Hi,

I have a captive bred and born male O. p. laticinctus from '06 and he's rather aggressive. He doesn't tolerate much disturbance and gets cranky really quick. At the moment I do not dare to handle him, because I know that he will not tolerate it. He will bite me. I can understand that the snake at this stage is very afraid of me, and that this fear leads to the aggression he is displaying towards me, but I would like to know wether this behaviour is likely to stay or that the snake will become more calm eventually. My main question is: should I leave him alone for now and start handling him by the time he will be getting much calmer (say, in about 6 months or so; when he is 1 year old), or should I start handling him right now because otherwise chances are he will never tame? I am not sure what the best strategy is.

I have heard that hatchling O. porphyraceus spp. can be aggressive and I may sound like a big wuss, but so be it! I do not like to get bitten, even by a small snake. I automatically flinch everytime the snake strikes at me; I cannot help it. So do you people have any tips for this big wuss of a person who is a disgrace to the hobby?

Thank you.

Bert

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