Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Before anybody starts let me say I didn't buy them. They were a suprise. My girlfriend knew I was looking into picking up a pair and saw a pair at a really good price so she got them for me. In any case anything special I might need to know? Anything WC has a tendency to do that CB doesn't other than bite?

biting and crapping on you

ha ha

jeff

Didn't know about the crapping on me part. That's something to look forward to.

First of all im not trying to be a smart @#$ but sell them.If your looking for a pet snake a wc blood is not a choice.THey bite musk crap.Odds are you will never tame them.My first blood was a wc maly and dealing with her was a nightmare.She never calmed down struck every and any chance she had.The only real reason to get a wc is for fresh blood lines in your breeding program so if you plan of starting a collection then you might want to keep them if they excellant animals but otherwise you will be so much happier with a cb blood.I have 6 bloods right now all cb but one which is ch and hes the only one i really have to worry about the others are predictable and easy to work with not to say a cb blood wont ever bite because they will but usually my fault and not because the snake is aggressive. Shaun t

From your unstated plea to take it easy on you ("I didn't buy them", I guess you expected the whole CB thing. At least they didn't surprise you. Yes, WC bloods can be a handful, they bite and spray, and they may never settle down as much as you would like. you already knew that. So to answer your question, first - set them up in a secure enclosure that offers them some privacy. I recommend starting them out on mulch at first...keeps the humidity up and lets them shove it around the way they want it. second - treat for internal and external parasites. third - leave them alone til they are eating regularly. I have 6 WC (Bangka Island imports) bloods. All six were feeding on f/t rats by their 3rd week with me, and none of them has skipped a meal since then...regardless of their shedding cycle. For feeding - using tongs (remember they bite, lol), introduce a f/t rat of appropriate size. None of that dancing it around, or bopping the snake with it. It works for a lot of species (and maybe SOME bloods), but it will have less than desirable results with most. if the snake doesn't take it (one of mine just snatched a rat of the tongs for the first time, after about 8 months); just lay it in there, close the enclosure, and go away for awhile. Any specific problems, get back to us.
That said, take an honest appraisal of your experience and what you want from them. then give them a while and see what you think. If they aren't what you hoped for, maybe CB would be a better choice - YOU are the only one that can make that call. Good luck with them
Harald Moore
KBI Herpetoculture
kbiherp.com

Since your girlfriend got them for you, I suppose you should probably give them a chance... Give them a secure cage with good hides, and plenty of time to settle in. Other than that, I don't have enough experience to help much. If they are nippy, you can get a pair of leather gloves to protect your hands. However, if they aren't nippy, skip the gloves, because it changes your smell. I tamed an anaconda with gloves, and she seemed like the sweetest thing. First time without gloves, she tagged me... However, she only tagged me once, compared to the 10-12 times she'd bite before we started, so using gloves definately helped!!

Are they babies?

If they're more than you can handle, and you won't know until you try, then I agree with everyone else, maybe you should try CB to start....

If they are Sumatrans, they will calm down. I have delt with 7 adults ( 4Ft. and over ) personally and I had them workable a week or two after I received them. I was able to grab/handle them out of their enclosures by week 6. You just have to understand where ( why ) that aggression is coming from, and how to work around it. They are just doing what they are programed to do. As for husbandry issues, Quarantine them, and treat them like any other animal. Keep the stress levels down for the next few weeks and gradually work up from there. Get them on a conservative feeding schedule. Change the water every day. My Bloods would not touch water that was over 24 hours old ( both W/C and CBB ). If you don't it will lead to dehydration and as a result, constipation. Just a FYI, the meanest Bloods I ever owned were a trio of CBB Maylasians. Sumatrans are totally different animals in terms of temperement though

You've got that right. Hands down, Malasians are the nastiest... and they stay that way. I've only dealt with a few, but have also known several people that kept them - heck, even VPI comes right out and says that.
HHMoore

A pic of my WC female. I've had her for a little over 3 years now, and she is a pleasure to work with. She was around 3' when I got her,and probably 5-1/2' now.I have never had a problem with her biting,although she has hit the glass once or twice when there are too many people in the snakeroom. She is my favorite! So not all WC's are nasty biting musk monsters.

So there's hope. I'll give it a shot. I've dealt with WC before and I've dealt with aggressive. Heck, I keep racers for fun. Didn't know about the water every 24 hours. I'll keep an eye on that. Thanks for all the responces. I'm sure I'll be back with more questions in a day or so.