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Taming snakes

Spirit said:
NO NO NO NO NO! NO BOOTIES FOR YOU! :nyah:

*cough*keepthesnakeorgivetogoodhome*cough*
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Well, I thought that you said that you weren't going to make the booties anyway...

spirit said:
*cough*keepthesnakeorgivetogoodhome*cough*
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I was leaning more towards keeping the snake...but thanks for saying that. I won't give it away because I know how mean it is, and don't want others to yell at me for giving them a snake that tags you everytime you try and clean his/her water dish.
 
:crazy02: :crazy02: Silly? I have never been silly in my life... :crazy02: :crazy02:
 
Paul... *giggle*

gisele said:
I'm thinking about buying a snake in town that has been handled a lot by a couple of little kids and it is now vicious.
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Getting back to the topic on hand, is it even possible to "retame" a snake?
 
I have heard that it is, but actually pretty hard and very time consuming. Takes a lot of patience and care. And, you can't be afraid of being bit.
 
Hot air...

I blow warm air on mine when they get anxious. It calmes them down. I don't know about that though... Perhaps he'd feel threatened by that or bite you in the face. :uhoh:
 
yeah, I wouldn't be afraid of being bit but I guess it would be pretty time consuming. I have gotten quite busy over the last couple of months. haha, I guess that would be one way of getting a facial piercing.
 
Adam & Eve said:
I blow warm air on mine when they get anxious. It calmes them down. I don't know about that though... Perhaps he'd feel threatened by that or bite you in the face. :uhoh:
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With as little provocation that it takes for this snake to strike, I don't want to try blowing on him/her and seeing is that calms him/her down. I don't want a permanent pircing in my lip or nose. :grin01: But thanks for the info. Maybe I can get some kind of fan or something that I can blow warm air with and try it.
 
My new bloodred went 'striking position' a few centimeters of my face. Scared me half to death. Thankfully he's a sweet snake and didn't actually strike. Big warning sign for me though.

I think 'just grabbing' the snake is a good way to go. If you don't you chase the snake around the viv 3 times before you can 'calmly' grab it. Meaning he's having half a hart attack by then. Just calmly reach out for the snake, and surely grab it. He'll go freak for a bit but calms down much quicker.

2/3 times a day sounds *way* to often to me. Taming should involve as little stress as possible. Personally i follow these steps:
Wait a few days after you purchased the snake. Then take a bit of time each day to just sit and look at the snake, and place your hand in the viv, in a non-treatning way. Soon, you'll notice the snake getting curious. Just move your fingers a little bit in a non-treatning way. That way the snake will see you better. When the snake no longer bolts away in terror whenever your spotted you can start with holding him a little bit each time. Sit down and just be really calm. Let the snake glide through your fingers. He'll calm down soon. Try that every 2 to 3 days and increase the time a bit each time. But never keep him out to long. It just involves a lot of patience. The more stress is involved the longer it will take for the snake to calm down.

Right now 3 of my snakes climb on my hand willingly. And i've started to tame the 4th. He's calming down great already. It just takes patience for the snake to get used to you. Not the other way around ;)
 
How long does it take before the snake will wander onto your hand willingly? It'll be 4 weeks since I bought him (this week) and he's no less shy when I go to pick him up, than the day I brought him home (though he's without a doubt calmer once he's out of the tank).

Edit: I shuold probably add that he's always let me pick him up without trying to run away, but he always ducks his head and backs up a little. I can usually pick him up in the curled position, and he'll 9 out of 10 times stay in the same position in my hand for a few minutes before deciding to move around.
 
Long time 2/3 months. Takes a bit to gain their trust. And except my snow (I just decided to name him Terry :) Snowy is so corny :) who's an attention hog my harvest and stripe still have slight hessitation before actually decided to have a cuddle. Hovering above my my hand and hanging there for a bit untill they seem to tire and finally just lay on my hand and crawl up my arm. Funky habit. They both do it. Snake thing i guess.
 
Response to your edit. Yes. Mine don't enjoy to be picked up either. Backing away a bit. I think your well on you way if they don't crawl away from you anymore. Tip, try it when there well awake and cruising. More success change then.
 
Well he's never crawled away from me... right from the day I brought him home. And he's NEVER awake and cruising. Last night was the first time I saw him move from one hide to the other (but when he saw me staring, he quickly went back in. lol). Albeit, it was pretty exciting. ;)

The only progress I've seen is when he's in my hand, and I'm SURE it's just because I'm getting more comfortable at handling him.
 
Do you use lamps in your viv. I do (Even though i prefer not. I have no alternative). I turn then off late at night and a few minutes later they start cruising. It's so cool to see. I got all sorts of toys and vines in the viv. There crawling up and down everything. I'll upload some photo's soon. Time to show my snakes growing spurts anyway ;) Not to mention the neat new colors they seem to be displaying. My red stripe seems to have developed an awesome orange tint last shed. And my harvest seems to get a lot of bright yellow on her. Quite amazing.
 
I do (red light). I have a UTH, but I'm still a wee bit afraid to use it (but it's too cold in here now to turn the lamp off at night without the UTH on). I'll try it though and see what happens.

PICTURES! I do love the pictures. Can't wait to see them. :)
 
It took my corn about 4 months before he was ok with me having my hand in the tank and moving it around. I found though that if I waited for 2 or 3 days he forgot me. I had to do it every day to get him used to me. It took another 3 months before he didn't duck his head when I picked him up. Now he's fine though. I usually pick him up from a curled up position. He loves crawling inside my sleeves and hates it when i have to put him back.
 
My snake is about 6 months old and she still tries to get away most of the time when I go to take her out of the viv. But once I have her out, she's fine - just crawls through my hands, up my arm, all that good stuff - doesn't try to get away once she's out. Not sure how that figures into this thread, but I figured I'd throw it out there.
 
I have seen hatchlings that don't back away from an approaching hand, as well as adult snakes that run from them. It is all dependent on the individual Snakes attitude.
 
My snake was delivered to the pet store in a container containing maybe 20 hatchlings. When the store guy went to pick them up, all but mine jumped up (whack-a-mole style) trying to tag him. Mine went into hiding and let his hatcling buddies fend off the big scary hand... and he was the biggest snake of the bunch! lol It definitely depends on the snake itself. Some are just untamable, whereas others like mine are big fat chickens. hehe
 
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