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Thoughts on Rehoming

Ohana

Ohana

New member
Ok, let me preface this with I am only asking...

I got a Mexi Black x Desert King 07 hatchling from a young girl that can't get the snake to eat unless it is scented. She said the snake was a real sweetheart and that she was just tired of scenting the pinkies.

So I told her that I would take the snake off her hands and get him eating without scenting. Which I don't mind because I have gotten several snakes back on track that didn't want to eat or just were not good eaters as hatchlings.

I brought the guy home and was very excited to have him. He is a pretty snake and was in great health. My vet checked him out and said all ok. I let him settle in for a week before trying to handle him or feed him.

When I was going to put him in the viv, when we first got him, he rattled his little tail and struck me a few times. I thought ok, we are just a little stressed from the move and will be fine in a little while. So I get them out on Saturday to handle everyone, Sunday is my feeding day so I like to get one last handling session in before I feed. This guy rattled at me struck at me at least 6 times. No matter how confident I went in after him, he bit! Once I finally got him in my hands he was so jumpy. He calmed down after a few mintues and but was still really jumpy.

BTW~ He also didn't eat for me on Sunday but I figured it was ok, probably just gonna take a longer time to settle in.

Now, here was my thought process.... Handle every night for a few minutes. Let him strike and bite me all he wants but never give him what he wants, which is for me to go away. This should teach him that striking won't work and hopefully he will submit. But, he is a snake and do they really think this way? :shrugs: I do know that if I come in under him and move my hand slowly he is less likely to strike. But this is not helpful for getting him out of feeding bins, and vivs. I had to use a hook to get him out of the feeding bin! Once he was up and out, I could move my hand slowly under him and then he slithered through my hands. Still though he was jumpy and every slight movement.

I have never had an aggressive hatchling before... So those of you that have, can they come around? Do they learn that your not evil and aren't going to eat them? Can this guy become a handlable snake? Or should I get him eating well and then find him a good home with someone that doesn't mind the aggression?

Obviously I don't want to make a rash decision, but I also don't want an adult snake that I can't go in and handle. Please don't blast me, I am just asking questions to be come more informed.

Thanks for your help!
 
With the right amount of handling, almost any snake can come around. ALMOST. You've got a real good chance, at least. :)

My new TX Rat male hates me, too. He's over 2 feet long, and I just let him go at me until he gets tired of it and gives. He almost never tags me open-mouthed, but even when he does it doesn't leave marks.
Show no fear!
 
Well also, my feeling is that if he's gonna be so spazoid I wouldn't be handling him every day untill he starts eatting.
But he's fine once he gets out of the tank you say right? It's possible that he could very well just be cage nippy for the rest of his life. And if that's the case and you really get tired of being tagged start using gloves to get him out as long as he's fine when he's out.
 
I agree with Jenn. You've got two issues to work on with him. Eating and playing nice with humans. My thought is you should focus on the most important one first, which is getting it to eat well and regularly. That mean not handling him much to keep his stress level down.

Who knows, maybe once he's fat, happy and feeling robust, he might be less scared and therefore less bitey.

Good luck!
 
Thank you so much for the insight. The thing is this is his first refusal. He is fat and robust now. He will generally eat if the pinky is scented. I don't know why he didn't this past week. But maybe I was just given a load of crap so that I would take him.

The other one I got is skinny and very nice. go figure.

I haven't handled him since Sunday (feeding day) so we will see how another week goes without handling him. Maybe he is just one of those that takes longer to settle in.

I'll give him more time before making a final decision. I appreciate your thoughts!
 
My choice with that snake might be an unconventional approach.

I wouldn't handle it at all except as strictly necessary for feed/clean/water changes.

While it's tiny, it thinks the universe is out to eat it. It's right in most cases.

As they grow I find they tend to settle too - and learn that the universe isn't big enough to eat them and that you don't WANT to eat them. If they learn that hands are just weird warm trees that occasionally come in but don't grab like predator monkey feets, they're much less likely to throw a hoobly when they see 'em.

I have a Cali king who isn't handled but once a week - she doesn't like it, but I have no doubt that as she gets bigger and older, she will settle.
 
When you do handle him don't put him back in his viv until he has calmed down ... If he tags you and you put him back... he will learn to keep doing it. Keep at it and good luck.
 
Just thought I would give everyone an update. As stated in my other post, Guinness ate this past Sunday.

Before feeding I gave him a little more time to settle in. So I didn't handle him all week. I left him alone after feeding this past Sunday. But I couldn't take it anymore and yesterday I got him out to see how he would do.

When I went to get him out he got into striking mode, but I just reached in and got him. He didn't have time to react. Then I sat down in a quite room and just let him explore through my hands on his own accord.

I talked to him calmly (don't know why, I suppose because that is what I do when I am trying to get a bird to calm down). My husband came to see what I was doing and little Guinness just went catatonic. It was funny his neck was wrapped around my pinky finger and when I moved my finger his body stayed in the same position. I asked my hubby to leave us alone for a minute.

It took Guinness about 30 seconds to a minute to recover from the horror that the big man would eat him. But he did recover and started to explore again.

This time when I stood up to put him away he didn't freak out and he slowly slithered back into his favorite hide.

I will mess with him again before feeding on Sunday. Hopefully, if I handle him every three days or so this won't be too much to over load him but enough to maybe get him back tame (or at least partially tame).

Thanks for all the advice and we will see how it goes.
 
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