Curious

[Reticman]

this has been brought up in a thread earlier on this post but I was I was curious of why you shouldnt hold the head? cause stress or damage? thanks..Oh here is the quote it came from

Also you say when people touch the animal you restrain the head. now do you believe restraining a snakes head is good?

[ohh_kristina]

IMO, you should only restrain the head when absolutely necessary. It seems to be extremely stressful, hence they sometimes constrict your arm when you do it. You can just tell when holding them like that, that they are stressed. Use a hook if you need to, there is NO need to do that on a regular basis (or even at all, really).
I have never had to restrain the head on one of my snakes and I've been keeping for about 5 years now. I do not work with venomous or giants, however.

[Linds]

Generally it is just for restraint. If you are dealing with an agressive animal or if you are a situation in which it is vital the snake be restrained (vetrinary examinations, sexing, etc), then it is a good method. You want to avoid using this if you can however in day to day management. You can compare it to someone pinning you by your neck and tying your limbs...of course you will become quite upset and stressed out by it. Just common sense :)

[Mike177]

i never pin my captive snakes expet when they have sheads left on there face or i am doing medical tretment,but my burm for instance is so nice and so lazy if i have to grab her neak to pull a shead off she dosent even struggle much. i do however pin non-venoumus snakes that i catch because it is a easy way not to get bit wile looking the snake over, i would not suggest pinning on a regular basis because like what was said it dose strees the snake out, but if once in a blue moon you wont see any problems arise.