Milksnake with a bad attitude

rmfsnakes32 · 08-31-12, 11:48 PM

Ok so my daughter has a pueblan milksnake he is very pretty but has a crabby attitude! Everytime we get him out he pees or poops on us and nips and bites. He is a baby only 14 to 15 inches long. Anyone have any tips on calming this guy down? I do not want to get rid of him he eats great (except this week) his temps are in normal range.

gareth.hooper · 09-01-12, 02:31 AM

I have no experience with milksnakes, but the loose rule is time.
With time and handling the little one should start calming down.

I may be wrong with this, but my observation of milks show them to always come across as high strung, Again just my observation but maybe misreading them.

DragonsEye · 09-01-12, 07:46 AM

Pueblans have a rep for behaving that way -- particularly in the defecating and musking department. Mine has never been much of a biter. She has calmed down a bit with age but may still musk or defecate sometimes. Once she realizes that this enormous mammal who picked her up has no intention of eating her, she'll sit calmly on my hand for a bit. (ALWAYS be on guard while holding one, however. They can decide to dart off at a moment's notice.)

If worse comes to worse, accept that he is going to be more of a display animal than a handling animal.

shaunyboy · 09-01-12, 07:52 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by gareth.hooper

I have no experience with milksnakes, but the loose rule is time.
With time and handling the little one should start calming down.

I may be wrong with this, but my observation of milks show them to always come across as high strung, Again just my observation but maybe misreading them.

^^^^^
its only carpet pythons i keep,but i agree entirely with the above

once the snake gets a little bigger it will feel more secure,especially after it realises your not a threat

cheers shaun

Lankyrob · 09-01-12, 09:20 AM

We adopted an adult corn that had never been handled and for six months or so i got musked on everytime i tried handling him.

I just worked through it, i wore full waterproofs (easy to wash off) and placed newspaper over the carpet outside his viv so that as soon as the musk started flying it was "contained".

I started off holding him for 3 minutes and then over six months moved it up to 10 minutes. Toward the end of this time he started to musk less and less and after the 6 months he has never musked since.

One rule i did enforce was that noone else was allowed in the room and/or to try to interact with him just to get him used to one person at a time. After the six months i got him out of the viv and then passed him to my wife and he kinda freaked out but there was no musking, after a week of this she could get him out and there were no issues.

exwizard · 09-01-12, 09:43 AM

good advice and definitely one that takes a lot of patience.

rmfsnakes32 · 09-01-12, 10:14 AM

Thanks for the advice everyone I will put it to good use

rmfsnakes32 · 09-02-12, 12:10 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DragonsEye

Pueblans have a rep for behaving that way -- particularly in the defecating and musking department. Mine has never been much of a biter. She has calmed down a bit with age but may still musk or defecate sometimes. Once she realizes that this enormous mammal who picked her up has no intention of eating her, she'll sit calmly on my hand for a bit. (ALWAYS be on guard while holding one, however. They can decide to dart off at a moment's notice.)

If worse comes to worse, accept that he is going to be more of a display animal than a handling animal.

I hope in time he mellows out! I really do not want him to be a display animal if possible. I like to give all my pets (snakes included) attention to make them as a integrated part of the family!