• 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.

Advice for Handling Neonates?

Hearts-a-Glow

Hearts-a-Glow

New member
My two adults are both very mellow, and I have zero concerns about picking them up and handling them. However.... as it gets closer to Feeding Day for the new baby, my familiarity with other baby reptiles (Leo's and AFTs) tells me I might have a problem. Lizards just seem more robust at that age: they may be skittish, but I can close my hands around them and hold them safe and secure until they calm down. I look at that ribbon little body and think, "How am I NOT going to break you?"

Just to see what it might be like I put my hand in the tank: obviously, she bolted. If that's any indication...I want to do this right.
 
I take most of the hides and plants out, or move them out of the way. That way, there's nothing they can run under or get tangled into. Vines and things especially are moved/removed. Once the snake is wrapped up in them, it's too much effort trying to disentangle them, and probably stresses them out big time.

I will also dip a finger in the water and moisten my thumb and fingers. Damp fingers make it easier to keep hold of them. It's too easy for a tiny corn to get away from dry hands.
 
It's easiest to pick them up if they're hiding. If they're already out and moving around, they tend to be flightier. You can just pick them up in a little clump and try to support the body so they don't get freaked out.

Also they're hardier than they look. You can grasp them firmly if they're about to fly out of your hands. Restraining them does tend to freak them out, but sometimes it's necessary to keep them from falling or to put them in a container. Usually they'll be flighty when you first pick them up, so I let them move from hand to hand for a few minutes and then they generally settle down.
 
hypnoctopus said:
It's easiest to pick them up if they're hiding. If they're already out and moving around, they tend to be flightier. You can just pick them up in a little clump and try to support the body so they don't get freaked out.
Click to expand...

I definitely second this! I used to wait until they were out and about, so I wasn't waking them up and being a nuisance, but found they were WAY more stressed if I tried to pick them up then. If I just grab them while they're all coiled up and sleeping, they seem to wake up slowly in my hands and just stay calmer. No more suicide attempts. Unless you have a brave baby like one of my girls who will just climb on my hand if I offer it to her, but only once she's already moving.
 
So how about ideas for getting her familiarized with my scent passively? I thought about wadding up one of my dirty shirts and putting it in the tank as a hide.
 
I know that's the best way, but any benefit would be nice. I want to take her out of her tank to feed her tomorrow in a tub instead, and maybe if she's in my shirt I can pick her up and just kind of extricate her from it, the transition will be smoother.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top