any one good with snakes

[danedodger]

Sounds like good stuff so far! I enjoy all kinds of animals so just one of my pets right now is a baby rainbow boa.
Yep, you need to find out what it is exactly so you'll be able to find out what it's temperature and humidity requirements are for it to be kept at it's best. Many of these have different heating and humidity requirements and getting them wrong can lead to illness and other problems.
Giving it a few days without handling would be fine for it!! But yes, I do agree that after that it should be handled frequently so that it stays accustomed to it. Also I don't handle mine for at least 24 hrs after eating to make it less likely that she'll regurgitate the food.
And yep again, feed it in another enclosure of some sort rather than in the tank you normally keep it in. Also I strongly advocate feeding prekilled, frozen foods. It is utterly heartbreaking to hear about people who've fed live foods only to have a mouse or something kill the snake and they will! Prekilled means the prey item can't bite your snake (and snakes having a slow metabolism are slow to heal giving bacteria and such ample time to infest the wound!) and frozen means it's easier for you to stock up and store plus less likely that any parasites or anything can harm your snake as freezing kills them. If it absolutely WON'T eat prekilled frozen you MUST stay close to observe to seperate them if anything should happen and I would only suggest keeping them together for about 10 minutes or so. If the snake hasn't eaten it by then chances are it just isn't going to. But train them over to prekilled frozen if and when you can. You can make them more "tasty" smelling by dipping them in chicken broth first and use tongs so that you can slightly twitch it to entice the snake without accidently getting bitten!

 

[boom215]

Well i want to start off by saying how much of a dummy i am for just jumping into this and i want thank all of you for your help. i sent the pics to aw2 so hopefully they will be posted soon. THANKS AW2. the snake is always moving around it seems like in his tank. i got to admit the first night i had him in my room i barely slept. i kept thinkin what if i didnt close the lid enough and he gets out and eats me or my cats. also the guy at the lps sold me some stuff called jungle alive. is his good for the snake?

 

[danedodger]

Don't worry, a 5' snake is NOT going to try to eat you in your sleep

Forgot to add, a general rule of thumb to use for food size is to judge how thick around the snake is. As thick as a baseball bat I'd hazard a guess that yours can probably handle at least a small rat although my sweetie likes BIGGER food items than I do and reading over my shoulder says full size rats

 

[aw2]

Alright, ladies and gentleman...I got the pics from Dave and here they are.
I told him, in a reply email, that it appears to me to be a Columbian Red Tail but I may be wrong...wouldnt be the first time. lol
I told him I wanted to post the pics and see what you guys said about the species.

 

[boom215]

that isnt me and that isnt the tank she is in right now. she is in a 75g tank with jungle alive and heating lamp, a heating pad and that water bowl. and i have been told to handle the snkae but how do i? grab right behind the head? and down further?

 

[boom215]

thanks aw2

 

[aw2]

Originally Posted by boom215
that isnt me and that isnt the tank she is in right now. she is in a 75g tank with jungle alive and heating lamp, a heating pad and that water bowl. and i have been told to handle the snkae but how do i? grab right behind the head? and down further?

Not behind the head, no...that is mainly reserved for snakes that will bite. You grab them behind the head to control them.
With Boas/Pythons, you just want to gently pick them up and support the upper as well as lower sections of body and then let them slither where they want. As they move, move your hand up and support the upper body again, and so forth....just like the guy in the pics is doing.
And...no problem.

 

[chipmaker]

not to sound harsh, but evidently you bought on impulse. Keeping reptiles is not different than fish or dogs or birds, and one should have read up on it and got all familiar with what ever it is they were buying BEFORE they bought it and should have asked basic questions at a minimum before doing so.As to hold it, feed etc , should all have ben found out prior to buying.......Are you committed to feeding it its necessary diet, usually small mamals.....Surely you could have seen it was only 2 feet long when it wa in the cage at the pet shop and not have a surprise when you got it 9ut of the container only to find it was not somehow 5 feet in length.......were you there and actually see it caught and packe dup. or what? I am hopeing somehow this post is a joke of some sorts......and if its not, I would either return snake and get one of the size I wanted, or spend a bunch of time on reptile forums and doing a lot of question asking and reading....
Lots of luck..
PS, I have kept snakes for over 20 years, mainly local native species consisting of copperheads and various rattlers, all without a problem....they are fascinating and neat but do require ore care than I later on wanted to contend with, so I no longer fool with them.

 

[aw2]

If you go back in the post, chipmaker, you'll see where he purchased this snake from a private breeder and it sounds as if he was either intentially "tricked" or the breeder sent the wrong snake.
This is something that could've happened to anyone.

 

[boom215]

it was somewhat of an impulse buy and i said that. i know i should have done more research but the site i found him on if you dont buy whatever is being sold right away someone else does. i have been goin to ***** and asking simple questions but nothing major because i was still in the air about whether or not get one. and when the oppurtunity(not sure if i speeled that right) came up, i took it due to the price and location. so once again i am sorry to the snkae for buying her on an impulse but i do want to keeo her if possible.

