How do you tame a psychotic Milk snake?

[Lisa]

2 days ago I bought a male tangerine honduran milk snake, its only a baby. I have handled an adult milk which was tame and more placid even than my corns .

Anyway, when I got him home and took him out of the cage he started biting me and wouldn't stop till I put him back. We have managed to get him to calm down once but every time I go to get him out he's so fast it makes me feel nervous that he's going to jump out of the cage and escape in the blink of an eye.

Whats the best way to tame him....should I persist in trying to handle him every other day so he gets used to me, even if it means getting musked on and bitten till he calms down, or should I leave him in the cage all the time and only handle him when necessary like during cage cleaning etc and let him get used to me more gradually.

I know he's not settled in yet and I have heard that they are fast and a bit wild at this age, but I have also heard that of kings and corns so I must admit this snake has taken me by suprise because he's nothing like my other snakes in personality whatsoever.

I did manage to feed him last night although I had to feed him in his tank and he didn't eat while I was there, but still I was pleased with that as I was thinking they are known to be fussy feeders and expected that to be my main problem with him.

Thanks for any advice [img]modules/Forum/images/smiles/icon_smile.gif[/img]
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[eddie]

Glad to hear that he ate!
That's one less worry at the moment!

but let him chill for a week at least with no handling except spot cleaning and water if needed.
then start handling as often as you can to get him used to you NOT being a predator that's about to eat him!

Oh yeah, wear a towel! [img]modules/Forum/images/smiles/icon_wink.gif[/img]
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[froggystyle34]

i know your pain, almost all baby milks are like this. dotn ahndle him for at least three days after he eats. then handle him everyday for a week wih rubber gloves on, this gets him used to touch, after a week, handle him without the gloves on, and no matter what if he bites or musks dont put him down, if you do that he wont stop cause thats what he knows to do to get put back in his cage. after about a month or two of handling he should calm down. and remember he is a baby of one of the smaller breeds of colubrids so he is just defending himself from the big nasty predator.

good luck

froggy
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[sophia]

>>2 days ago I bought a male tangerine honduran milk snake, its only a baby. I have handled an adult milk which was tame and more placid even than my corns .
>>
>>Anyway, when I got him home and took him out of the cage he started biting me and wouldn't stop till I put him back. We have managed to get him to calm down once but every time I go to get him out he's so fast it makes me feel nervous that he's going to jump out of the cage and escape in the blink of an eye.
>>
>>Whats the best way to tame him....should I persist in trying to handle him every other day so he gets used to me, even if it means getting musked on and bitten till he calms down, or should I leave him in the cage all the time and only handle him when necessary like during cage cleaning etc and let him get used to me more gradually.
>>


You know with these guys sometimes it just takes growing up to calm them down. We just traded our Apricot Pueblans Saturday and the female hadn't bitten me in months and would tolerate handling for stretches of up to fifteen minutes before she'd get flighty and try to get away, but then all of the sudden Saturday she nailed me four times, twice on both hands within just a few seconds with no warning and she will be two years old in a couple more months. So just know that they can at anytime decide they've had enough and nail you, but with patience and time, they will calm down. However with the milks as flighty and easily stressed as they are when young, I don't recommend pushing their limits of physical contact past 15 minutes a day for a while and give them lots of places to hide in the cage because they really don't like to be looked at, ours loved their humidity boxes and their newspaper to hide in.

Good luck with the new baby!

Tay
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