Snake question.

My brother has 3 snakes which I have posted about in the past. The youngest snake which is named Little Budda, has a very bad problem. My brother took her out of her cage to be feed, she got almost all the way out of the box and she struck at him. She was about an inch from getting his face. After she ate (my mom fed her) Sean (my brother) took her out to put her back in her cage and she struck at him again. She didn't have any eye caps and her eyes weren't the milky color like shes going into shed. Some of my brothers friends have kids, now if the kids are over and they want to hold a snake and if Sean isn't home I have permission and so does my mom's boyfriend to get Buddy out. The only problem is we don't know which one is which so we don't get them out. I am just afraid that some day Budda will bite a little kid.

On to my question. If you had a snake like this what would you do? He has though about giving it back to the place he bought her from, because of her behavior. He doesn't want to take any risk or kids getting hurt. He also doesn't want to get bite him self or my mom or myself. Would you give the snake back or would you keep her?

She is handled almost daily, we have been trying to get her use to people but she is a very unfriendly snake.

Katie

P.S. Thank you for reading this and for any advice I hope to get.

What kind of snake is Budda? Is she wild caught or captive bred? What kind of setup is she in? Are the other snakes in with her or separate?

I would keep working with her. (unless she's a species like a green tree python which is just known for being nasty) It sounds like you're going the right way by handling her every day. Most snakes will calm down eventually.

You said Budda was the youngest. Is she a baby? If so, a lot of baby snakes are nippy at first, and settle down as they get older, particularly (in my experience) baby kings and (Wild caught) ball pythons.

Also, have you ruled out any medical problems? Maybe she has mites or something else that's making her cranks, and making it uncomfortable for her to be handled.

Budda is a ball pyton along with the other, all of them go to the vet on a regular basis, they were just there 3 weeks or so ago. They are all in the same cage and all are captive breed. She is a year old or so. The set up is I guess a normal snake set up, plenty of heat and lights. They have some store bought tree branches in there a box to go to when they want. All though she always perfers to stay alone unless the other two are out of the box. I am not sure what else you are looking for about their set up. My brother cleans out the tank (cage thing) every other day or once a week I can't remember. I don't live with them, but I am over there enough. My brother which knows alot more about snakes than I do is also getting to the point where he doesn't want to handle her. But he refuses to give up on her unless she hurts a child or someone in the family. When he first got her she wouldn't ever come out of strick position, and she is still staying in strick position.

She is also the only snake he has ever had that will basicly strick at everything.

Could it just be her nature?

If she was wild-caught, she may just be cranky. Also, check her temperatures. If she's overly warm, it could be causing problems too. He may just want to drop her temps a few degrees anyways, it will make her easier to work with.

As for her biting people...don't give her the opportunity to bite anyone except the person working with her. A bite from a young, fearful BP isn't going to be a big deal. If it's that much of a worry, invest in some gardening gloves for when she's being wirked with.

Most BP's actually have nice temperaments, but wild-catching has given some a bad rep.

Thank you for your advice. I will be sure to call my brother and tell him to try and drop the temp a little.

My husband and I have 6 snakes, 2 of which are ball pythons. Your brother might try seperating her from the other 2 for a while, often times balls are better alone. Also, 1 of our balls is blind, he was a rescue, so we don't know why. Maybe budda can't see as well as she should?? I would try seperating her.

You say that it's a normal snake setup with "lots of heat and lights". I'm assuming that your brother knows that snakes need a "cool side" as well for temperature management?

Oooh, good point Alikkon. They should have an area of the tank that is several degrees cooler so they can go back and forth to get their temperature just right.

Sorry I forgot about that. Yes he does. On one side the the tank it has a box and there are no heat lamps or anything on that side. On the other side it has the heat lamps and such. Sorry I forgot about that.

Katie