Yes, wait a bit before handelling him so he has time to adjust...

Doesn't seem very fun to me now. I have 5 pets currently and many before over the years and I have never had anything this aggressive.

How damaging are the bites? Let me get prepared.

hmm prehaps some one else could help with that I would say if they get you could as in a feeding response there will be blood and the snake may loos some teeth how big is the snake?

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Well I can do ok with some blood, even though I dread it, but if it will loose teeth then I don't think I should just "take the hits"!

It's about 18 inches or so, still small. But I obviously can't stretch it out to measure!

I do have water dish and water, hide and substrate in there before I picked up the snake. But it turned out when I picked up the animal the hide was a little too big so I wanted to change a smaller one into the tank.

I just tried putting a plastic spoon in there and it didn't strike...

It was fed by previous owner last tuesday, so I will feed it next tuesday. Do they tend to strike less when they aren't hungry? Well, I guess that's useless because I can't handle it after it eats until its hungry again so bleh...

nothing can happen to you if your tagged, it is scary though. LOL
i knew someone who got a corn hatchling, it struck at him and he pulled back so hard he smashed the tank. rofl

just brave it and it will eventually calm down. Don't restrain the snake, just let it cruise around your hand and stuff.

how old is it?

I don't know the age for sure because size is also a function of how much it was fed, but it is only about 18 inches long or so.

And what's that rattling sound it makes, like a rattle snake! That's scary! I never read that in any article that they do that.

They do that as a deffence it to make the threat think tehy are dangerous my corn does it I belive alot of colourbrids do it.

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LOL Anthony! Here we go again.
You have got to be patient!
With a new snake I advise putting him in the enclosure (hides included! and leave it alone for at least a week, even two with nervous snakes.) This snake is freaked out. It has just been jerked out of its world and moved to a different planet! you have to give it time to acclimate. Be sure and get that hide in there so the snake has a place to retreat to. This too wil reduce aggression.
The bite from an 18 inch snake is negligable. In fact you may not even realize you have been bitten if it is a tag and release bite. It will feel like you have been scratched with a peice of velcro. Their teeth are like tiny needles and it may not even bleed. However it is something to be avoided so that you don't accidently break off a tooth. A feeding bite is a little worse as they will hold on and try to swallow you! And allowing the snake to bite you really doesn't teach them anything.
After the week is over if the snake is still striking you can simply drop a cloth over its head and pick it up. If you keep the clothe betweeen your hands and the snakes head it will help to prevent you being bitten. From some reason many snakes, once in hand will start to calm down.

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Merlin,
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Ok so I am not afraid now of the bites, as you guys say it won't cause me serious harm, and you guys know your stuff. But how do I make sure it doesn't loose teeth?

Ok I got the hide in there. WOO HOO! What a rush!

The hide is slightly taller than the snake itself in thickness, and allows him to curl up into a disk inside, so it is a tight fit. That's desirable, right?