borneo short tailed python aggressive

[creepiecrawlie]

Well I was wondering about 2 questions. 1, how many of your borneos are biters, and how many are hissers and not biters. 2 does my guy sound aggressive.

well my borneo was bred by a profesional breeder so she is C.B. She was SUPER tame at the reptile show and on the way home. The first couple of days she was housed in the 36 gal. (because it was to cold for her outside) the power in our reptile house basically burnt a breaker and the electric went down. She was a gentle tame lazy snake for those days. Now on the 3rd day when I picked her up she hissed a little but not much. The next day she hissed a little more but did nothing at all. I thought that was just normal borneo behavior. Once we moved her in her new 75gallon enclosure she seemed real nice like she was when we first got her. I got him out and no hissing or anything but today was REAL different. I went out about 20 minutes ago to switch the nocturnal heatlamp bulbs for the diurnal basking bulbs. She appeared to be asleep. I just rubbed her back and she looked up (with her eye) and hissed real loud. I pulled back because it surprised me and I touched her again. Once again a loud hiss then she crawled over her log staring at me. She inflated her throat and hissed real loud. I wondered if she was just cage defensive. Because we held her yesterday no problems. Then I got her out and she acted like she normally does just a little more nervous acting at first. I then put her back in the tank and she hissed again. I misted her spaghum moss and decided to miss her. This got her upset. She hissed real loud and inflated her throat. She then appeared to "strike" at the water but it looked like her mouth was closed. Does this sound like a snake that would be a biter, or just a puppy dog snake that is a cage defensive hisser?

[YoungBuck]

Welcome to the wonderful world of Borneos. In all my experience, they have to be the most tempermental snakes I have dealt with. One minute they can be finem and seriously 5 minutes later they will want to bite your face off. That doesn't mean that they are overly aggressive though. The hissing or huffing is completely normal. Borneos and Bloods are both extremely vocal snakes. Before you go picking her up or touching her, make sure she knows you are there. I usually bump the snakes enclosure, or knock on the glass so they know that I am not something attacking them and they doesn't have to defend themselves. Just wait until she gets some size to her, they love to throw their weight and strength around. She will start to bump you with her body when she doesn't want to be touched. My largest Borneo is 5'11" and right now about 14 lbs, when she bumps my hands against the side of the enclosure, I usually come out with bruised knuckles LOL You need to get to know what your Borneos signs are so you know when and when not to disturb them. It's a long learning curve with these guys and you will get bit. Let's hope it's not when she is an adult though

PS. When moving my snakes into new enclosures, I usually don't handle them for atleast 48 hours. Borneos and Bloods stress out waaay to easily and that is why they are so defensive. You've probably noticed when your girl gets worked up, she breathes really heavily almost hyperventilating, but it's normal. Just leave them be and they will settle down.

Hope this helps a little

[creepiecrawlie]

thank you so much. I did in fact forget about the not handling because I have had her for a week and just put her in her new tank. She did breath heavy when I would touch her and hold her. She hasn't struck but does open her mouth a bit and hisses like a bull snake...

thanks again for the post

[YoungBuck]

I think she might just need to get to know you a bit more. With gentle handling, but don't over handle, she'll become one of your best friends. Remember to be persistant. If she still seems grumpy, only handle her every 2-3 days instead of everyday. You don't want her stressed out and stop feeding on you.

[creepiecrawlie]

right. I think I may have handled her a little to much. When she was in the 36gal (just temporary) I wanted to make sure she could stretch. She did eat a med. rat with no problems at all. Lets hope she eats another one this week. Thanks for the advice.

[YoungBuck]

No problem, keep us posted~!

[creepiecrawlie]

alright I will.