Handling snake

[Justo]

I have my snake for a couple of weeks now, but I am still a little scared to pick him up. I have tried a couple of times but he just push my hand right out of the way. When my friend owned this snake I would just stick my hand in and grab now that hes at my house he gives me attitude. He has never biten anybody. He has rattled this tail at me. He is Mex. Black king 3 yrs old So any help from you guys would be great.
Thanks
Justo
PS Its my 1st snake

[Zoe]

Hi!
Don't worry, he likely senses your apprehension and doesn't want to be bothered with you. You should just pick him up gently and then let him wrap around your fingers. If he doesn't hiss at you, he probably won't bite. And if does, he'll give you lots of warning, and anyway his bite won't be that bad, so don't be afraid!

You always get a hook if you want... you can pick him up with that then let him crawl onto your hand.

Really, don't worry about it, it'll be okay :)

Zoe

[Lisa]

Just reach in and grab it. It's not like his bite will hurt.

[NewLineReptile]

I agree with Zoe......
one more thing is when you go to pick him up don't lean right over top of him. Just go right in and pick him up if you keep pulling back because you think he is going to bite you will probably stress him out. Another thing is always have clean hands to pick him up never handle hif food then pick him up. One more thing you could do is put something with your sent on it in with him so that he will know your sent when you go to pick him up.
And last just give him some time to adjust to his new home/enclosure good luck

P.S Don't take this the wrong way but if people that are scared of getting a bite from there snake maybe they should not have a snake? (just my 2 cent's)

[Zoe]

Burmese... I was afraid of getting bitten when I got my first snake, too, and it didn't help that my house snake was terribly aggressive. It just takes some getting used to, is all. I doubt you were very eager to get bitten the very first time you saw a snake, doesn't mean that you shouldn't keep any snakes.

Zoe

[Lisa]

I was hesitant about being bitten when i first handled a snake. Since then that snake has never bitten me but others have.

[NewLineReptile]

Your right Zoe 100%

I ment more to the people that will not even try to handle there snake and just neglect it because they are to scared.
I should of worded it a bit better my fault sorry :)

P.S Good luck with your new snake Justo

[eldadevoz]

When I first got my california king he rattled his tail at me too, but he was all talk! Once I picked him up he was fine, and he gets picked up all the time by friends and family. Has never bitten anyone. I'd recommend that you don't move to fast, and when you pick him up handle him gentle... open handed, then he'll know you don't mean him any harm. If you grab at him fast...start to pick him up and then get scared if he turns towards you, and then drop him. Well, then you are acting like a predator. Think about it....if a dog or cat a racoon or even a skunk were to come upon a snake...they would paw at it, grab it, then drop it, to avoid a bite and then try to get at him from another angle. Plus, I am willing to bet that they can feel your pulse thru your thumb, and if your heart is racing from anxiety....he could interpret this as aggression. Just scoop your four fingers under his mid section and gentle lift him up...have the other hand ready to catch him as he moves forward. It should be fine....if he had never been handled before, then I would expect that he would bite you, but since he as been a pet, I think you should be fine. Just don't scare him and grab at him. Good luck!