Meet the gang!

[gregmonsta]

They do grow like weeds when the mood strikes them

[kibakiba]

Indeed, I love thinking back to when Snakey was a baby (probably a year old when I got him, or less). It seems like yesterday... He's all grown up now and he's living with his girlfriend now... He doesn't like it when his mom visits him anymore. Haha.

[kibakiba]

I made some serious progress with Snap!! Shes been so calm for the last 20 minutes. I feel so happy I could cry. She usually "spazzes" any time I hold her, musking and pooping everywhere. When I first grabbed her 30 minutes ago, she did just that. She even bit me a little. I think after 10 minutes she got tired and rested in my hand. I softly stroked her back while she rested and it was almost like magic, after she started slithering around again, it wasn't panicky or super fast. She's even sleeping in my hand right now. she doesn't seem to mind me stroking her, either

[guidofatherof5]

Many of my snakes get used to being touched while they are out. It all just takes time and sometimes longer times with a few.
Sounds like Snap is beginning to trust you. Don't be surprised if Snap take a few steps back now and them. Instinctive behavior is hard to re-write and overcome.
I have some that stay sound asleep even after I've opened the enclosure. I reach in and rub their neck to get them up. Then they slowly raise their head with this "why'd you wake me " look.
For me, that's when I know they trust me.

[kibakiba]

I know, I had a feeling she'd still be jumpy and she is, but I'm holding her right now nd she's starting to calm down again. None of my babies are as tame and trusting as yours are, but since I'm not doing school, I have time to give each one of them at least 30 minutes of my time a day, if not more. Mama is the tamest and she'll probably get to come out for longer since she'll just sleep on me while I do my studies Snap seems to enjoy sleeping in my hand. She seems to know when I don't trust her not to fly off my hand when she rests and ends up trying to do just that. I try to show her that I trust her not to do anything by opening my hand while she's resting. She calms down faster and starts to allow me to touch her without her head jerking back or getting jumpy. Normally I don't handle the babies much, that think my hand just means food. Even Tiny, he doesn't want anything to do with me unless it's food, when he was the one that would slither into my hand and curl up. With Squirt being so new, small and jumpy, I dont hold him much. Instead, I hold my hand in his tank and let him inspect me If he comes on my hand I gently and slowly lift him up and it spooks him a lot less. Snap still thinks pooping will deter me from holding her... Haha, she presented me 2 big loads of poop.

[guidofatherof5]

That Snap is so giving.

[kibakiba]

Indeed she is, it smells of fish... that makes it even better...

She got to sleep on my bed and have a nice long neck massage.

[kibakiba]

I made more progress with Snap, along with Tiny, Ember and Runt. Snap didn't freak out as much when I took off the top of the enclosure and picked her up. She was still a little wriggly and scared, but calmed down a lot quicker and seemed to feel more comfortable just falling asleep on me. She slept on my hand for about 10 minutes and I woke her up accidentally by rubbing her neck. I didn't think she would wake up but she looked up at me when I did then slithered around my fingers. She was so calm with me and less jumpy when I moved. The next one to get some love was Ember. He got really skittish and musked me when I picked him up, but I was talking to him in a soft voice, they cant hear me but it does seem to help them calm down. He stopped fighting with me and wasn't as fast with moving. He didn't let me rub his neck, it scared him a bit so I just let him slither around on me for 15 minutes before putting him back. After Ember was Tiny, who did not want anything to do with me but after a little talking and holding him softly, he calmed down quickly and didn't mind me touching him or picking him up to move him. I cant really rub his neck because he's so tiny. Runt didn't even fight when I picked her up and was extremely calm while holding her. She wrapped around my fingers a lot and didn't stop moving. She's not really calm enough to relax on me or sleep on me. Hopefully she'll calm down more with some extra work.

[ConcinusMan]

The not-so-calm ones do calm a bit with handling but it seems you've pretty much got a good picture of their dispositions. They will pretty much stay in character from here on out. The squirmy ones get good exercise with the handling you give them. It's good for them and builds their trust in you, but sometimes they just stay squirmy or resist handling, others are calm.

It's funny, snap and ember both were very calm and didn't mind me handling them one bit. I think they just instinctively react different to different handlers. In other words, those two like me better than you.

[kibakiba]

Well they are showing less squirminess now. Snap automatically didnt like me when I got them, Ember was a little sweetheart. Since I got them before I was in school, I handled them more, then once I started school I stopped most handling. I've since dropped out to get my GED because my school considered learning to be 15 hours of writing essays every day to be learning.

Snap and Ember only seem to really like me when I have their favourite food. Snap, of course is learning to love sleeping on my hand and getting pampered with neck rubs. Maybe I can coax her to love me more by having food ready while I hold her, she'd be the princess of the house.


My boyfriend made a good point, though. Shipping them may have scared them enough to be less trusting. I know I'd have a hard time trusting anyone if I were put in a cold dark box.