I've been bit!

[Nobodyspecial]

So as the title says my little year old boy pastel Koehik struck and bit me today for the first time. (okay well it was more of a scratch but he did draw just a little blood.) Really I was asking for it. He was out on top of his humi-hide, and I was doing my daily spot check and putting in two new terracotta pot hides for him, getting rid of his warped too small shoe boxes. And otherwise long story short, I was rearranging some of his substrate apparently too close to him and he struck at me. Didn't hurt at all. :)

Its the first time he's done this so I was a little surprised. Figuring I couldn't let him think his strike would scare me off I kept on going and he did it again. (missed that time, it was a very half hearted strike) Well I figured the same thing but thankfully I was done rearranging his dirt at this point. but I did need to get to his humi-hide so I carefully moved him. He didn't strike me and I continued on with what I was doing with him glaring at me from the opposite side of the tank the whole time. When I was done he was still glaring at me so I slowly put my hand into a fist and set it 3-4" in front of his nose to see what he'd do. No strike he just puffed up a little, with the very occasional tongue flick. We kept up this little stand off up for about a half an hour until he calmed down decided to move off.

I really want him to be tolerant of human contact and he's my first snake, so I need to know... did I handle this situation correctly? I don't want to stress him out more, but I don't want him thinking he can get his way by striking at me or anyone else either.

[DeesBalls]

haha, this is funny bc i got bit by my lil pastel yesterday. lil sucker tagged my hand and left a nice upper jaw impression, not bottom jaw though... it was more of a finger flick feeling more than a bite.


pics?

[Nobodyspecial]

Alright, ah lets see if I did this right! You'll have to forgive me for crappy cellphone pics.

First pic is the little guy himself on the first day I got him in the mail back in January. :3 Second is the bite, hardly visible but there is two little pinpricks, I'm pretty sure he just got me with two teeth on his upper jaw, no epic full bite marks or anything XD I guess I could say I'm jelly, not having such an epic battle wound as you. Mine could easily be mistaken for two splinters or something haha.

[stephanbakir]

Overall you did fine, but keep in mind that some snakes are defensive while in their enclosures and calm down once in your hands. We have a retic that is totally insane when hes in his terrarium, biting hissing mouth hanging open. Once hes in your hands hes a puppy dog that is just curious, never once attempted to bite when he was out of his terrarium.

[Nobodyspecial]

Well that is good to know, I'm so terrified I'm going to somehow traumatize this poor snake despite every precaution I'm trying to take to tame him down a bit. And you're right he does seem a little more mellow once he's outside of his tank, I guess the only thing that worries me with him is that when I do take him out and put him on my lap and such to watch tv, He'll literally just stayed balled up anywhere from 15min to a half hour before he'll even think of moving. Then he'll just keep trying to get away from me, and hide somewhere. Which I'd be a little more okay to let him wander a bit if he wasn't still so small being about 2 feet long. Thankfully he has yet to strike when I take him to pull him back onto my lap. o_o;;

Really though a retic acting like that? You are much bolder than I am haha.

[stephanbakir]

Hes a super tiger X breeder male. I love him too much to get rid of him, the attitude he gives is nice because none of my others show it. It makes him unique. We also had him as a baby and got used to it as he grew, hasn't taken to any form of training besides hook training and even then he's an aggressive snake.

[presspirate]

Congrats! Welcome to the Bite Club.

[Nobodyspecial]

Why thank you! XD I guess I should be honored?

And I guess if you've had him since he was a baby you'd get to know him well enough that he's really predictable when he's being aggressive. You've got yourself a good guard snake there if nothing else. XD

[Lankyrob]

Just got our SD retic out for a cuddle - he went straight into strike pose when the viv opened and even close mouth struck as i picked him up - the second i lifted his body slightly he slithered up my arm and was chilled as you like.

Gave me another nice arm squeeze tho - made my fingers tingle!

[stephanbakir]

Snakes give fantastic hugs:)

[Nobodyspecial]

They really do. XD Pity Koehik is never in the mood for cuddles.

[Nos]

Just make sure you don't feed him inside his enclosure and he should become less aggressive in time. also you should make sure nothing outside of the cage is disturbing him so he stays calm and relaxed in his enclosure.

I myself have cats, a dog, and younger family members. so i keep them away from his enclosure.

[Lankyrob]

Feeding in or out of the enclosure will have NO EFFECT on how the snake reacts. And they are defensive rather than aggresive when they bite us.

[stephanbakir]

Feeding in or out of the enclosure will have NO EFFECT on how the snake reacts. And they are defensive rather than aggresive when they bite us.

Lanky is 100% correct, the only real reasons to feed an animal outside its enclosure is to remove the risk of ingesting substrate, and to separate groups of animals for individual feedings.
That being said if you want to stop getting bitten, either learn to handle your animal correctly and how to read its body language or learn to hook train your reptiles. Preferably both.

[Nos]

Feeding in or out of the enclosure will have NO EFFECT on how the snake reacts. And they are defensive rather than aggresive when they bite us.

ive always feed mine in a container beside his enclosure and he knows when ever he sees its feeding time, also i make sure to feed mine every 7-8 days. that helps build trust. I agree they are defensive and not aggressive my mistake.

