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Will he always strike at me??

A

AmandaCisub

New member
I just bought my first pet snake yesterday (a grey rat snake). In the pet store where I purchased it from, the girl who was assisting me had no problem reaching her hands down into the tank and taking it out. The snake seemed tame in her hands, and I even took a turn holding it. It was fine with me too. She said it was the one they had the least problems with as far as it striking or biting at them. I was somewhat hesitant because it seems to be an adult one and is pretty long already, but she said it was not quite fully grown(she couldn't tell me how old it was though). But I loved the look of it and the way it reacted to being held, so I took it.
Shortly after getting home, I started having problems with it. I picked it up once or twice to show my brothers, sisters, and parents. It was somewhat wild when I picked it up those times. After that I set it back in the box while I quickly set up its new tank. When I went back in to get it, it was coiled up, and struck at my hand. It was being very aggressive and would not let me get it out. It was hissing, rattling its tail, and repeatedly striking at anything that it saw move. I decided to give it a while to calm down, but it didn't seem to. Eventually I had my dad gently slide the box into the cage, and slide it out. It was still very aggressive at this time. He wore gloves that it did bite a few times. I have read that you should give your snake about 3 days to settle down and get used to its new home before handling it. But today when I went in to change its water it still had it's aggressive behavior.

I read that corn and rat snakes took well to being handled and could be tamed easily. But how will I do this if I cannot even get my hand near it? The girl also said that it had just eaten the day before I bought it. So I don't think it could be that he is just aggressive because its time for feeding. Unless she was wrong? Or could it just be all the commotion and stress it went through from being transported to a new home, and being handled with so many people yesterday? Does he just need some time to settle in? I am worried that when the time comes for me to handle him again, in a few days even, he will still be acting this way. Or I will just be too afraid from all of the biting he has been doing.

If someone could just give me some reassurance that he'll eventually let me pick him up, or that it wasn't a mistake to buy an already adult snake, I'll feel better.
I'm just new to this snake thing.
 
You really should give the snake a week or so to settle in before handling it. Especially since it just ate. You should wait at least 48 hours before handing the snake after its ate or else it could regurge and cause you a whole wad of problems.

Give it time to adjust to its new home and he should be fine. Gentle handling every day for short periods of time will calm him down, and remember not to reward negative behaviour like striking by putting him back. Keep handling him to show him that that kind of behaviour gets him nowhere.
 
Aaaaaggggghhhhhhh my eyes are burning..... boy do you have a lot of research to do. If you take a look above, there is a bar with words like... search. This one really helps in cases like this because you'll find a couple hundred other people who have had the same problem and how they were told how to handle that dilemma. In the meantime leave the snake alone for a couple more days and wear some gloves.. except while typing your search words, as spelling is critical for accurate results :D
 
I agree with Tula. I want to add that sometimes a snake is just aggressive and will not ever be tame. It sounds more like your snake is just stressed and needs to calm down but you may want to talk to the guys at the store where you baught him about the behaviour.

Don't talk to them like they knowingly sold you an aggressive snake but try to come across as someone truly wanting their expertise with how to make him safe to handle. After you have listened to their advise, you do want to ask them how long you have to work with him before returning or trading him for another snake if he doesn't calm down. If you treat them with respect, they will probably be more than willing to work with you.
 
If you just bought him yesterday, then he is definitely still stressed from the move. He doesn't know where he is or who you are. When you reach in to change his water, he doesn't know that you mean him no harm. Therefore, he will be defensive at first. Give him time to adjust, then begin handling him for about 10 minutes each day. He will act skittish, and he may even strike at you, but don't give up. Most snakes will settle down with patient, gentle handling. Don't give up too soon.

In the meantime, read the FAQs and old posts from this forum. You will learn all you need to know about caring for him properly, and you may even learn something you didn't even know to ask.
 
Think of it from the snake's point of view:

You're in your tank in the petstore. You've been here for a long time. You know the people who open your tank and know that they mean you no harm. Therefore you're calm and happy in the shop.

