Personality Flip / advice welcomed

[JWFugle]

Alright guys and gals ive had this retic for almost 3 years. up until this march she has been the most docile, tame snake ive owned. like open up the cage and be able to reach in pull her out, adjust the cage, change water, clean, anything she was curious and as far as snake behavior goes "friendly".

then in march i made a stupid mistake while feeding and she got a good bite on my hand and wrapped up my arm. overall not a bad bite, was able to get her off and back in her cage, fed her and cleaned myself up and learned my lesson.

the problem is that since that incident she has pulled a 180:no: and is now a demon to deal with. any time i take her out it ends with her attempting to wrap up my hand and trying to bite me. I always try to hook train her and get that feed response turned off, however she will consistently through coils at me when trying to move stuff in the cage or trying to get an angle on my hands.

Temps havent changed, feed schedule same. im really at a loss as to what happen to my animal.


how do you guys handle this type of snake?

is there something i need to do?

[Sublimeballs]

How positive are you that she's a female?

[JWFugle]

"the breeder told me it was female" is the best answer i have. other than that for being a super jamp ive been told she big for her age (3yr 17lbs and 9ft range) I got her as a pet not to breed so i never really was concerned.

a friend told me the tail lengths vary between sexes, but i wasnt sure how accurate that is and i dont have a known sex to compare it to.

[KyleKennedy]

She probably sees you as prey now since she tasted your blood. I had a big boa that bit me in the leg during feeding time. Before that she was the sweetest boa I've ever owned. After that incident, she would strike at me whenever I came near her. I could be wrong though about her having a taste for your blood, but it has happened to me before so I am just assuming.

[Sublimeballs]

Ummm, I very much doubt your theory.

My first thought when a retics personality changes is its a male. If that isn't the case(and I may have overlooked this info) but how did you get her off of you when the first bite occurred? Are you now nervous when you interact with her?

[jossh27]

following this thread as my snake was once a "friendly" one as well... now its a complete *** who tries to eat my hard when ever i open the cage door

[reptiledude987]

I had a similar issue with my bredli male and the only thing that helped is consistancy and continuing to handle him with always being prepared for a strike. He does the same where if he gets me its not just a defensive strike its a full out coil. Not fun getting tagged. Good luck just keep at it. Took about 9 months to turn mine around.

[Sublimeballs]

Some snakes seem to go through an almost "teenage" stage where the "rebel"; I've never experienced this in my collection but have heard of it from knowledgeable people. Some snakes just change for no reason. Retics, for one, seem to remember interactions and seem to hold grudges for things(ie grabbing behind the head, rough handeling). Males, not all but alot, go through a major personality change during breeding season and want to kill everything.

[JWFugle]

Well its good to know im not the only one dealing with a once shy puppy dog and now have a demon on speed.

Reptiledude - yes that is exactly what mine does. these are not def bites these are "i will fit you in my mouth bites"

sublime - when she got me good the first time it was a pretty big mess. as i said it took about 10-15min of me uncoiling her and holding her behind her head as she tried to bite and wrap me up still. and each time she has tried to bite me it has been the same story, me catching her behind the head and pulling and unwrapping her then getting her in the cage and closing the door before she can race out for another attempt at biting me.

the pictures below are from today. earlier this weekend i had put an old shirt in her cage with her to try and re-associate my scent with home instead of food as it seems to be. well i went to pull the shirt out with my hook and she struckout and bit the hook and shirt and wrapped them up for a good 10 mins. as I type she is still stalking my T shirt and hook that are now trapped in the cage with her. any attempt to move the hook she immediately coils it up and tries to bite it.

[JWFugle]

at this point i am not able to even open the door with out teeth coming my way, which is making cleaning and changing the water incredibly difficult.

also Sublime - now when i "try" to handle her yes i am more nervous around her, and i know that dosnt help but dam if i dont want to be tagged again and add to the negative association of being handling = restricted behind the head and stressed out handling.

[jossh27]

I use a glove to get my snake out now cause she's a complete asshat maybe you can try that till you gain your confidence back... It's such a bummer you are going through this as i know what you're dealing with. Best of luck

[JWFugle]

yea im just gonna have to get over the fact i might get bit again. just sucks this is my pet not a breeding project. i dont necessarily want a pet i cant even interact with or properly care for without the highly probable snake bite.

[Albert Clark]

yea im just gonna have to get over the fact i might get bit again. just sucks this is my pet not a breeding project. i dont necessarily want a pet i cant even interact with or properly care for without the highly probable snake bite.

Wow, I can see how this is a big deal. I am upset dealing with a gangster juvenile bp right now. A candino p/ h for pied. He has been defensive ever since I got him but I attributed it to new acquisition and new enviornment. So I can imagine what you are going through! Do you think it could be she needs a jump up in her feedings? I was one who always felt you really can't feed these retics and Burmese enough. They are always hungry. I am determined to get my little gangster candino to change his ways bc I think he is getting to old for this behavior. I expect this from a hatchling not a juvenile. I would consider giving her more food though. Good luck. The consensus seems to be these animals have their own personalities and some just hiss and bite. I guess we'll go through a process with these guys and gals.

[JWFugle]

alright so ive been working with her more and more lately. mostly just keeping the cage open and letting her see me and occasionally interacting with her with some gloves on or my hook.

and today i managed to get her out... kinda. I went to pick her up with my gloves on and the moment my hand got completely under her belly to lift her she snapped and death gripped my arm. no bite but she head butted me in the arm and glove "trying to find the head" so instead of putting her back i decided to take her outside and then proceeded to unravel her off my arm into the grass. the rest of the time i had her out she spent it stalking me and my glove i had on.

i managed to get her back in to her cage with my hook with out too much trouble.

shes beautiful looking and i dont want to part with her but i really cant see myself wanting to deal with her in her present state for years to come. :/

[JWFugle]

today i just open the cage like i had been doing and she came out like a bat out of hell and bit and constricted the paper towel roll i use for "tap training". she hit it so hard that she fell out of the cage and i had to pick her up in her death ball and placed her back in the cage.

so frustrating... :(

[SnoopySnake]

Maybe "she" is actually a he? Also, could she be wanting more food? Just a thought, sorry you're experiencing this...

