• Hello!

    Either you have not registered on this site yet, or you are registered but have not logged in. In either case, you will not be able to use the full functionality of this site until you have registered, and then logged in after your registration has been approved.

    Registration is FREE, so please register so you can participate instead of remaining a lurker....

    Please be certain that the location field is correctly filled out when you register. All registrations that appear to be bogus will be rejected. Which means that if your location field does NOT match the actual location of your registration IP address, then your registration will be rejected.

    Sorry about the strictness of this requirement, but it is necessary to block spammers and scammers at the door as much as possible.

Sudden Aggressive Behavior?

S

Sutefu

New member
Okay, yes, I've read plenty of "just deal with it" responses to other people who've had similar problems, but I just want to make sure.

I've had my little Widget for two weeks now. His first feeding he ate perfectly, and was left alone for five days after. Last night, when I went to handle him, I gently woke him by shuffling the aspen (like you do for small animals--I do this with my Eris and it always wakes him up/calms him down) and found him hiding under his pyramid. The second I lifted off the top, what'd he do? Struck at me!

Of course I was surprised. Who wouldn't be? I didn't remove my hand from the cage, however, and instead set the pyramid down to the side and once more went to gently pick him up, and he struck at me two more times. ..he missed every time, mind you. By a few inches. He's nearly a year old (two and a half weeks shy) and is on large fuzzies, so while he isn't teensy tiny, he's not huge either. Eris is two months older and nearly double his size.

Anyway, he was zooming around too fast for me to possibly pick him up, so I just calmly changed his water, and placed his pyramid back in place. To my further surprise, he coiled up cobra-style, rattled his tail like crazy, and proceeded to strike at me through the class seven more times.

There had been no loud noises, I was very calm and quiet about it, and aside from rattling at me and hunger-biting me prior to his feeding, he'd never shown any signs of having a 'tude. I've had Eris since Christmas and have never even gotten a nip out of him, so the sudden attitude change is new to me, and I'm unsure about how I go about trying to get him to change his behavior if he's too squirrely for me to even pick up? Any/all advice would be appreciated.
 
Note: While I was gone for the four and half days after he ate, he did receive constant "interaction" from my mother, who changed his water every day after. She didn't actually bother him, but if he was out and about he didn't run and hide from her hand being in the tank. Also to note, I've triple-checked his temps, and they're all perfect.
 
I'm not sure what would cause that specifically but you need to continue handling him. By allowing him to strike and thereby "scare" you away, you are reinforcing his belief that he is "scaring" you and that you are a predator.
If you need to wear gloves ( smooth so his teeth don't get caught) go ahead, but the best way to get him over this is to hold him as gently as possible, even if he's striking.
Also when you go to remove him, if he's in his hide, I would remove the hide for a few minutes, so he's not too startled , then eventually pick him up for a little while, gradually increasing the length of time you hold him.
Good Luck!
 
I know that, but that's not my issue. Like I said, I did keep my hand in the cage--and he struck at me the moment his hide was lifted. I literally could not pick him up because of how radically he was moving, it wasn't a fear issue. I don't want to attempt to grab him when he's jumping around like he's being electrocuted, and risk hurting him. :-\
 
Your not going to hurt him by handling him and instead will teach him who's boss in your house and that you are not a big scary monster who will hurt him. Many animals are very territorial of their cage space and actually calm down once out and in your hands for a few minutes. Do this a few times a week and usually they learn to trust you, but if everytime he acts up you stop trying to pick him up he learns this is how to get you to go away:( Suck it up an pick him up no matter his demeanor an walk away from the cage with him sitting down quietly, move slowly, let me nip, an be patient- when he sees he can't eat you he'll have no choice but to be your friend:)
 
If he seems to be hiding out in the pyramid, maybe he's gotten especially territorial about it? My corn turned suddenly aggressive when I gave him a small egg carton to hide in. He immediately went inside and didn't want to leave, and when I lifted the lid to check on him over the next week (he didn't come out in my sight for a week) he would strike at me and turn into a completely wild snake. I kind of guiltily took out his carton (he has plenty of other hides) and once again he became the tame lovable guy he was before. I think it was the egg carton/territorial feelings that made him defend himself so strongly. His other hides... meh, he doesn't want to be disturbed, but he doesn't try to kill me for lifting them once in a while.
 
