Rosie

Aggressive Snake?


There are many reasons why a snake can become aggressive or show aggression, below are some suggestions as to why the behaviour is being displayed and what can be done to help.


New snake

Some new snakes become nervous when they are moved to a new environment, whether it be a new vivarium in the same room, a room move or a completely new home. Snakes require a minimum settling in period of 7 days where they should be left in a quiet room with minimum noise and movement traffic. Ensure there are adequate hiding areas for the snake (a minimum of 2-1 for the wamer side and 1 for the cooler side) it may be beneficial to place fake plants or additional hides in also to ensure a safe environment. Different species of snakes may require longer settling in periods, for example royal pythons spend a lot of time in underground rodent burrows in the wild and therefore are uneasy in open spaces and on some occasions require a longer settling in period.

Sometimes aggressive behaviour is shown due to an enclosure being too large, if a snake is homed in a large enclosure the snake can feel vulnerable and unsure of its surroundings, this can prompt striking/biting behaviour, the best solution for this is to reduce the size of the enclosure, for advice on sizing enclosures for different snake species at different ages please contact myself or any of the admin/moderators who can help


Unusual Smells

Snakes can be very sensitive to strong perfumes, moisturising creams and deodorants. Aggressive behaviour can be a reaction to sensitivity to the above, if aggressive behaviour is shown, wash your hands, arms, neck and any area exposed that has the perfume etc on with mild soap or just fresh cold water and try again.



Males in together

In a similar way to lizards, male snakes when sexually mature can show aggression towards each other, this may not be as obvious as with lizards, as snakes rarely strike at each other, but will show aggression in other ways, look out for things like coiling around each other, repeated gaping of the mouth or just constant movement.

If 2 males are being kept together and are not getting on, they may take out the aggression on you, its always best to keep a snake on its own, but if you do want to keep two males together always watch out for any aggression and always be prepared to separate them.


Gravid

If a snake is gravid, it will not appreciate being poked and prodded, if you know your snake is gravid or she has been with a male and is showing aggression then just leave well alone, your snake hasn’t turned in to an evil man eating monster because she is gravid but she will not appreciate you coming into her viv, so best to try and leave her well alone just changing water and spot cleaning, most snakes will not feed while gravid, although I have known gravid females to eat, unless your snake is very underweight it is not really worth offering food as it is likely to be rejected and will just cause stress.

Once your snake has laid her eggs she should settle back down to her old self, just make sure you give her a week or so to settle back down before trying to handle her as she may still be a bit touchy



Hungry

If you have rodents defrosting in the same room as your snake or even have live rodents in the room this could cause your snake to become very food focused and may strike at anything the enters the viv including your self, just be very careful when there are rodents around, live or dead as if your snake can smell them and does strike at you when it can smell food its likely it will also coil and constrict, which will probably hurt and leave a nice bruise. If your snake does coil you then be patient and don’t try and pull the snake off, the best way of getting the snake off you is to put it under a running tap or in a bucket of water, this will cause the snake to release without harming it and will not cause any extra damage to you either.



Temperature fluctuation

Temperature can have an effect on a snakes temperament, if a snake is kept at too cool a temperature, then it can appear docile and friendly even if it is usually aggressive, this can cause a nasty shock if you go and look at a snake that has been kept at low temperatures, you buy it because it is a nice dolice snake, you then get it home and put it in a viv with the correct temps and it turns into Hannibal lector.

Double check the temps with a didgtal thermometer ad ensure there is no large increase/decrease in temperatures.



Disturbances eg tv vibrations/cats/rodents nearby

There are a number of things that can make your snake unhappy and constant vibrations can do this, look at things like, how close to the tv/radio/hi-fi ect is your snake, could the noise from this equipment be disturbing your snake? Do you have other pets, like cats for example, I know our cat will hassle any animal kept in a tank viv or cage when we are not around, if you notice your cat or dog ‘playing’ with your snake, then either move the viv or keep the other animal out of that room, my cat is terrible for this, luckily all of our snakes are kept in the reptile room and this is a no go area for the cat.

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I <3 Asian Rat Snakes

Horndog

great thread

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Tom

sticky?!

Great info!

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Rosie

Ta guys :)

wasnt sure if it was 'sticky' material or nto so thought id let others decide! :)

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Im in the process of having 12 operations so can't access the forum much at the mo



I <3 Asian Rat Snakes

rfc

Very informative thanks.

2Geks

This is Very Very Helpful Thanks Rosie :)

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Roger The Bearded Dragon :D

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Andy

Hi,

I'm new today to this site and I'm already very impressed with the amount of info & help given by the members...

Thank you, no further need of surfing the web for the answers to my questions.

'NICE WORK'

Andy

JT

Welcome mate and glad you are finding help, anything not here post up and someone will be able to help.

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nosybe_nick

very good thread rosie that from personal experience LMAO, very useful and welcome to forum Andy there are so many experienced clever people on here and help with everything there is someone out there for every question. again excellent help sheet Rosie

grignard_reagent

Hey nice thread

and thanks a lot for providing each and every aspect of their nature in eerie detail

I guess this should make people aware and make them take care of the facts that people should take care of !!

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