Reptile & Amphibian Forums

hey folks, i must admit to having let a few months pass without handling my snake for more than once a week. She is now starting to show a bit of aggression and i was wondering how i could tame her again without getting bit. ....yes yes im deathly scared of getting bit shes 2 years old now and close to 8 feet long. it would ( i assume) be a hell of a bite.
I try to handle her today and her whole body tensed up and her head went for my hand. i dont even know if thats a sign of aggression. LOL its not like she opened her mouth.
can anyone give me all the signs of aggression that a Carpet gives. She regularly hisses aswell.
I want her to tame up !

BTW this is an old picture

Get her out without agitating her. Usually once they're out, they calm down. There are no gaurantees against bites. Bites don't hurt though. They just bleed! She isn't going to bite and hold on. I would get her out 2-3 times a week and hold her for 20-30 minutes. Make sure you're always giving her enough support so she doesn't feel like she's going to fall. At the same time, don't hold her tight. Let her do her thing. Let her go where she wants to go while you have her. You can keep moving her, but make sure she's comfortable.

Great thanx alot, Ill make sure that i do that!

When I try to get my aggressive carpets out of their cages and I don't want them to tag me I'll reach a hand in from above them if possible, with my hand open and fingers together to create a flat area that I can bring down on their heads gently so you can control it a bit and they cant look up at you, and then use my other hand to pull them out. Don't let the snake watch your hand come down to grab their body, it's going to bite you, but once you have its attention occupied with your other hand over its head you can usually do whatever you need with the rest of the snake.

Wouldn't necessarily call this aggression; as arboreal snakes have a stronger feeding reaction than non-arboreals/crepusculars. The absence of handling (not criticizing you, as it happens to all of us) basically 'trained' your snake to the idea that it was feeding time every time the door opens. Evidence of this is when the snake comes flying out with an open mouth.
A couple of things--
Try using a snake hook/dowel rod and touching her head a couple of times; a day-- the idea of the enclosure opening w/o food needs to happen for a while in order to ‘re-train/re-indoctrinate’ your snake.
Once you get your snake out and you can use a hook to do this, hold him/her for a few minutes (frequency is more important than duration). I stroke the head a few times, to reduce/eliminate head shyness. Do this every day. If you don’t want to handle after feeding, still open the enclosure, reach in and touch the head.
Andrew’s idea above, using a flat hand, is also a good one. The only thing I would add, is to be decisive. If you are not, you become prey and stand a greater chance of being bitten. Be confident!! Again-- the bite doesn’t hurt, it’s more of a shock that bleeds a little. In the words of Monty Python—It’s just a flesh wound!!
If your snake was previously tame, you should start seeing results soon. Good Luck-- it’s a beautiful animal and worth the effort.
ebb
Link

just be careful handling it a lot. I recently had my Jungle female out with my wife on the bed. She was cruising around and then just stopped moving. I wasn't sure what was happening until my wife asked,"why is my leg wet?" I looked and she(the snake) was emptying her bowls on my wife. Just pee first, I didn't have time to get her back in her enclosure so I had to just hold out my hand and catch the rest until she was done. Believe me, having a carpet python take a dump in your hand is not my idea of a good time. Good luck.

LOL!

Sorry- I'd always rather get tagged than dumped on!

My bredli python is quite large now, too, and well, a bite from him DOES hurt, so if he doesn't feel like coming out, well, I leave him be.

However, if/when I need to get him out, I use my trusty-ole welders gloves, and nice and easy does it...

//Todd

I had a Jungle that passed recently. He got better, but 5 years ago or so I'd get him out and after about an hour or so he'd go. Its weird because most animals will do it right away.

thanx alot for the comments folks, ill be handling her with care every second day and if Ifeel like shes in a nasty mood ill just leave her alone.

its damn hissing while nudging her face on my arm that im not so crazy about.

old pic

really love her though

She is a great looking animal!

Having a pair of garden gloves around is a good idea also, they are really cheap and she won't be able to bite through them for a while now. Or, if you dont mind getting bit, get a pair of rubber dishwashing gloves (clean) and wear them to handle her, after she bites it a few times she will stop as they taste horrible.

Whatever you do if you are intent on getting her over her biting issue, when you handle her if she bites you don't immediately put her down, that just reinforces that biting works on you and gets her what she wants.

One word: Snakehook!

By the way, not a big deal, but that looks like a jungle and is not a jungle jag. Hopefully no one ripped you off by selling it to you as a jag.

I was wondering when someone was going to say that, I didn't want to be the one. Maybe a sib, but definitely not a jag.

a trick i always use is wearing a heavy coat and gloves. handle the snake for a bit like this and as she calms down you can remove the coat then a glove then another. the secret is patience let the snake wear its self out. the coat and gloves are more to give you a feeling of security until you learn to recognize your individual snakes pet peeves. then its just a simple acclimation process for your and your pet. snakes are not mean angry animals and once it realizes your not a threat it will settle right down.
hope this helps beautiful snake by the way
jason

Excellent advice from the others. I strongly advocate use of a hook for taking out constrictors. One thing that has worked very well for me in calming aggressive snakes is I take a few strips from an old, unwashed t-shirt and place them in the snakes cage and hide. The snake gets used to your scent and associates it with the safety of its cage. Bill
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...three years ago it was just another snake cult...
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