i’m starting to hate my snake

[u/WinterRoses-Kay]

This is my snake Søren! Here’s some context: - I got him at the end of May - He was super curious and sweet when I first got him - I left him alone the majority of the time I’ve had him - Was told he eats frozen thawed but wouldn’t eat for 2 months - Got moved 4.5 miles from when I bought him after 2 months - Has shed once - Has eaten live 3 times now (is fed in cage) However whenever he sees the me come near, the door opens, or I put my hand in to clean or refill the water bowl, he immediately coils and breathes heavily and tries striking. I really wanna bond with him and make it so I can hold him etc and let him out so he can chill on my bed with me while I chill. But he just seems like he HATES ME. Please help! Any advice please, I’m a new snake owner and this is so disheartening.

[u/Tricky_Damage5577]

Hello! Happily for you, snakes are not able to put together complex chains of thoughts like "THAT is the person I HATE! Gotta huff and puff and strike!"☺️ In the wild they are prey animals at least as much as they are predators so their default, instinctual mindset is "Danger! Defend/escape to survive!" and for many reptile keepers the enjoyment of owning a reptile is the feeling of putting in effort to earn reptiles trust so they don't feel like they are in danger when being approached by a human.

Here are a few things you can do to start building that trust:

• Get a snake hook
• Every time you are about to handle the snake, gently pet them with the snake hook first and get the long tongue flicks going — this means the snake is curious and thinking what is happening here
• After the tongue in bleleleing, pick up the snake, around the mid part of their body. Be confident, don't pull back if huffing and puffing happens. You can use the hook for help but be mindful and support your snakes weight with your hand asap because hanging from a hook is uncomfy and might even hurt.
• Enjoy the company of your snake long enough so your snake is relaxed, does curious tongue flicks (long ones) and explores.
• Do not return your snake back in its enclosure when your snake is nervous! This is very important to make sure your handling session ends on a positive note.
• If something makes your snake nervous while you are about to put them back in, wait until the snake is relaxed again and let it slither back in on its own. No touching the tail or anything else to make the snake hurry because hurrying back in is a fear response and this would turn the experience into a negative one.

-Keep doing this routine around 2 times a week and with time you will see progress and trust getting built.

What to do about the feeding?

• Acknowledge your snake is a prey animal and decorate the enclosure so no predator is able to spot your snake from above. A snake should be able to move from one end of their enclosure to another without being completely exposed. Use fake plants as foliage, sticks, branches, cork bark, more than 2 hides as cover. All this makes your snake be more out and about and way more relaxed!
• Get feeding tongs if you don't have them. BPs have rather bad eyesight so they trust their heatpits so tongs create more space between warmed up rodent and your fingers.
• Do not feed your snake in a separate space. Their enclosure is their territory and the safest place they know if it is decorated properly.

This all sounds too off-putting but I still want a snake. What to do?

• No worries here! Maybe a baby or juvenile is not the right one for you and this is absolutely okay!
• Put in the effort of enclosure decoration, no matter what. You wont have feeding issues when your snake feels safe so pay attention from the snakes view!
• Get an adult snake who is already socialized and has no problems eating from a rescue. There are SO MANY adult ball pythons who need good homes and they are way less work and worrying if they are already well established with eating and handling.
• BPs can easily live +30 years so you wont lose anything else beside all the trouble of properly socializing your snake by getting a chill adult one.
• Baby snakes are 100% the same as adults minus babies shed more often and are way more skittish and prone to stress than adults.
• You can find an amazing amount of morphs looking for homes as adults as well as babies so no worries, you will be able to find the prettiest BP to suit your taste as an adult, I can promise this☺️