Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Does any one here have any tips on handling their snake. I handle my little female all the time. I just lift the cage up and pick her up by here mid section without fear of being bitten. On the other hand im not so sure about handling my big male. I have never been bitten by a snake before and am a little fearful that if i grab him by his mid section he might whip around and tag me. This is probally a hard question to answer because you dont know the personalities of my snakes like i do. Any info would be a great deal of help, thanx,, CHRIS

The only way to learn is to get in there and do it. Like you said, your snakes are pretty much individuals. Kings can be hungry or aggressive sometimes and will latch on. As to how to pick them up- just be gentle and don't squeeze. Its pretty much just common sense stuff and the midsection is a good place to pick up. The best advice I can give is, if one bites, don't jerk back.

Van

IMHO, here are the most important things:

Most importantly...don't handle them if your hands smell like food. Wash your hands thoroughly after you handle mice or rats or whatever before you handle a snake. Then:

1. No quick, sudden or jerky movements. Be smooth.

2. Don't hesitate. once you've committed, do it. Be confident.

3. Don't restrain him. Don't clamp down on him and try to keep him from moving and don't hold him behind the head. He's not a venomous snake, so if he does tag you a little, it's no big deal. Just let him crawl through your hands until he settles down. If he starts crawling out of one hand, put the other in front of him , when he crawls out of that one, put the other in front of him. Let him keep crawling until he settles down. Make sure you are completely supporting him so he doesn't feel like you are going to drop him.

4. As has already been said, if he does bite you, just let him turn loose. No biggie. Just don't jerk your hand out of his mouth or you can injure him. Rarely, if they think your hand is food (like if you've been handling mice and didn't wash your hands), they might actually start trying to constrict and swallow a finger. That can get a little uncomfortable with a big snake, but it's still not a real big deal. He can't eat you, and even if he could, a finger is a terrible place to start. Don't use alcohol or ammonia or anything else like that and don't hold him under water. Reserve those tactics for dangerous animals such as big pythons, Gila Monsters, etc. (Although with the big pythons, bending the tail back sharply will usually make them release you) Gentle upward pressure on his snout with your other hand will usually convince him to turn loose. Just don't panic, let him figure out his mistake...it won't take too long. Then you figure out YOUR mistake and don't repeat it.

5. It helps if you can feed him in a container other than his cage. That will reduce the possibility that he will think that every time you open his cage, the next thing to come in is food. Feeding response bites are probably the most common bites in captive snakes.

6. If you open his cage and lift his hide, or open his hide to get to him, let him have a second or two to figure out what's going on. When he's in his hide, that's his sanctuary. when you go in there, you are invading his safe place and he might bite defensively. If you give him a second or two and let him crawl out into the cage on his own, he'll realize he's not being threatened.

I disagree with the practice of using leather gloves to handle harmless snakes (or any snake for that matter...they are virtually useless against most venomous species anyway). There is a much greater possiblilty that the snake's teeth will be pulled out in the event of a bite with leather gloves on. I'm not passing judgement on people that use them..lots do. But, if I was that afraid of being bitten by a non-venomous snake, I think I'd find another hobby..like collecting butterflies or stamps or something that doesn't have teeth. I think that using proper handling technique can reduce the likelihood of being bitten to the point that measures such as gloves are unnecessary. I've seen people use hooks and welder's gloves to get a 2 foot long Cal King out of his cage. Why don't they just go the rest of the distance and use light-reversal transfer boxes and Pilstrom Tongs?

"I've seen people use hooks and welder's gloves to get a 2 foot long Cal King out of his cage. "

I use a hook to get out even my nicest snakes. I even use one to get the juveniles if they will tolerate it. I consider it a respect thing. They are much less afraid of a hook then they are my invading hand. I just use it to let them know I'm ther and that I'm going to pick them up. Usually I just lift a section of the body and then transfer to the hand. This isn't because I'm afraid of getting bit. Aactually, with my not-so-nice snakes I find it easier to just use my hand. Different strokes, I guess.
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International Snakes Meetup

I'm about to go that far for my Honduran milk... It's not the biting, it's not the musking... it's him biting and then rubbing musk and (you know what else) into the open wound. Yuck! But it's not like he sits on a hook anyway, so I'll bear the germs until I can figure out how to calm him down...
I didn't buy him voluntarily, I 'rescued' him from some high school kid.

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Tim

I have two grey banded kingsnakes, male and female, one year old. I try to handle them regularly and they've never bitten me or even acted threatening towards me. I keep haering about snakes that curl around your arm and watch whats up, and wondering why mine don't do that. Are they just young and active or maybe it takes a few years for them to be really used to being handled? I'd like to know what other peoples experiance is.

I can usualy tell when i open the top of the cage how things are gona go. If hes hungry(always is)Ill get a small hook, and pick him up. He usualy wraps around the hook at first and stays in a strike position until i slip my hand under him, then he calms down. Its funny how they can go from a tail shakeing little hunk of attitude ready for smack down, to roaming your hands and just checking things out. Skinner