Then, all of a sudden, you're taken from your comfy, safe home and pushed in to a dark tub. You're taken on a journey, your tub jolting and shaking so the vibrations make you agitated. Once the jolting finally stops, you're grabbed from your tub. You no longer recognise anything here. The smells and sights and sounds are all different. You don't recognise anyone here now. These aren't your handlers! You have no choice but to assume you've been whisked off to a predator's den.

See what I'm getting at? Also, you said you showed the snake to your brothers and sisters. Are they young? Imagine how the snake would have felt with screaming children pushing and shoving to have a look at it! It's no wonder at all the snake was aggressive.

Leave the snake alone for several days. Some recommend at least a week. Also make sure the snake has somewhere it can hide away completely out of sight. My corn is usually totally out of sight during the day; I say this because you mentioned your snake was still aggressive when you changed his water. If he was tucked away in a hide how do you know this? It's unlikely he would emerge just to strike at you. Snakes like somewhere they can curl up and be touched on all sides.

Just be patient, and give the snake a chance to calm down.
 
Oh, and just a note to add: When you do start handling your snake, IF he is still aggressive, don't be put off if he strikes at you or acts aggressively. Keep him out until he's calmed down.
 
no it will not always bite you. All you have to do is handle it, and it will be fine. I agree with Tula as well. Give it some time to get to know its surroundings before you handle it. I had my new snake for two weeks now, and she is pretty much already tamed. I held her for 5 min one day, then 10 the next, then 20, then so on. If they strike at you, just do it again. They are like children. You have to teach them. Make sure you don't handle it for 2 days after it eats as well...
 
One thing I would add is don't be intimidated or fear this snake, that will make this a lot harder on you. A rat snake bite is less of a wound then a typical scratch by some briars you get from walking in the woods.

So as everyone said let it be for a week then start handeling it and if he is a tird don't put him down till he at least stops trying to bite. If he actually gives you a bite then when you're done with him put him back and wash your hands and don't worry.

Typicaly a larger rat or corn snake does make you bleed if it is a real bite. Often the bleeding is tiny spots but goes on awhile cause the teeth are so tiny and sharpe so it is like getting tiny glass cuts.

There is no real pain at all. I had a 6 foot King attempt to eat my hand (my fault I handled another snake and did not wash first). I felt a slight scratching sensation but paid no mind a friend said "he is biting you". I look down and sure enough his whole head had my right hand in it. Top jaw on the back of my hand, bottom jaw on my palm with the thumb to the rear of his mouth. He was chewing like mad too. No malice he smelled a rough green snake and tried to eat the smell.

I ended up with three different patterns of perfect prints of his teeth. It did not hurt for a second before or after and this was a BIG kingsnake. It is not be being tough either I was like 12 (more then twenty years ago :eek1: ) so I was just a little kid and it did not hurt a bit.

Most of the time when you get bit it is pulling away that makes a "cut" or anything that hurts. Just gently remove the biting snake with your other hand. Most defensive bites like a angry one is likely to do don't require removal anyway, they bite and recoil just don't pull away.

You can wear gloves if you like but unless he is a real jerk with a rat or corn snake it is just not necessary.

Give him a week, I have sucessfully tamed even large wild caught rats, corns and bulls with just a bit of patience,
 
Thanks

Well thanks, everyone. A lot of that advice was helpful and I feel a bit better about it now. I guess I just figured since he had been so calm in the store when we held it that he wouldn't take as long to calm down here. It surprised me that he suddenly got so aggressive with me. The tips about not putting him back until he is calm, and picking him up even if he has a temper were good. That makes a lot of sense.

I also worried that maybe it wasn't such a good idea to get an adult snake instead of younger one. It was sort of an impulse thing. I have wanted a snake for while now so I went to go look at them. This is the one that the girl assisting me said was the most tame. When she let me hold the snake I just had to have it. Now I wish I would have thought things through a bit more. Is it true that a baby would have been easier to tame? I'm not sure how old mine is, and neither was the pet store. Is there any way to tell?

