Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hey everybody-
I got a female blood baby a few months ago, and she was REALLY aggressive, she would strike at anything and everything that moved, so I didn't even attempt to handle her at all for the first two months. Since then she's calmed a bit, and I can get her out of the cage and hold her for a while with just some hissing, but she'll still strike at any sort of quick movement or if she gets scared. (hasn't gotten me yet though) What has worked for you guys as far as handling schedules/techniques to try and get them tame? Or is time really the most important factor? Every other snake I have has been super tame from day one. I put a t-shirt that I've worn in the cage so she can get used to my scent, I think that may have helped a little as far as her letting me pick her up finally. But any other advice would be great. Thanks -chris-

I am certainly no expert, I just got my first baby blood about a month ago. She was aggressive as well, tagged me a couple times but now she's fine. I held her every day, put her on my lap while I watched tv, or whatever and over time she just got used to me. She eats out of my hand and doesn't strike anymore. I have had other snakes like that too, and in my opinion you have to get in there and get them used to actually being handled. This has worked with all my snakes so it can't be that far off. A baby blood bite isn't bad at all, doesn't really hurt but it does bleed. Good luck, Eric-

Thanks Eric-
I've only been getting her out for a few minutes about every other day, I guess I'll try spending some more time with her. I've been tagged by Ball pythons bigger than her, I just didn't want to stress her out too much and make things worse.
-chris-