If I am jumpy or busy, I pet my snake as well. I still fret quite a bit with her. But I have also gotten some great advice and being a novice owner as well, the two things that stand out the most are (1) snakes are not social animals - that would be a paraphrase, please don't make me search the site! and (2) it takes a longer time than I think for her to not be used to being handled - please, again, a paraphrase. But for good measure, I guess you can't beat the garden gloves. Good luck. You will do fine.

thanks for the advice folks!


okay here is a question and I hope somebody can answer it

HOW CAN I TELL IF ITS A MALE OR FEMALE?

Ive done some reading as I mentioned before but nothing really clearly stated how you can tell, it said that you have to know the animal or take it to somebody who does. Are there any tell tale signs??

Most of the time the only sure fire way to tell the sex of a snake is to have it probed by someone who is experienced in doing this. A person who has never done it before or doesn't understand what they're doing can seriously injure a snake.

__________________
Professional Pet Sitting/Dog Walking
http://niksscalesandtails.com/



yes i am a she ^_^

~My Babies~

1 Rosy Boa (male) Chaos
1 Snow Corn (male) Blizzard
1 Anertherystic Corn (male) Bullet
1 Senegal Parrot (male) Shadow
2 dogs (male) Spot (RIP) and Bear

Not trying to get off topic here, but have you all really had luck using gloves. I used to wear a pair when dealing with my snakes, but someone brought up the point that (especially with boids) a snake grabbing a glove can catch its teeth in the materiel, chancing injury to the snakes mouth, possible loss of teeth, mouth infection due to the loss of the teeth, and so on.
Just wondering what your opinions are about that, I'm not sure that I'd suggest using gloves for a baby ball python.

__________________
"Nobody can do Everything, but Everybody can do Something."

I have worn really soft leather driving gloves when handling some of our more aggressive snakes. Even those provide some protection for my hands but they are tight fitting and I think less likely to damage the snake's teeth than heavy garden gloves. (Heck those gloves are softer than some people's hands!) But you're right, if you have big thick gloves and pull your hand away, you can damage the snake's mouth and for thin baby snakes, possibly even break its neck.

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Andrea

Another reason that I personally do not suggest using gloves, is you have very little sense of how tight you are gripping the animal.
Big bulky gloves could result in you squeezing too tight and frightening or even injuring the animal.
Years ago when I got my first pair of hatchlings, I was sitting with the male in my lap and wasn't watching what I was doing. I moved my hand toward his face. I felt a "tap" and looked down to find two tiny little pinprick droplets of blood. I felt him touch me but the bite didn't even register until I saw the blood.
Neither of the pair have ever even offered to bite since.

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Merlin,
What's Life Without A Little Magic!

sweet!

well I'll try not to handle it too much for the first couple weeks but then will hold it more frequently so it gets comfortable with people handling it.

thanks for all the help ladies and gentleman

Hey if you ever have a question dont be afraid to ask. There are alot of good people here who have great advice to offer. After a little over a year of having heps, I still ask questions....

__________________
"We can judge the heart of a man by his treatment of animals." ~ Immanual Kant

"Until one has loved an animal, a part of one's soul remains unawakened." ~ Anatole France

will do my friend, thank you very much

Exactly, I've been keeping snakes for over 5 years now and I still will have questions.

__________________
Professional Pet Sitting/Dog Walking
http://niksscalesandtails.com/



yes i am a she ^_^

~My Babies~

1 Rosy Boa (male) Chaos
1 Snow Corn (male) Blizzard
1 Anertherystic Corn (male) Bullet
1 Senegal Parrot (male) Shadow
2 dogs (male) Spot (RIP) and Bear