Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hey everyone,

After about 4 years of keeping ball pythons, I decided I needed to move on to larger pythons. My first plan was to get an albino burm, but somewhere around the internet I came across a picture of a blood python and instantly fell in love.

Finding legal, healthy reptiles here in Mexico City is quite difficult, and blood pythons are even harder to find. I was about to give up when I came across this breeder who had just one baby left. I was absolutely thrilled! And the best part was that he wasn´t far away from where I live. So yesterday morning I went to his place to see the snake. And yeah, I had to buy it.

She (I guess it's a "she" has been with me for about 24 hours, and I've already been bitten twice while moving her water dish. I have a couple of questions: for how long should I keep the handling to a minimum? And when should I try to start feeding her? (Tips are very very welcome).

Well, thanks for reading! I'll post a couple of pics as soon as I can.

Benjamin

Hey,
Avoid handling him or her for the first week or two, and allow the blood to settle in to his/her new home. Handle with care and grace. Gentle movements and not fast startling movements that will cause her to be spooked and possibly bite. Small snakes like that until allowed to settle, will be startled by the intrusions, and will always be a bit feisty and defensive. It could take you as little as a couple of weeks to a month to get her use to your daily interactions for cage maintenance and feeding purposes. As for feedings, feed him/her in about a week. I've gotten mine to feed on the same day of arrival. I've been pretty lucky I guess. If you've never had a blood before as you stated, then wait some and go by the book. They are nervous little guys and can be very intimidated till they acclimate. They are wonderful once they have settled in and will reward you 10 fold. A good handling method or regime to go by is to handle for about 15 minutes a day until they are showing signs that they are getting use to you and the attention. If the biting persist, then a good pair of leather gloves like the kind that welders use can be used until the biting ceases and a good response to being handled and picked up is noticed. Good luck!
-Angel
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In life you can fall many times, but you're only a failure, if you don't try to get back up!
Evil Canevil