[JWFugle]

snoopy and sublime maybe your right and it is a male, however i dont have the knowledge or experince to try to sex a near 10ft retic who thinks im its next best meal.

lets say she is actually a he. is this hormone fluxing? breeding aggression? snake puberty? my argument against the male idea is her size. she is a 75% super Jamp whos mother was 14ft and father was 9ft. i dont know how old they were at this time but as far as i know she shouldnt be that close to her final size at only 3yr old. right?

and i have been increasing how often i feed her so only time will tell if that helps or ill just end up with a fatter and still very angry snake.

[millertime89]

You need to hook train, not just tap train it seems. It's kind of the next step. You need to use a hook to physically remove the snake from his or her enclosure. Jamps seem to have the most intense feeding response of all retics so I would chalk this up to normal Jampea behavior even if it isn't her normal behavior. My two with Jamp blood have a feeding response no matter how long it's been since they've last eaten.

[JWFugle]

You need to hook train, not just tap train it seems. It's kind of the next step. You need to use a hook to physically remove the snake from his or her enclosure. Jamps seem to have the most intense feeding response of all retics so I would chalk this up to normal Jampea behavior even if it isn't her normal behavior. My two with Jamp blood have a feeding response no matter how long it's been since they've last eaten.

yea that is what ive been trying to do my problem is she dosnt leave the aggression in the cage. she will crawl around the house or the yard normal but as soon as i handle or get in front of her she will stalk me or attempt to wrap up my hand/hook/stick/w.e. if it moves she wants it dead it seems.

[millertime89]

When she wraps but doesn't bite that's just her way of hanging on. They're a VERY strong species and have incredible grip.

[JWFugle]

When she wraps but doesn't bite that's just her way of hanging on. They're a VERY strong species and have incredible grip.

no... its not a "ohh no, im scared cuz im being picked up" its a full death grip squeeze while she head butts my glove or arm looking for a head to bite. reference the picture of her wrapped around my shirt and hook. that is what she does to my arm/hook/glove (really anything that i touch her with) even when shes outside the cage.

[Albert Clark]

Personally, I would move up to the next prey size in addition to the other recommendations. Sounds like a case of the hungry as your baseline. Hope this helps. Oh, if not the next prey size then the frequency of the feedings should be considered? :bouncy:

[AlexCrazy]

Im not an expert.. but.. animals sometimes asociate things.. like.. wen a farmer would make a sertain noise.. it means food time for the cows or what ever.. it works with a lot of animals.. they asociate things to food.. if you teach them. So my point is.. maeby your snake asociates food with YOU.. "i see human.. it means food time". If you hand feed it.. the efect is wors.. "i se a thing move in the air (hand or food).. its food!" So wen you whant to pick it up.. youre accidently giving him/her the sing of food.
So you could feed it with tongs and try not to make it so obvius that you are the feder.. (noise or your body) so it dosent asociate you with food anymore.. or you could try making a sertain noise (unique) each time you feed.. and i guess it could learn (it works with dogs and many other animals) that only when he hears that noise.. theres food coming.. also do it while it feeds for some time.
Please Someone correct me if im rong.. its just what i think is posibly the problem..

[SnoopySnake]

Im not an expert.. but.. animals sometimes asociate things.. like.. wen a farmer would make a sertain noise.. it means food time for the cows or what ever.. it works with a lot of animals.. they asociate things to food.. if you teach them. So my point is.. maeby your snake asociates food with YOU.. "i see human.. it means food time". If you hand feed it.. the efect is wors.. "i se a thing move in the air (hand or food).. its food!" So wen you whant to pick it up.. youre accidently giving him/her the sing of food.
So you could feed it with tongs and try not to make it so obvius that you are the feder.. (noise or your body) so it dosent asociate you with food anymore.. or you could try making a sertain noise (unique) each time you feed.. and i guess it could learn (it works with dogs and many other animals) that only when he hears that noise.. theres food coming.. also do it while it feeds for some time.
Please Someone correct me if im rong.. its just what i think is posibly the problem..

Snakes don't hear, so making a noise doesn't work. But this is what the hooks and paper towel in his pics were for. You use them to break the food response, and you never use those items for the snake when feeding.

[JWFugle]

i have stepped up how often i feed her and i believe im at the extent of how big of prey i feed her, keeping it near that 1.5 times the width of the snake. i feed her 2-3lb rabbits and 4XL guinea pigs(1.5lbs) i feed her one every 7-10 days. she weighs about 18-20lbs and is 9-10ft range. below are two links to videos i took of me interacting with her.

https://youtu.be/Ci5asOTceSQ

first video - "ive been working on tap training her with a paper towel roll and using it to bump her on the head to turn off the feeding response. she is now convinced that it is actually food and attempts to bite, wrap up and kill it then spends 20mins trying to locate its head to start swallowing it. she never does find it and just get mad at it."

she did this for almost an hour and a half today

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dL2kSv5Ta34

second video - this was just one time of her doing her stalking, other times she would attept to bite me or the hook i was using to push her away with. when i attempted to move her she would normally wrap around me and start coiling the rest of her on to my hand(obviously i got her off me before her head got closer or she got too good of a wrap on me)

I really do appreciate the advice and tips guys/gals, it means a lot.

[SnoopySnake]

Join the Retic Nation FB group. Should get some good advice there.