The snakes night and day is governed by your night and day. I was not sure if you were trying to handle during the day so that is why I posted that.

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Merlin,
What's Life Without A Little Magic!

Dude ok I did something stupid. Thanks for the advice. Hey we all make mistakes I'm sure you and everyone on this forum did at some point.
By the way it wasn't someone who told me to do that it was a website. I don't have the link anymore though.

All right! Lets keep it polite here! Everyone was a beginner at some point.
NO FLAMING OR BASHING!!!!!!!!
We ALL have done some things when we first started out keeping that we later found out were wrong. I could write a book on things I did wrong back in the 70's when herp keeping was in its infancy.
And that was just by following what I was told to do by the so called "experts" aka the pet shop owners!
We are here to exchange information and ideas, NOT to belittle people due to a mistake that any one of us could have made when WE were starting out.
We don't play that way!

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Merlin,
What's Life Without A Little Magic!

Ok, so am I right this time.
I should
1) Put my hand in from BEHIND the snake and
2) Without letting it know of my presence first, QUICKLY pick it up
??

How do I avoid startling it like that then? Without it knowing I am there first.

You should approach the snake from the side, and from their level, not from above. Don't pick it up quickly, but don't hesitate. Just approach is calmly and surely.

When I got my first snake, I was advised to pick it up like I would a plastic toy snake. Unless of course you act violently towards them, then dont' do that. :P

First of all, welcome to the next level of snake ownership... almost everyone gets tagged at some point. I personally consider it a good thing. Then I know it's not so bad and I'm less nervous.

Here's my advice:
Only handle nocturnal species in the late evenings or at night. (I don't want anyone hassling me when I'm sleeping, and I'm likely to bite too.)

***Take a piece of paper-towel or a light handkerchief and lightly drop it over the snakes head, then reach in and pick him up from the middle. Once they realize they are being picked up they are less likely to get spooked. Also they cannot sense the warmth of your hand coming towards them with their head covered so they are less likely to mistake you for food.

Once you pick them up take the towel off, sit down and calmly let the snake move through your hands and on your lap.

Do not walk around with him in your hands, and do not pass him around to friends.

Keep the lights low: bright lighting is sometimes irritating to snakes.

Avoid putting your hands or face in front of the snake's head. Big objects moving past their eyes will make them nervous.

Move slowly but purposefully... not nervously or quickly.

If he starts to move away in a direction you don't want him to go, bring your hand under him and guide him back, do NOT grab his neck or body and pull. This will make him very nervous and likely to bite.

Keep the outings short in the beginning. My new Brazilian Rainbow Boa is not used to handling... after 5 minutes he starts to get nervous and tries to bite. The idea is to "quit while you're ahead." Don't wait until something bad happens to put him away.

Good luck with the little guy. But remember: a snake will ALWAYS be a wild animal. They cannot be trained or domesticated. At most they will become less nervous and accustomed to being handled. But don't get lazy. Remember to always respect the nature of the animal and not expect it to be like a tame puppy you can "play" with.

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Andrea

I fully agree with Merlin, no need for flaming or bashing, we are all here to share our experience and knowledge...thats why we're the best forum on the web Anthony- congrats on your first bite! Im still awaiting mine . All I can say is follow everyones advice and have lots of patience. Taming the BP is going to be easier then the Iggy thats for sure . Sounds like the reason he bit was becasue he was starteled, IMO its better you found out sooner then later what a bite feels like so you know its not going to be this horrible, painfuly bloody mess and you wont be hesitant in handeling him because youre worried about a bite Good luck with the taming!

mshrmheadcharge, I agree that the ball is probably more docile by nature than my iggy, which I handle fine now. As such, taming is easier per se, but the fact is, there is waaaaay more readily available information for igs than there are for any other herp out there, at least on the web. So in that sense, its a little harder.

I fully agree with you, its way harder to find valid info on BPs and most other snakes then it is to find info on iguanas. Which I find sad because BPs are just as easy to get ahold of as iggys, and for people buying them from clueless petshops they need all the info they can get...but Ive yet to do a google search on herp info and not pull up the HC, which is a great thing

seems you have got enough help here.Y boa was a bit nippy after the forst two weeks but she has calmed down alot,I can stroke her head from behind now coming from the back pick her up and just handle her,I don't pick her up till four to five days after feeding and handle her twice a day for an hour aday

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Live for today Not tomorrow.