carpet python

[pythons620]

Good evening,

we recently adopted a carpet python (new to our home but I think the snake its a couple years old) She is very sketchy and hisses and jumps when we try to pet her. We don't go from above because we know that's wrong. We have a ball python and he is very docile and loves everyone.

What can we do to tame our carpet python and make her more docile and friendly. We need to clean her home because when we got her the tank was very dirty but due to her probably not be handled in her prior home she doesn't let us get close to her.

Does anyone have any suggestions as to how we can start to handle her and show her love so she will let us pick her up and take her out of her tank.

Thank you

[EL Ziggy]

Welcome aboard Py. How long have you had your carpet? I don't usually handle new critters until they've settled in and eaten 2-3 times for me. If you have to take her out for cage maintenance my suggestion would be to put on a long sleeve shirt, and a pair of gloves, and gently but confidently reach in and take her out. She may strike or thrash about for a little while but she should calm down after a minute or two. As she acclimates to her new environment a little more she'll most likely mellow out. I have 5 carpets and they're all pretty chill. Carpets are a lot of fun to keep. Your girl may just need a little time and patience. :)

[sattva]

I don't know about all Carpets but my guy hisses and sounds like a steam engine coming into the station... He will never calm down and act like a ball python... You need to leave him alone for a few feedings and then start with short sessions of holding him... Let him slowly learn to trust you... You have to know that no snake likes to be held; They learn to tolerate it... :crazy2:

[Scubadiver59]

For my own experience in recently obtaining a 6yr old CP, I used a bit of tap training with a hook so it knows I'm not delivering food; normally, when the CP sees the hook, it goes back into the hot hide, so I can change water , clean up, etc.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying it's well behaved--it still gets a little uppity when I touch it, or try to grab it--but it's coming along as I expected after first bringing it home. Then, it hissed, and coiled, an made one mock strike, but never struck. I don't trust mine either, yet, but we're working things out.

Oh, did I say I have to change out the CP's paper towels for actual substrate soon? Ah, I left that out did I? Well, that will be another story to tell when I have to take him out again...but that will be after I get my 6' Taiwanese Beauty snake back it its viv so I can use my 110L Sterilite to hold the CP while I make his home better. Stay tuned...

Good evening,

we recently adopted a carpet python (new to our home but I think the snake its a couple years old) She is very sketchy and hisses and jumps when we try to pet her. We don't go from above because we know that's wrong. We have a ball python and he is very docile and loves everyone.

What can we do to tame our carpet python and make her more docile and friendly. We need to clean her home because when we got her the tank was very dirty but due to her probably not be handled in her prior home she doesn't let us get close to her.

Does anyone have any suggestions as to how we can start to handle her and show her love so she will let us pick her up and take her out of her tank.

Thank you

[dannybgoode]

I'm going to come at it from a slightly different angle. Snakes simply aren't 'pets' as such that enjoy a cuddle. Some tolerate it, some may even seem to enjoy it (although I don't believe they do) and store just plain don't like it and let you know in various degrees of uncertainty.

I rarely handle any of my snakes and nor do I think they should be handled except when necessary.

All that said, if you do want to handle then it needs acclimatising slowly. Just a few minutes a couple of times a week. As zig says carpets are awesome snakes and my guy is completely chilled however I know others that are utterly psychotic. Then there's everything in between.

Males around 18 month to 2 years old are also like teenage boys - full of reading hormones that can lead to aggression and that may be part of the issue.

More information about the type of enclosure he's in, where the enclosure is sited etc would be useful to gecko determined if he could be getting stressed.

[pythons620]

Hey thanks for your replay.
we have had our girl for about a week now, and we fed her once since we brought her home. She did not like us touching her at all and sounded like a steam train as someone mentioned theirs did too. We were able to change half of her bedding as she was sitting in the corner on the other half, as I said before I'm not to sure what her home life was like before she came to live with us, but from everything that ive read so far people are suggestion a handler stick to take her out of her home and then she may calm down once out.

We have her in the spare room in our house with lots of natural sun light that comes in during they day, and we go in there and talk to her so she can get use to our voices.
I think we will maybe giver her another week or 2 before we try and go in her tank again, the last thing we want to do is piss her off even more.

Our ball python has been in our family since it was born so he's use to being handled and loved