I know the young ones can be a bit fiesty. Is there anyway to calm them down without regular handling? My collection is growing and I don't have time to hand raise them each one by one.

They usually calm down as they mature.

Thanks for the advice. It just gets annoying. I'm still a newbie at this.

It will just take time and patience. More handling doesn't necessarily mean they will calm down faster from my experience. Moving them to and from a holding tub during cleaning is all my baby Hondurans get, and most of them are quite handleable after a few months. I think too much handling just stresses them out and exacerbates the problem.

Do the babies just like tasting things? They seem to bite me during weird times.

Do the babies just like tasting things? They seem to bite me during weird times.

Kings and milks are more prone to bite than say a corn would be in my experience. Its just how they are. They are high strung and their only defense is to bite and musk. Honestly, I would rather have the bite... the musk lingers for days and seems to get stuck in my nose. I hate that! :lmao:

How much are you feeding?

Dan

I'm feeding twice a week. Then when they grow out of their baby tubs maybe cut down to once a week.

Do the babies just like tasting things? They seem to bite me during weird times.

Most likely they will settle down in time. I agree that too much handling may not be the best. Moving to feeding tubs and/or cleaning tubs helps them develop trust that they are not about to be eaten.



Kings and milks are more prone to bite than say a corn would be in my experience. Its just how they are. They are high strung and their only defense is to bite and musk. Honestly, I would rather have the bite... the musk lingers for days and seems to get stuck in my nose. I hate that! :lmao:

My experience has been just the opposite. I had a female corn that would just gnaw on me if I didn't control her head. Even then she would twist and writhe to try and bite me. She never grew out of it either.

Most likely they will settle down in time. I agree that too much handling may not be the best. Moving to feeding tubs and/or cleaning tubs helps them develop trust that they are not about to be eaten.


My experience has been just the opposite. I had a female corn that would just gnaw on me if I didn't control her head. Even then she would twist and writhe to try and bite me. She never grew out of it either.

Dont get me wrong, I have a few corns that like to bite. I had WAY more kings that bit though. Maybe kings just like the taste of me? :lmao:

I think kings are just bottomless pits!

I think kings are just bottomless pits!

I agree with you. Kings will eat and eat and eat and eat and eat.

I think kings are just bottomless pits!

No doubt, the way to their heart is through their stomach!

When I got my first woma python it reminded me of my kings, even the adults kings...they would just kinda hang out and almost in slow motion just start chewing on you...most grow out of it from my experience yet my Knoblochis are just normal runners not biters and have never been which has me curious since it was so different from my normal experiences with kings that I want to breed them one day to see if all the babies are the same way....

My knobs are the same way Jeff... not like a L. Getula at all. I should see some babies from them this year, it will be interesting to see how they act.

Common Kings (getula) are more prone to bite than other Kings.
Mexicana, Ruthveni, Zonata, Pyromelana & Alterna are much calmer snakes than Common kings.......

All Triangulum (milksnakes) are flighty when young.....Some subspecies grow out of it like Sinaloans and Annulata, even some Hondos.......

I don't bother trying to calm any of them down.......I think it is best to let them be what they are......snakes!
And Snakes breed better when they are snakes.........

Just my two cents.....

Common Kings (getula) are more prone to bite than other Kings.
Mexicana, Ruthveni, Zonata, Pyromelana & Alterna are much calmer snakes than Common kings.......

All Triangulum (milksnakes) are flighty when young.....Some subspecies grow out of it like Sinaloans and Annulata, even some Hondos.......

I don't bother trying to calm any of them down.......I think it is best to let them be what they are......snakes!
And Snakes breed better when they are snakes.........

Just my two cents.....

I can see where you are coming from. I guess I don't like getting chewed on. I know I could handle taming down my L. Getula if they were just pets but since I'm gonna try breeding them I just don't have the time. Plus my collection is growing.

I hardly handle mine at all......My collection is around 140 right now so there is certainly no time to try and handle all of them.....
Plus I see no reason to......They feed, breed, crap, thermal regulate, lay eggs and seek the right humidity all on their own......No need for me to even touch them except when I change out their substrate (aspen) and when I put the male in the female's enclosure for breeding. They seem to breed better when they are not disturbed by us humans all the time........We aren't there in the wild to bother them.....LOL

Good luck with your project(s) Pastor Hanzo........Once you see those eggs hatch you will be hooked for life......

Regards,

I hardly handle mine at all......My collection is around 140 right now so there is certainly no time to try and handle all of them.....
Plus I see no reason to......They feed, breed, crap, thermal regulate, lay eggs and seek the right humidity all on their own......No need for me to even touch them except when I change out their substrate (aspen) and when I put the male in the female's enclosure for breeding. They seem to breed better when they are not disturbed by us humans all the time........We aren't there in the wild to bother them.....LOL

Good luck with your project(s) Pastor Hanzo........Once you see those eggs hatch you will be hooked for life......

Regards,

I am beginning to see that egg addiction to be true.

LOL.....

I don't know why but I never seem to get bitten by my kings, even if I've handled food-maybe I don't taste good! I do know some people that say they always get bitten if they handle a king. I picked a new little banana cali up last weekend and her previous owners couldn't believe how calm she was with me; do you think it's body language or smell?

Do they do this? :lmao: This picture is from 10 months ago. He still does this now. However I don't have to put him under cold water to loosen him up anymore. He usually figures out I am not food after about 30 seconds.

http://i169.photobucket.com/albums/u220/bondoron/Bonnie.jpg

Do they do this? :lmao: This picture is from 10 months ago. He still does this now. However I don't have to put him under cold water to loosen him up anymore. He usually figures out I am not food after about 30 seconds.

http://i169.photobucket.com/albums/u220/bondoron/Bonnie.jpg

LoL that is exactly what they to do me. Maybe I do taste good.

"do you think it's body language or smell?"


It can be BOTH of those things, and also one that is overlooked all too often, and that is feeding the snake large enough meals often enough. With there ingrained voracious instinct to overpower and consume just about any animal that moves, and their very fast metabolism, this can lead to the snakes chewing on fingers. More often than not this behavior is curbed or stopped altogether if the snake is fed enough, but certain individuals in the getula complex can still do this now and then regardless.


~Doug

"do you think it's body language or smell?"


It can be BOTH of those things, and also one that is overlooked all too often, and that is feeding the snake large enough meals often enough. With there ingrained voracious instinct to overpower and consume just about any animal that moves, and their very fast metabolism, this can lead to the snakes chewing on fingers. More often than not this behavior is curbed or stopped altogether if the snake is fed enough, but certain individuals in the getula complex can still do this now and then regardless.


~Doug


Interesting observation Doug. I will try using slightly larger meals. The getula are some of my favorite snakes.

Good point Doug, I've seen that in getula and even my Hondos. It's surprising how large of a meal they can take down. :yes:

Pator H, how are things going with the biting? I remember giving you the same advice as Doug, over on Reptile Geeks. Has it helped any?

Pator H, how are things going with the biting? I remember giving you the same advice as Doug, over on Reptile Geeks. Has it helped any?

Yeah things are going great. I only got bit once the past couple of weeks. I increased the size of their food a tad because I am already feeding them twice a week.

I'm counting my blessings because my brother's kings snakes don't bite but they musk. I'd rather have the biting.