new JCP

[tmartois]

I just bought a JCP from someone off of Craigslist. Good deal but the previous owner did not hold it ever because he bites and fed him in the tank. He is approx 2 years old. and on the smaller size about 30 inches in length. He was fed in his tank a small hopper a week. I got him yesterday, hooked him to get him out of the tank, he struck at my free hand. I fed him 2 adult mice without problem. Hooked him and put him back in his tank about an hour later. Tanks temp in warmest spot is 88-90. Humidity is about 50-60%. he has a large branch to climb on.

My question is can he be calmed down? I was planning on leaving him alone for about a week and then start slowly with hooking him out of the tank and then start holding his back half with gloves.

[shaunyboy]

nice jungle,i really like the depth of the black on him

cheers shaun

[Coffee Black]

Very nice. you can probably calm him down a bit. Might not ever reach "tame" though.

[Will0W783]

I would think you'd be able to calm him down quite a bit. However, there are some that will never be tame. My jungle/jag sibling carpet is fine once he's out of his cage, but I'd never put my hand in there. He will defend his territory, as will a lot of snakes. Hook training is your best bet, and I do recommend getting a good pair of gloves. When you have the snake out, and it bites you, the most important thing is to resist the urge to put it away immediately. Keep the snake out until it calms down, then put it back as soon as it relaxes. Keep this up, it might take weeks or months, but the snake should eventually get used to handling and not bite as much, if at all.

[Snakefood]

alright, I am a dog trainer and I don't know if this method would work on snakes, but the theory is sound. Maybe some of our resident snake experts can ring in on whether this will work on a snake.

When we get a "fear biter" (when the animal is biting as a defense against a threat, real or imagined) it is simply a matter of teaching them that the "lunge" or "bite" does not make the human pull back/stop. You have to keep doing what your doing (sometimes after removing said animals teeth from your flesh!) This teaches the animal 2 things: 1) that biting does not have the desired result of the human stopping/leaving and 2) that the animal survived, unharmed what the person was doing. Also when speaking of dogs, you have stay calm during and after the bite as well, no anger/jumping up and down/hollering/ect..no reaction at all except to un-engage the bite and keep calmly doing what you were doing with the animal.

[marvelfreak]

alright, I am a dog trainer and I don't know if this method would work on snakes, but the theory is sound. Maybe some of our resident snake experts can ring in on whether this will work on a snake.

When we get a "fear biter" (when the animal is biting as a defense against a threat, real or imagined) it is simply a matter of teaching them that the "lunge" or "bite" does not make the human pull back/stop. You have to keep doing what your doing (sometimes after removing said animals teeth from your flesh!) This teaches the animal 2 things: 1) that biting does not have the desired result of the human stopping/leaving and 2) that the animal survived, unharmed what the person was doing. Also when speaking of dogs, you have stay calm during and after the bite as well, no anger/jumping up and down/hollering/ect..no reaction at all except to un-engage the bite and keep calmly doing what you were doing with the animal.

You nailed it on the head. Never put a snake down or up right after it bites even if it's repeated biting. This way you don't reinforce this behavior.

Also it sounds like part of the problem is it's not getting enough to eat. Carpets can eat food 3 times bigger than the fattest part of their body. I would switch to at least small rats. Plus rat are healthier they have less fat than mice. A full snake is a happy snake.

[Hillsberry]

Great looking Jungle! Hope he calms down for you!

[Teckdragon]

This is the problem with so many herp owners. They buy a juvie at a trade show because they believe every snake will behave like a cornsnake. Then they get bit and refuse to give the animal proper husbandry, or worse, simply ignore the poor creature. All young animals are nippy, that's just a fact; some more than others. They don't just become "tame" overnight. It takes years of working with them, repeatedly handling them and taking the bites in due course. Additionally, many snakes will remain cage defensive but still be gentle handlers. This is something that will never change. Best of luck, hope you're willing to put the effort in that the previous owner could not.