Mistaken identity...?!

[Ch^4]

Had my adult BP out yesterday and found out he's starting his shed cycle (pink belly stage).

However, as I was getting ready to put him away, he decided use my arm as a perch in an odd manner....He must have thought he was a chondro for a few minutes!

I thought it was cute, so I snapped a couple pics and thought I'd share. Also caught his pupil on camera in the last photo...usually tough to do with a normal (in my experience, but I suck at taking pictures ;) ). He always appears to have solid black "doe" eyes...an adorable feature IMO.

Thanks for looking!

[TeaNinja]

very nice snake, how old is he? i usually tend to just see smaller bp's; i just got mine, he/she's prolly around a foot and a half.

[Ch^4]

Thanks! He is just about 6 years old. He was the runt of the clutch and the pet store didn't want to sell him to me because he wasn't eating. But he has a skull in his pattern and I had to have him. (Now look at that runt!)

[Reptile_Reptile]

my bp has a bunch of alien skulls on him

[Lankyrob]

Sweet pics, cant beat a normal BP!

[TeaNinja]

i don't know why, in my head i've always just kind of considered bp's to be "little snakes"
i've known a few people who owned bp's but none of them were old and big yet. i'm gonna enjoy watching my little guy/girl grow up :)

[Lankyrob]

They dont tend to get overlong but are quite heavy stocky animals. I love them!

[TeaNinja]

does the attitude change with age? seems like most bp's that i've seen (mine particularly) are kind of head shy, and flinch super easily at movement. and it seems like he's pretty shy and wants to hide a good amount. but i aquait that to him still getting fully settled into things the last few weeks.

he doesn't seem super panicky when being held, but if i move in front of his face like reaching for something or leaning over or anything he will flinch back super hard.

[Lankyrob]

They do tend to be quite shy animals, hence the balling up, as they get bigger they seem to be more confident from my experience and less shy, tho never held one that wasn't head shy.

[TeaNinja]

They do tend to be quite shy animals, hence the balling up, as they get bigger they seem to be more confident from my experience and less shy, tho never held one that wasn't head shy.

i figured that was just kind of their temperment. they are pretty dumb and not very graceful (to say the least) but they are very well tempered and make wonderful pets.

[Reptile_Reptile]

yea, if you want the royal to not be head shy it takes a long time of gently touching it. ive started on that only because other people seem to always want to touch his head then their his flinch always ends up scaring them. so i figure its best for all

[Ch^4]

does the attitude change with age? seems like most bp's that i've seen (mine particularly) are kind of head shy, and flinch super easily at movement. and it seems like he's pretty shy and wants to hide a good amount. but i aquait that to him still getting fully settled into things the last few weeks.

he doesn't seem super panicky when being held, but if i move in front of his face like reaching for something or leaning over or anything he will flinch back super hard.

All of my snakes, except for my BRB, are jumpy when it comes to swift movements, especially around their heads. The BP in the pictures isn't jumpy when out of his viv, but gets startled fairly easily while in his viv. Swift movements, in general, are not wise to make around snakes. My JCP will go ballistic if you move too quickly around her.

Your baby BP is just that, a baby. Give him time. It may take a year or two before he is comfortable with you touching his head. He may never like his head being touched. Calm, confident, and slow movements around BPs are best.

My adult BP has no problems with me touching his head; I can pet his large jaw muscles (the bulbous protrusions on the back sides of the head), I can pet his snout, I can tickle his chin, and I can even *gently* touch his eyes (it is very rare that I do that--occasionally, he will have an eye cap hanging after a shed, and he has no problems letting me help him to remove it). I do not suggest "forcing" him to let you pet his head.

Again, your best bet is time. I've built up a solid, trusting relationship with him over the past 6 years. My baby BP is super jumpy--maybe she'll grow out of it, but maybe she won't.