Noob question about handling

[Naagas]

They are certainly muscle-y for their weight.
They can hang onto you.

 

[carnivorouszoo]

Not all snakes S-pose before biting. Jewel my food disposal will be fine in my hands then start sniffing me and rubbing her nose on me like she would a feeder then she opens up and bites. Or I open her tub to get her out and bam she is on me from across the tub. She has yet to s-pose at all. But it never hurts except the one time she wrapped me, grabbed on and shook her head. Don't worry though. My girl is an exception. I have never met another snake like her.

 

[dan803]

I'm never surprised when I get a bite because she always flails around violently first. She just opens her mouth and bites.

 

[Naagas]

Not all snakes S-pose before biting. Jewel my food disposal will be fine in my hands then start sniffing me and rubbing her nose on me like she would a feeder then she opens up and bites. Or I open her tub to get her out and bam she is on me from across the tub. She has yet to s-pose at all. But it never hurts except the one time she wrapped me, grabbed on and shook her head. Don't worry though. My girl is an exception. I have never met another snake like her.

Jewel tries to eat you!
She must think of you as the really big mouse that one day she will be big enough to eat! Lol!

 

[MysticExotics]

Amatures!!!

RUBY!!! (Great pic, btw!)

That is Ruby. Bloodred stripe het snow. Bought as a female. "She" wouldn't breed with Pepper. Subsequently probed male. I hung on to him for another year as a back-up male, but one day Ruby bit me, again, because Ruby struck about 90% of the times he was handled, and I just had enough. Offered him for sale and he was gone in five minutes. He lives with Hallie now! What is amusing in a hatchling is not so amusing in a 500g adult.

But outdoors, I have that water garden which is nice for photographing small snakes, because they are up off the ground a little, and can't really run away without going up and over the edge. A hatchling that would rather strike, that stands up like that, makes an _excellent_ photo subject! I have tons of photos of Ruby in similar poses.

Nanci gets great pics of her snakes! I think my fave of Ruby is the "protection" one.

 

[carnivorouszoo]

Jewel tries to eat you!
She must think of you as the really big mouse that one day she will be big enough to eat! Lol!

LOL I dunno, I always try to not go near my feeder mice before I handle her, but it never fails she wants to eat me lol. At first I thought she might have a tape worm or some other internal parasite but she has come up clean again and again. I think she is just nutty lol. I am happy to say I have yet to have her refuse a meal so I see it as a good thing I can deal with.

 

[Dustilyn]

I think in some cases, the energy that the handler gives off can affect the behavior of the snake. I know my son gets so frustrated because I can easily handle any of our snakes, but they tend to strike at him. He's kind of a hyper kid though. I tell him to first calm himself and slow down his movements then handle the snakes because his energy will transfer to them. If he's calm they'll be calm. It works for the most part. I think generally anyone who is nervous and anxious when handling a snake is more likely to get struck at. Certainly not always the case, but something to keep in mind.

 

[Naagas]

I think in some cases, the energy that the handler gives off can affect the behavior of the snake. I know my son gets so frustrated because I can easily handle any of our snakes, but they tend to strike at him. He's kind of a hyper kid though. I tell him to first calm himself and slow down his movements then handle the snakes because his energy will transfer to them. If he's calm they'll be calm. It works for the most part. I think generally anyone who is nervous and anxious when handling a snake is more likely to get struck at. Certainly not always the case, but something to keep in mind.

That is so true.
It really is different learning how to handle a snake as compared to my hyper cat.
Snakes enjoy a calm, steady person.

 

[Tavia]

I think in some cases, the energy that the handler gives off can affect the behavior of the snake. I know my son gets so frustrated because I can easily handle any of our snakes, but they tend to strike at him. He's kind of a hyper kid though. I tell him to first calm himself and slow down his movements then handle the snakes because his energy will transfer to them. If he's calm they'll be calm. It works for the most part. I think generally anyone who is nervous and anxious when handling a snake is more likely to get struck at. Certainly not always the case, but something to keep in mind.

This is very true, with any animal. The second time Vash ever struck at me, I was going on vacation for a week, had something come up the night before and wasn't able to feed everyone then. So I was doing it the morning that I needed to leave. Nobody wanted to cooperate, Tavi refused to eat, Stormy ate after a long time but left me a big nasty poop in the feeding container that then needed to be cleaned before Vash could have his chance. So I was in a hurry and frustrated when I got him out, I could tell he felt it right away. He struck at me as I was moving him to the feeding bin. If I had taken a moment to calm down and project calm, which I'm usually good at, I don't think he would of struck at me.

 

[Karoni]

I make an effort to be slow and deliberate in my movements around my snakes and this seems to pay off. They don't shy away from me and don't tend to get twitchy. Well, except for Mango, my newest snake. She is twitchy no matter what. She is the only snake I've ever had to do the "snake treadmill" with. It's the only way to handle her rapid attempts at escape, but it just seems to make her more anxious. It will take patience to win that one over.

 

[gelshark]

This one is not as good as Nanci's (but then again it's hard to equal Nanci when it comes to anything)

This little girl is now as calm as can be, so take your pictures while you can, with handling comes calming down. I also try not to make sudden movements in front of them (once I put one on the defensive while I was holding him in one hand and I went to scratch my nose with the other hand)

 

[Caryl]

:rofl: Gotta love those defensive poses! I've got one little guy (Zosimos) who regularly does his very best to convince me he's a deadly copperhead. He's been known to launch himself without much of a coil-up. He's rattled, struck, musked, you name it. He's calming down with handling, but if I skip a week he's right back into rattlesnake mode.

 

[Naagas]

This one is not as good as Nanci's (but then again it's hard to equal Nanci when it comes to anything)

This little girl is now as calm as can be, so take your pictures while you can, with handling comes calming down. I also try not to make sudden movements in front of them (once I put one on the defensive while I was holding him in one hand and I went to scratch my nose with the other hand)

That is a pretty darn perfect looking defense pose!!
And a beautiful snake!

 

[Naagas]

:rofl: Gotta love those defensive poses! I've got one little guy (Zosimos) who regularly does his very best to convince me he's a deadly copperhead. He's been known to launch himself without much of a coil-up. He's rattled, struck, musked, you name it. He's calming down with handling, but if I skip a week he's right back into rattlesnake mode.

Aww! I love the triangle head!

 

[Caryl]

Aww! I love the triangle head!

Thanks. It's pretty funny watching him when he's trying to convince the world that he's a big, bad boy! He seems to consider the camera a threat, and I have a lot of blurry shots of him trying to kill it. oke:

 

[Sonya]

Newbie, never been bitten by a snake (have had a BP for 3 years but they are gentle creatures). I too would worry about jerking back or flinging the animal and harming them. My plan is usually "look away" if things get worrisome (or of course cease and desist if possible).

The visual image of the strike is more likely to cause a jerky reaction vs. the feel/pain of the bite. Close your eyes or look away if you think things could get dicey and you might over react.