Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Okay,
For those experts out there, how do you adjust to recieving a tame cb baby black blood that you handle frequently and show at times for exhibits to school children who by the way are not able to touch ( for liability purposes)and 5 mo's down the line it just snaps into the sewer spitting, face grabbing animals that they have been characterized to be? Any advice would be great. Thanks
-Confused herper (non beginner)

Maybe the animal is stressed you might try to leave it alone for a while and as far as how bloods are supposed i dont think your statements are true at all most bloods tend to be snappy when they are young but tend to calm down as they age.But my maly i have now she is easy to handle only hisses but if i handle her alot she tends to get snappy shaun t

Any snake can "turn" but that is largely due to a couple possible reasons. 1-some male snakes get more aggressive as they reach maturity and actively defend their cages (ie burm, retics, etc). 2-the animal is stressed due to illness or irritation associated with pre-shed cycle. 3-keeper issues, the animals can tell when you are stressed and it makes them edgy or you are not allowing them to remain confortable with you. I see this with people who show animals and do not read the animal well. Overhandling, stressed show conditions, etc.

Bottom line: Let the animal settle for a couple of weeks, evaluate it for pre-shed, health related issues, etc. When you do take it out, do so in the least stressful way. That is don't grab it around the head, ease in gently grab it from the lower half of the body, check out the body posture, is it tensing up or repeatedly flicking its tongue or hanging part of its tongue out (real sign of agitation!). When was the last time it ate?

Lots to consider, but hopefully helpful for you. Good luck.
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Thanks Rich. The last time it ate was on Tuesday of this week. I never throttled him since I've had him. I do make sure that his temps are quite accurate as its sheds have been consistent since he got here. As of late this morning, I was able to hold him briefly w/o any agression esp. hissing....I'll just keep interacting for brief periods and not as often except for maitence of course. The other thing I'll do is to never think that it won't bite, and be cautious w/o acting as such...
Thanks again for the advice.

A.

i acquired a snake from a local petstore that was just as you described (very docile, used in the classroom, etc). problem is that the guy that owns the business will only hire family members (of the female gender) to run the place and they are deathly afraid of snakes. so all of their snakes are pretty much neglected. so when i went to pick up my "sweet prescious boa" it started hissing and striking at anything and everything. he had basically "returned to the wild" so to speak. i had to retame the thing which was no problem but wasnt what i had wanted nor planned to have to do. too much handling can be bad.....and so can too little.
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0.0.1 Colombian Redtail Boa
1.1.1 Sumatran Blood Pythons
1.0 Black Blood Python
1.0 Dumeril's Boa
0.1 Coastal Carpet Python