I went back to the pet store today to talk to the people about it. Just to see if he doesn't calm down and I decide to, if I could trade him back in for a baby. I'm supposed to call tomorrow when the manager is there. There was a different girl there today though, she told me a lot of the stuff that you all have been telling me, but she also told me that they did have problems with him. He would bite everyone at first and strike at all the time. But he did eventually calm down for them. I don't know... The way she described it made it seem like he wasn't the easiest snake to handle. Now that I think about it, he even gave the girl a bit of a hard time when she tried to get him out the second time for me to take him home. But she did also say that it calmed down for them and would for me too, as soon as he got used to me.

I'd feel bad taking him back though and putting him through the stress of it again. I think even though he's angry and mean right now, and hasn't even come out of his hide for 3 days, I'm growing a attached already.
 
Give the snake a few weeks to settle in. No handling, minimal messing with the viv, change water and feed it, that's all. Keep the disturbance down around the viv, too, it should ideally be somewhere quiet for the time being. Older snakes may not have been handled frequently and are therefor more excitable. I have a pair of Baird's ratsnakes I bought as adult breeders, not play-with pets, and they are a little wild when I do take them out. I strongly advise you to keep the snake in a quiet, stress-free environment for 2-3 weeks and allow it to settle down. At that point you can begin with short handling sessions of 5 mins a day, maybe twice a day, and wear gloves at first if it makes you feel less vulnerable. As the snake seems more relaxed, then you can keep it out longer periods. As rude as this will sound, I would hate for you to be put off of this snake and maybe others because of a lack of patience and understanding. It takes time to "tame" a creature that may not be used to handling. And there are snakes that will never calm down. It takes awhile to figure out if this is one of those or not. Maybe months. Good luck!
 
Well may be he just needed a person like you. Take your time and give him his and it will work out. With snakes it is luck of the draw on temperment. I have seen hatchlings fresh from the egg rattle tails and strike like mini rattle snakes. No problem with them though to small to actually do any real biting,
 
If you decide to keep him and work at it, I wanted to add one more tip I haven't seen suggested yet. Get a small snake hook, or make a DIY one out of a coat hanger, and use that for a while.

Some snakes have an instinctual defensive reaction to a big hand coming down at them from above. Use the hook to gently lift him up about a foot, then come from underneath with your hand, which will be less threatening to him. I have a bitey girl that can only be handled this way.

Best of luck :)

Scott
 
Scott,

Great suggestion and shame on the rest of us for not suggesting it as well. Indeed many times using a hook to lift out of the cage bypasses a lot of the mean behaviour.
 
jjspirko said:
Scott,

shame on the rest of us for not suggesting it as well.
Click to expand...

Don't be so hard on yourself. That's why it's good to all chip in. One person can't think of everything :)
 
I pretty much agree with everything that has been said. Give him a few days to settle in, making sure that he does have a secure hiding place to get away from it all. Then put on some gloves, be slow, make sure he can see your hand approach him, and lift him gently in his middle and take him out. If he strikes and rattles his tail ignore it.

Have him out for about 5 minutes or so, until he has calmed down. Let him get a good smell of you and let him coil around you (don't worry - he won't strangle you) Then gently place him back in and do the same thing the next day.

I had the same problem with my snake, he was friendly to me when his usual handler was there and I'd got him out of his usual home, but then was agressive when I took him to my house and put him in a new viv. I persevered, and now hes a docile wee pet! He was also an adult when I bought him.

Hope this helps :)
 
I realize you are new, but next time please try to look at the date of the topic before dragging something up like this, it's over a year old.
 
Corny Noob said:
I realize you are new, but next time please try to look at the date of the topic before dragging something up like this, it's over a year old.
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Ok ok, my bad, didn't see the date and can't remember how I got to the post... don't pick on the newbie :(
 
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