[stephanbakir]

What your are referring to is an aggressive feeding response, and that's totally normal. Hook training will solve that problem. regarding feeding every 7-8 days building trust??? how does that work.

[SnakeyJay]

Sorry nos but ive got to ask, how does feeding every 7-8 days build more trust in comparison to every 10? Or obviously more regular intervals for young snakes on smaller prey...

[belovedboas]

Feeding in or out of the enclosure will have NO EFFECT on how the snake reacts. And they are defensive rather than aggresive when they bite us.

100% agreed:)

Oh and I don't think how often you feed has any impact on building trust:):)

[Nobodyspecial]

It was a defensive strike, and like I said I was really asking for it messing with the substrate so close to him while he was out. I found out his limits, and I going to do everything I can to make sure he never feels like he has to do it again.

I do feed him out of his tank, merely for the substrate reason he drags his mice around a lot while he's eating it so I don't know if just putting a paper towel down would be enough to stop him from ingesting some. Would he relax more if I fed him like this instead of taking him out and putting him into a separate tub?

Really I'm not bothered by being bitten, more by the fact that he'd ever feel the need too. Body language I've been researching since before I ever got him so I could get that all figured out but I guess a lot of the fine details of that is going to come with experience and getting to know him better. Handling is what I think I have to most issues with, I usually sit down with him on the floor or the couch with no other people or animals in the room. I'm terrified he'll wiggle out of my hands and I'll drop and injure him. He really doesn't like to wrap around my hand or arm to help steady himself so it gets a bit awkward when he starts trying to move around lol. >:

Ah bunch of posts before I could respond lol! I am curious too though how feeding regularly could help establish trust. I really don't think the snake would ever make the connection to you and how often it eats.

[stephanbakir]

I do feed him out of his tank, merely for the substrate reason he drags his mice around a lot while he's eating it so I don't know if just putting a paper towel down would be enough to stop him from ingesting some. Would he relax more if I fed him like this instead of taking him out and putting him into a separate tub?

Really I'm not bothered by being bitten, more by the fact that he'd ever feel the need too. Body language I've been researching since before I ever got him so I could get that all figured out but I guess a lot of the fine details of that is going to come with experience and getting to know him better. Handling is what I think I have to most issues with, I usually sit down with him on the floor or the couch with no other people or animals in the room. I'm terrified he'll wiggle out of my hands and I'll drop and injure him. He really doesn't like to wrap around my hand or arm to help steady himself so it gets a bit awkward when he starts trying to move around lol. >:
Regarding substrate, does he like to climb? another way you can do it is put him on a branch and the food below him, some snakes will eat from branches and pull the food up to them, much lower substrate ingestion risk, even then though eating a little substrate generally isn't that bad.

Regarding dropping him, don't worry about it that much it's harder then you think to drop a snake. The more you handle him the more accustomed you will be to his movements and the less likely you are to make a mistake.
the bright side is for the most part all snakes move generally the same way when it comes to general movement, so you are not only learning how to handle this snake but most snakes. Some like retics and colubrids are generally more energetic then others and some snakes specifically arboreals and snakes that like climbing will wrap themselves around you at all times, even then moving from point A to point B they will have a coil or two around you.

[Nobodyspecial]

Regarding substrate, does he like to climb? another way you can do it is put him on a branch and the food below him, some snakes will eat from branches and pull the food up to them, much lower substrate ingestion risk, even then though eating a little substrate generally isn't that bad.

Regarding dropping him, don't worry about it that much it's harder then you think to drop a snake. The more you handle him the more accustomed you will be to his movements and the less likely you are to make a mistake.
the bright side is for the most part all snakes move generally the same way when it comes to general movement, so you are not only learning how to handle this snake but most snakes. Some like retics and colubrids are generally more energetic then others and some snakes specifically arboreals and snakes that like climbing will wrap themselves around you at all times, even then moving from point A to point B they will have a coil or two around you.

He really does love to climb. I usually see him on his branch when he's not in one of his hides. That's seriously worth a try I wonder if he'll take it. Thanks for the suggestion. :'D

And that is good to know with the handling, hopefully he'll put up with me until we get more used to each other. And just in the past few months I have gotten a bit more comfortable with his movements and body language. I kinda feel bad now. I wish I could of volunteered at a reptile rescue or someplace before I got him, so he wouldn't have to deal with the learning process on my end. haha.

[stephanbakir]

He puts up with your handling and you pick up his poop and throw it away, fair trade:P

[Nos]

not saying that feeding him every 7-8 days is better then every 10 days just saying to keep it regular. my buddy has a ball and he moved away from here up north, he was feeding it every 8 days and then changed its feeding pattern. he moved where its harder to buy the feeders he was telling me that he feeds his two rats every like 15-20 days.

Im just saying if he keeps it regular then his ball will be more used to the routine and less likely to get stressed.

[Nobodyspecial]

He puts up with your handling and you pick up his poop and throw it away, fair trade:P

Yup fair enough. XD

And I do have a specific feeding day for him. He's only skipped two meals since I've gotten him. Its tomorrow night actually. So I'll put some paper towels in his tank and see if he'll be happier eating inside the tank from now on. If his rats get here on time anyways. >>