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New snake

SWINGRRRR

SWINGRRRR

I need/want a 'Cane
I know everyone says that you should not handle a new snake for a week or so. Well, I went to change Hookie papertowl and water, and he bit me. I was not trying to hold him or anything, just had my hand in there. I dont know if I should try to hold him, or still leave him alone since hes new. I dont want him thinking bitting is ok, duh.

I should add, I have only had him 2 days, and he is only a couple of weeks old. Do they get imprinted that quick?
 
You'll be fine and be probably is more prone to biting right now because of all of the stress he is under. I would continue to let him adjust to his new environment before you start handling him. He'll calm down, and you have plenty of time to hold him before anything starts imprinting into his normal patterns of behavior.
 
When I got my corn I found it took him a good couple of weeks to settle down and not be so nervous when my hand was near. 5 months down the line and he basically just sits still and lets me scoop him up.

Give it time. :cheers:
 
5 months??? I want to play with him now!!! I guess I can wait a little.

Thanks for the advice guys.
 
SWINGRRRR said:
Do they get imprinted that quick?
Click to expand...

I don't think snakes imprint at all, that's a behavior reserved for animals that need too - like baby animals to their parents. Snakes don't imprint in the wild, I doubt they'd do it in captivity to people.

I'm sure you'll be fine, I don't think you can 'screw up' a snake with just one minor incident. It would take lots of repetition's of him biting you and getting put back for him to really 'get it', and even then I think it's pretty easy to break of them a bad habit with proper handling.

Yeay, new snake! I'm feeling your excitement, I'll be posting about my new boy in a few weeks too, hehehehe.
 
v_various said:
I don't think snakes imprint at all,
Click to expand...

:-offtopic

You say that, but its very common practice for keepers and owners to feed their snakes in a seperate bin to make sure they don't associate your hand in their regular living area with food or feeding time. I'm pretty sure there is very strong evidence that snakes do imprint or make associations as do all animals, but Pavlov's dogs didn't start salivating at the sound of a bell on the first try. It just has to be done enough times and almost anything with a developed nervous system will begin to make associations over time. Hell...they've "taught" cuddlefish to display a big black X on a white background when they are hungry and its time to feed. Animals a capable of tons of crazy and interesting things :spinner:
 
I've always thought imprinting meant bonding, like when baby chicks imprint to their parents and follow them around and learn behavior patterens. Then can also imprint to people, and look to us for direction. Snakes aren't social, and don't do that. Here's a definition I found:

im·print·ing (mprntng)
n.
A rapid learning process by which a newborn or very young animal establishes a behavior pattern of recognition and attraction to another animal of its own kind or to a substitute or an object identified as the parent.

what you're talking about is just plain learning and adapting to situations, even some bacteria can do that.
 
I understand what you mean when you're talking about imprinting, but you have to look at how he used it in his post. He's not talking about imprinting like a duck and its mother or a horse and its mother, he's talking about falling into a pattern of biting when the snake is being picked up.

im·print·ing

rapid learning that occurs during a brief receptive period, typically soon after birth or hatching, and establishes a long-lasting behavioral response to a specific individual or object, as attachment to parent, offspring, or site.

As you can see there are also different definitions for the same word. All imprinting really means is that its a quickly learned behavior or pattern...it doesn't have to be from a parental figure. It just has to be a quickly learned behavior.
 
I've still never heard of any indication that snakes have a "rapid learning that occurs during a brief receptive period, typically soon after birth or hatching", as far as everything I've read goes they have the same rate of 'learning' (more like associating behaviors) at all ages.
 
I see what both of you are saying. I guess the reason that I used imprinting was because he is so young. I probably could have chosen a more fitting word; however that’s the first that came to mind.

I guess I keep associating the snake to dogs. I have had and trained dogs all my life, and that’s what I keep going back to, the mentality of a canine.
 
haha, no problem. I didn't mean for this to get all out of control anyway, kind of went on a tangent there.

Nice score on the gold dust! And cute name too, Hookie. haha.
 
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