Well, like I said before. I wasn't trying to pick him up when he struck at me. I never once actually reached for him which is what confused me the most. But oh well, I guess I'll try again later. Like I said, I already knew about conditioning him by backing off, but I already said I wasn't actually picking him up when he struck, just lifting the pyramid off. He switched constantly between his two hides, and actually is usually in his other one. Oh well.
 
My point was pick him up- leaving your hand in the cage he's territorial about is what is eliciting his pleasant behavior. If you snatch him up gently of course and walk away from the cage he will calm down:)
 
My newest snake did the same thing to me when I gave her a moist shed box hide. She turned into instant bitch. Before that she would literally come out from her hide when I came near the viv and would watch me, sometimes when I put my hand in the viv, she would even come to it. Not once I gave her the moist hide. And like the others said it was all territorial, she vibrated her tail, she coiled, she struck and only calmed down when I put the lid back on and left her alone. In fact she was so territorial and liked it so much she would not come out to move around so she could shed her skin! She had been in it for almost a week after her eyes went back to clear! I finally had to show her who was boss no matter what she did to me and took her out of it and took it away and then as soon as she slithered away she immediately shed.

The only other time she has thought about being a grumpy ass was when she was done the shed an hour later. So maybe part of the attitude was because of being in shed and part because of the box. Either way with out the box and being done shed, she is back to being so docile I can pose her for photos and she willingly goes along with me.

Don't be overly worried about hurting a snake that is that old already by trying to catch it when it is playing the part of a "speeding slippery spaghetti noodle" just make sure that the part you grab onto is not the very tip of the tail and don't grab so hard you flatten your snake! You will be fine, grabbing it quickly and gently, yet forcibly enough to prevent it from getting away.:spinner:

Tisha
 
Honestly, he's been getting better. He just shed, and it was absolutely HORRID! So we worked on getting that off.. And I took him out to show my brother-in-law on the 4th, and he was perfectly well-behaved. Go figure!

Hopefully it was just the shed making him all cranky. Eris was that way with his very first shed...but at least with Eris I can tell when he's getting ready to. Oh well! Hopefully after his food settles he'll decide to be more cooperative from now on.
 
Sutefu just get some wet warm, not hot towels/paper towels and place in a plastic container, with lots of holes, that is secure and leave him in there for at least 30 min then you should be able to help him peel the rest off. He may even be able to get it off on his own, in the tub.

Be very careful to make sure his eye caps come off, search all the pieces of shed until you can find them, and the tip of his tail, cuz if they don't it can be really bad.

I had suspeceted it was shed attitude cuz that is how my new girl is a great friendly thing until shed time then instant bitch!

Good luck, with the shed.

Tisha
 
your mistake is shuffling the aspen gently to wake him up. Doing that is a natural response for him to defend himself. Just reach in and grab him before he knows whats going on.
 
Thanks, Asbit, I know how to deal with bad sheds. :) I've had my Eris for a while now, so I'm a total noob. Thank you, though. His shed was a bit odd, though. The first half of his body shed GREAT...then just stopped half-way. Oh well, we got it all off.
 
I have had a similar problem with my snake, Rosita. She's about 2 1/2 years old and is used to being handled by me as well as my students at school She's been used to loud noises and dogs and cats at home. This summer she started striking at me and biting, drawing blood, to the point that she freaks me out when I go to pick her up. She strikes at me through the glass and the wire mesh on her lid. I've had her since she was just a couple of weeks old. Any suggestions for a big Fraidy Cat?
 
Just a thought...how close are your two snakes together? I mean, one is a year old and reaching maturity. Maybe the other male(I'm guessing) snake is making him nervous? Or if its a female he wants to get to her?

This could be totally off, but its just an idea.
 
Dumb question, but what if your snake is under the aspen and you don't know where in the cage? Too much aspen? I always shuffle it around to find him. (No biting issues but just wondering....)
 
If you don't like the tunneling, switch to husk coconut. They don't tunnel as much. Just add more hides for the snake to get under. I also have a dish of aspen in Erriccas cage so she can borrow, but I know where she is and I don't have to dig in the whole cage to find her. I love the coconut though...its great.
 
Just make sure the brand of coconut you are using is not really dry and dusty, or it could cause an RI (Respiratory Infection). We had to switch to a cheaper brand when our pet store ran out of the one we were using, and it was so dusty that our garter snake got an RI.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top