|
A couple questions
Hey I'm new to the forums and this is actually my first post.
After reviewing the blood forum rather extensively, I thought I would ask a couple questions about my newly acquired yearling male Super Stripe Borneo STP. I got him five days ago and I think he's been doing really well. Temps in the low 80's with humidity at around 75 percent. I fed him the second day I had him to keep him on the same schedule that the breeder had him on and he accepted food with zero hesitation. I'm keeping him on cypress mulch (treated) and he has a ceramic water dish big enough to soak in, although I've never seen him soak.
My question revolves around handling:
I waited 48hrs after he ate (three after I received him) to take the first steps toward handling him. I made sure his head was facing away from me and I slowly stroked the lower half of his back with my finger. He immediately tensed up and I backed off. He never started breathing heavily and he never hissed he just got very tense. I waited five minutes or so until I felt he had sufficiently left striking position only for him to get tense again and regain the "s" curve and strike at me from over his body and then strike two more times as I was getting the lid on his cage to put him away. I waited 24hrs and attempted to work with him again. With the same response. I guess my question is several parted. Is this behavior all feeding response, or is it defensive/aggressive? What are my chances of calming him down to be at least semi-handleable at just under 1 year old? Did I start too soon to begin trying to work with him? What are methods that have worked for you with calming down a blood?
I've had several snakes before, but this is my first snake of this caliber. Any advice or suggestions are immensely appreciated. My apologies for the longwinded email.
All best,
Frank
|
Threaded Mode