Twitching?

[SSSara]

hey all, havent been on the forum in a while, i hope everyone is doing well in the new year!
quick question: one of the snakes i take care of at the school was twitching today... in the first foot or so of his body. every few seconds or so, she would twitch. it subsided after a few minutes of holding her, but i just wanted to know if it could possibly be signs of a bigger problem. any insight or advice would be wonderful
thanks, and happy new year!
-Sara

 

[Plissken]

I've only ever known twitching to be a sign of stress. Is the snake very nervous about being handled? Is she co-habbed with other snakes?

 

[kimbyra]

I can think of a few reasons. One, as mentioned, is stress. For instance, don't handle a king snake and then a corn snake afterwards (I found that out myself). It could be a neurological problem, but probably not. Also, I have one dark female anery motley who gets twitchy when I'm about to feed her. I think that is just excitement. It looks very weird though.
Cheers!

 

[Nanci]

Another thing to consider is what substrate is she on? Recently we had two snakes reported here that were having spasms, and one stopped when removed from his bedding which contained fir...

Nanci

 

[Kel]

As you were holding her at the time, it's most likely that she was just a bit nervous.

Twitching is a threat behaviour and something they do as a warning if their startled - sort of "Don't try anything - I'll have ya!".

The fact that it stopped after a few minutes would indicate that she calmed down and was more comfortable with you.

Best to check through the other suggestions above, but I think nervousness is the most likely answer. Even a usually calm snake can get a bit twitchy if they weren't expecting to be picked up, are startled but a sudden sound/movement, can smell another snake or are coming up to a shed etc.

 

[captaincaveman]

As you were holding her at the time, it's most likely that she was just a bit nervous.

Twitching is a threat behaviour and something they do as a warning if their startled - sort of "Don't try anything - I'll have ya!".

The fact that it stopped after a few minutes would indicate that she calmed down and was more comfortable with you.

Best to check through the other suggestions above, but I think nervousness is the most likely answer. Even a usually calm snake can get a bit twitchy if they weren't expecting to be picked up, are startled but a sudden sound/movement, can smell another snake or are coming up to a shed etc.

a couple of our hatchlings do in when first being handled. they move smoothley, and when you put your hand under them(eg walking them through your hands) they sometimes give out a twitch but after 5-10mins of handling it stops

 

[SSSara]

Her substrate doesnt contain fir, we use pure aspen for all our snakes. and shes not a young snake, shes almost full grown and one of the best tempermented snakes ive ever handled. i think it was just excitement about being fed, as kimbrya suggested, or nervousness, since she hasnt been handled for about a week. the fact that she stopped after awhile was comforting, i just wanted to make sure nothing serious was wrong.
thanks for the help!
-Sara

 

[MegF.]

I have a female that does that whenever I hold her or whenever a male was with her. Any rubbing on her body causes the twitching behavior. It's normal.