin to crawl back in. While she’s concentrating on heading back to her familiar environment, just do it. It’s that simple. I think you’ll be surprised how much easier it is than trying to overpower the animal.

I tried this method out giving a series of injections over a three week period to an adult water snake. It worked perfectly every time. No bent needles or partial injections. No sweat. Good luck.

-Joan

Joan-

Thanks for the tip. I read the thread, thought it was very interesting.

Bob

That's exactly the method I was gonna recommend. In high school, I helped take care of a 17ft Burm, and after a flood he got RI. We ended up using a large diameter piece of PVC pipe in his doorway and let him go thru that, and as our spot came up, give the injection, and he probably thought it was his belly rubbing the pvc, and the pvc acted as a shield of sorts just in case. I got bit by him once when my rabbit toss missed its mark, and he mistook my hand for food. I learned my lesson.
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Coastal Carpet Python 0.1
Albino Burm 0.1
Columbian RedTail 0.1
Kenyan Sand Boa 1.0
Common Snapping Turtle 1.1
RES 1.0

There has been some very good advice here and I will share the method that works best for me. I place a large burm inside a very small pillow/cloth sack. Once settled in, I expose only the portion that I am giving the injection to and basically straddle the snake while still inside the bag. Then, quickly, methodically and as gently as possible, I insert the syringe and let go to calm the snake. Then, I place a little extra pressure and slowly and deliberately give the injection....I have never experienced a problem with this. But, the backing in method also works but I tend to prefer to have complete control over the animal as some animals really go berserk when anything sharp touches them. Good luck. Rob