Removing larger colubrids from enclosures.

[Klinger]

I'm not sure this belongs in "Enclosures", so I put it here.

Those of you who own larger more active snakes, how do you take them out for cleaning/handling purposes? I'm still working on my 3x4x5 for my VBB, and plan to put sliding glass doors on the front. What methods do you use to get your snakes out without agitating them? I have hooks, but never had to use them yet.

[EL Ziggy]

With my carpets it's a bit of a challenge getting them out of their enclosures because they tend to run away and latch on to anything they can. I just have to be patient, even though I have given up a few times. With my bulls I tap them with the hook so they know it's not feeding time and then I just swoop them up quickly.

[trailblazer295]

My terrestrial snakes I just tap and grab. But like ziggy carpets are different. My baby grabs anything and runs away. Aboreal snakes are a lot harder. They have the muscle control to really hold stuff and you're trying not to hurt them.

[sattva]

Ya I can echo that... My JCP and my Taiwanese beauty snake grab anything they can on the way out... Moe "my JCP" lives on his branch... So if I am going to pull everything to clean anyway, I'll pick him up with the branch and put him on the floor; wait until he crawls off and then i'll grab him and put him into my holding tub... The last couple of days, when I get up, he's rubbing his face on the glass, so I will just open his cage and let him crawl out.
Freds the same, grabbing everything he can... Sometime if I rub them were their holding on, they will let go... and sometimes they grab harder and you just have to wait until he/they relax... or unwind the tail, if it's an easy one... Sometimes you just need to let them win...

[bigsnakegirl785]

I know my retic isn't a colubrid, but she's big and active. I'm lucky she is so ready to explore everything, too. I rub her with the hook and grab her and she pretty much comes out with me to check things out. If she's not feeling it, I generally leave her in there unless I have to clean and with how active she is she doesn't really get tangled up in anything as she's crawling around so much she doesn't stay in one spot. The hard part is getting her into the holding container, but moving her in and out of her enclosure isn't hard. She's just over 7', so not too big.

[akane]

I really want a blood python but I turned down some listed because that is one logistics problem I do not know anything about yet. Even my little 2-3' rosy I sometimes have to brush a loop until she moves into a position I can wedge her out from behind a house. With natural headed toward bio-active enclosures it makes it more difficult. I'm moving up in difficulty to a bullsnake end of this month. He's starting at about 2'.

[SWDK]

Some of my larger ones I just reach in quickly, grab them and out of the enclosure they go. Most of the time I don't get bitten. My tiger rat is a big baby and super tame for being wild caught. He's calm as my corn snakes. Two of my colubrids, crazy cribo and black rat, need a hook to be removed. The cribo strikes violently until she realizes what's going on and she's not getting fed or attacked. The black rat is very defensive and grumpy, but settles down almost immediately once out of the enclosure.

[Klinger]

Yeah, I know all about letting the snake win some of the time! :) I'm actually designing the new home with "branches" pointing toward the glass, so it will be easier to slide the snake off of them for removal. It's kind of good to know this is something everyone deals with. The setup he is in now opens from the top, so I can simply reach down, grab a big coil of snake and lift. Maybe I'll design a hide box close to the doors, and hope for the same effect.

[sattva]

Yeah, I know all about letting the snake win some of the time! :) I'm actually designing the new home with "branches" pointing toward the glass, so it will be easier to slide the snake off of them for removal. It's kind of good to know this is something everyone deals with. The setup he is in now opens from the top, so I can simply reach down, grab a big coil of snake and lift. Maybe I'll design a hide box close to the doors, and hope for the same effect.
Ya that's the best way... If I can catch them in their hides all coiled up!

[SnakeyJay]

I tap train all my snakes, saves many needless bites in the long run.:)

[akane]

Hmmm.... snake stick.... potential good idea for bullsnake.

[dave himself]

Tap train and a snake hook as Jamie says ;)

[Andy_G]

Tap train and a snake hook as Jamie says ;)

This is the way to go.

[Klinger]

I wasn't sure you could tap train a colubrid, everything I read says that only worked on pythons and boas. We'll see what happens when the new enclosure is done, I guess. Hopefully it doesn't just rile the big fellow up.

[Andy_G]

It works well with colubrids, but with notoriously flighty or nervous species such beauty snakes in addition to some of the larger neotropical colubrids, it's definitely easier to completely remove the snake from the enclosure with the hook because a big warm hand reaching in will freak some of them out even if tap trained.

[Jeffco]

With my adult female false water cobra I use a hook to pull her back end out then go ahead and grab her. She loves to hook around stuff in her cage when I really need to get her out or grab substrate with her tail to dump on the floor :):). I do feel like they recognize routine and I think the hook lessens the chance of a bite. She has never struck defensively but the feeding response is insane and violent, I wouldn't want to take a bite.

[akane]

I was looking at those false water cobras. Like I'm sure many have I wondered if there was a nonvenomous cobra. I kind of like the things that look like they should be venomous for some reason. Not to make everyone think I have venomous snakes . More I think they just look so natural and interesting. Maybe from all those times I practically tripped over bullsnakes to have them "rattle" and went flying backward taking any dogs or nearby humans with me until we determined what it was.

[MartinD]

Im afraid there are no non-venomous cobra's, the nearest is what you looked at the False Water Cobra

[akane]

That was basically my point....