Newbie!!!!

OCTANE · 08-20-03, 04:22 PM

Hi everyone I'm new on the forumns here and also new to a 6 month Albino Rat Snake... My Gf and I had him for only 4 weeks now... The first 2 weeks it was very dosile and very non threatening... It shed it's skin after the first week (BTW)... But the past 2 weeks it's been very jumpy and it has lunged at my hands several times... We've asked the employee and the pet shop that we bought him at for some advice. He told us to feed him in a box, somewhere besides the aquarium where he is kept. He ate the fuzzy we gave him, but a little while later when we wanted to transfere him back to him "home" he lunged at the sight of a hand. After getting him back in his home he was very jittery, he's moves around a lot, and when i moved my hand he lounged at the glass towards my direction. What could be the problem??? Temperature??? Hungry (feed it once a week with a fuzzy)???

ohh_kristina · 08-20-03, 04:31 PM

6 month old rat snake should be eating more than a fuzzy. That could be what's wrong. Or, you could just have an aggressive snake. Up the size of the prey and see what happens.

oh, and welcome to the boards!

TheRedDragon · 08-20-03, 04:47 PM

Welcome to the forums and I agree with kristina, try giving your snake something bigger than a fuzzy and you'll see positive results. Our neonates take fuzzies, so, I'm sure you could give a six month old at least a hopper.

Simon R. Sansom · 08-20-03, 05:12 PM

Hi Octane, and welcome to the community!

Your snake definitely needs more food. As you've noticed, Rat Snakes tend to be fairly active and they have a fairly quick metabolism.
Try several weanling mice per week, depending on the actual size of the snake.

In my experience, some North American Rat Snakes can be a bit "defensive", but they are usually easy to deal with once you get to know them. If the animal is difficult to pick up, you may want to try using a snake-stick. This is a great way to pick up a nervous snake. Once you get them on the stick, it's usually very easy to trasfer them to your hands without any problems.

Cheers!

Simon

Invictus · 08-20-03, 06:24 PM

Welcome Octane.

Ratsnakes are jumpy when they are babies. Definitely feed it outside the enclosure and up the prey size, and keep us posted about the progress. Also, bear this in mind: If it strikes at you and you back away, it will know that it can scare you off. Handle it often, and you'll see it calm down.

Smilts · 08-23-03, 11:17 AM

My great plains rat was the same he's calm now but after feeding he will still strike at me when i go to transfer him back to his tub. So instead of getting bit and stressing her and since the feeding tub is smaller. I take the lid off the feeder tub and tilt it into her enclosure she leaves the feader on her own and go's to her hide.

Linds · 08-24-03, 11:29 PM

IMHO feeding tubs cause more problems than they are worth, with the exceptions of snakes that need their "privacy"

Not surprising your snake bit you when you went to remove it, as they stay in "feeding mode" for some time after each meal. Your snake will not make associations with your hand entering his cage with being fed if he is fed in his enclosure. All your doing by removing him is causing him more stress, as well as risking a regurgitation and a bite when you put him back in his home afterwards. Way back when, I utilized seperate containers for feeding, I found them impractical, and noticed no difference in behaviour when switched to feeding in their enclosures.