 

[aw2]

Does anyone else have an opinion about the species...other than what I think it is?
In the off chance that Dave didnt want to keep it, I'd be more than happy to take it...but, with the snakes I'm getting reaching a total of 18', between the 2 of them, it'd be hard for me to keep up with. lol

 

[boom215]

Well i made my first attempt to try and hold the lil bugger. I did manage ti get her out of the tank and hold her for about 9 seconds. she kept coiling the front of her and when ever i see that i think christ shes going to bite me. anything i can do to tey and make this more comfortable for the both of us. should i get her drunk.

 

[aw2]

It coiling around your arm is just the way they work...they'll hang in trees, etc. and by coiling around the branch (your arm), they feel comfortable.
With the type of snake you have, it's not going to bite unless you really piss it off or do something where it feels threatened. At that time, it'll start hissing at you before it bites.
Just dont be nervous, pick her up and let her do her thing. She'll coil around your arm but eventually, after a few minutes of feeling secure, she'll start to move and you'll be able to hold her.

 

[boom215]

no it wasnt coiling around my arm the front of her was coiling up. like there was the z shape in her right behind her head.

 

[aw2]

While you were holding it or while you were trying to pick it up?
That's a common posture for snakes...but, it's also a pre-strike posture.
Like I said...you're ok until it starts hissing.
Then, you just need to slowly and gently put it back into it's enclosure.

 

[beth]

I have a story or 2 about escaping pythons. I actually inherited my first and oldest because he escaped in a house, was found by the new tenants in the empty house who kept him for awhile but then lost interest which is when I got him. Of course he escaped with me too before I knew anything about snakes. My son was upset and we got another one....who also escaped, so we got a 3rd one! Guess what, #1 and #2 showed back up after several months so now I have 3! LOL We tore the house apart looking for the snakes and could not find him. I gave up on them, and then they just showed up.
Recently, I went to So. Fla to do some Hurricane Relief work, and I took my snakes. I have an animal carrier to travel with them. Well, I must have left the zipper a tad open and guess what....of course, #1 escaped! Boy was I upset. I haven't been that upset is a very long time. Fortunately, he came out of his hiding before I had to ret back home and I found him....thank goodness. I love my snakes, especially #1.

 

[beth]

Originally Posted by boom215
no it wasn't coiling around my arm the front of her was coiling up. like there was the z shape in her right behind her head.
I call that the S-mode, and it commonly is strike posturing as AW2 said. When I see that, I am the one that does the recoiling. LOL
I have been bitten a couple of times out of ignorance when I first got the snakes.
Now, I don't think they would bite me. I make sure that they stay very familiar and comfortable with me. They are not stick in the sweater box and forget about them pets.

 

[aw2]

I'm sure that all of us who own/have owned snakes have been bitten at one time or another...it's just something you accept, as part of the hobby.
It hurts like hell, yes...and with the bigger snakes, it can draw lots of blood. I got tagged by a 9' Burmese that I used to own, which required a few stitches in my forearm.
The more you hold them, the more they'll be comfortable with you.
Dave, I'd still give yours a few days to get used to you. Maybe take it out for just a minute or two for the first few days and then progessively keep it out for longer periods of time.

 

[boom215]

well i did make another attempt to hold her. i can now pick her up with out pissing myself. but when i hold her, her back end will initially coil around my arm and she will chill but then its like FREEDOM and she just wants to take off and i am almost fighting her to try and hold her she just wants to run away it seems like. Another question now, my tank now has like little mis-key-toes(really bad at spelling). is this from the snake or from the stuff i bought for the bottom of the tank? should i get like a bug away candle? is it normal for her to want to slither away? well i am off to ***** to get one of those like lizzard tops instead of glass for the lid and a humidity checker thing. I will have to see if i can get some frozen rats/mice from them. thank you all for your help for now, i will be back on about 11 to see what everyone has said, thank you all again for your help.

 

[keleighr]

Originally Posted by hedonic
I second that. Snakes need to handled frequently to remain passive towards you. Also read about feeding precautions because most of the time snakes do not attack out of aggression but rather misunderstanding. If you can feed him frozen food, do it, it will prevent him from learning to strike at a moving target, like your hand. If you can pick 'em up, dedicate a tote or large box to feed him in, don't feed him in the actual cage he lives in. This way the only thing coming for him in his enviornment is your hand to pick 'em up, snakes can be conditioned in this way. Snakes that big will feed somewhat irregularly. I try to offer food at least every 10-14 days, but they don't always eat it. I care for several snakes as well (mainly pythons, by the way beth, what kind do you keep?) so I am happy to help, I really enjoy them (Well I really enjoy any animal).

Our friends own a big snake(python) and they recommended removing it from the tank when feeding it and placing it in the same area every time you go to feed it. He said that (this is also something that i think somebody said about eels and what you use to feed them). He said a lot of the times people get bitten is because once they see the hand coming in they associate it to food. So if you put it in a different area it will know feeding time form other times as in cleaning, handling.
Also recommended handling ASAP. Start slow and gently. Do not over handle the snake in the beginning. Hope all this information helps you. I know you get tons of different answers but I think JD gave some good advice and said if it is repeated THREE different times (in a website) that she normally goes with it. You may to see if there are any specialty web sites or even handlers in your area that can give their advice.
Good Luck.