I remember the first time I was bitten by one of my snakes. It was a Brazilian rainbow boa. She wasn’t very big, maybe four feet or so, and had always been a little timid, but had never tried to bite me.
I had her out one day and noticed a blemish on one of her scales. I brought her up for a closer look when WHAM! She tagged me right on the face!
That was NOT a fun experience! But it did teach me something. Several somethings in fact!
This happened over 20 years ago, and since then I have learned a lot about handling snakes. What to do, what not to do, and most importantly for this article, how to keep a calm and happy snake.
Now I want to share with you the lessons I have learned over the years.
1. Understand The Difference Between An Aggressive Snake And A Defensive One
It may surprise you to learn this, but most snakes are not actually aggressive. They are defensive.
I did an entire article on why snakes bite that does a good job of explaining this.
Snakes will not actually go out of their way to hunt you down and attack you. They will however, defend themselves when they feel threatened, and will sometimes do so quite aggressively!
For some of them, a good defense is a strong offense.
It’s important to understand this concept because calming down an aggressive snake is really about helping the snake not feel threatened.
You want them to feel safe and secure. In fact everything I tell you in this article is based on this concept.
When you understand this, you will change the way you view your snake’s actions as well as your approach to calming it down.
An aggressive snake is a scared snake!
2. Learn What Makes A Snake Aggressive
There are several common factors that can cause a snake to become aggressive and bite.
- Young snakes tend to bite more often. In nature they are prey more often than they are predators.
- Sick snakes can become very aggressive.
- Snakes that are going through a shed, or are preparing to, can become more defensive since they can’t see as well.
- Feeding time can cause a snake to be more likely to bite.
- When a snake is picked up or handled improperly, it can cause it to get scared and bite.
3. Keep Your Snake Healthy
I learned this lesson the second time I was bitten by a snake. (which happened to be the last time I was ever bitten by a captive snake too!)
This one was an eight foot red tail boa who had never shown any inclination to bite.
I was reaching into the cage to get her water bowl when she struck me on the arm. Fortunately I jerked right as she struck, and she barely grazed my wrist without being able to latch on. I escaped with only a couple of tiny cuts.
I was pretty leery of her for a while after that. I of course paid more attention when I was handling her or reaching in her cage. She never tried to strike me again, but she was definitely prepared to a few times.
I ended up taking her to the vet because she wasn’t acting right. Low and behold, she had some internal parasites.
I learned from the vet that when a normally docile snake starts becoming aggressive for no apparent reason, it’s often a sign that they are sick. I also learned some valuable husbandry skills to prevent any of my reptiles from getting sick in the future!
4. Pick Up A Snake Properly
The number one cause of snake bites is picking them up.
If a snake is fearful when it is picked up, it is going to bite! That is their defense. That is their way to protect themselves from whatever is grabbing them.
Picking up a snake the proper way can reduce much of it’s aggression.
First of all, never grab a snake from above. That’s how a predator would attack a snake.
Birds attack from above, mammals attack from above, mostly because they are bigger than the snake. In a snake’s mind, anything that is reaching down from above is probably wanting to eat me!
Instead, come in from the side and place your hands under the snake.
This is one of the reasons why enclosures with a front glass door rather than screened top aquariums are better for reptiles. The allow you to reach in at the reptiles level rather than coming at them from above.
Make sure you wash your hands before picking up your snake too, so there are no smells they might associate with food.
When getting your snake, be sure to grab it around a third of the way down it’s body with one hand, while the other hand takes hold of the bottom third. You don’t want to be grabbing it by the head or neck.
Finally, pick your snake up in one fluid motion. You don’t need to snatch it quickly, but you don’t want to be scared and hesitant either.
Don’t spend time petting the snake, thinking that you are preparing it for being picked up. All that is going to do is agitate it.
Don’t start and stop several times either. If the snake senses you’re scared, it might get scared too! Just reach in and pick up your snake with confidence.
5. Handle Your Snake The Right Way
Once you have the snake out, make sure you are adequately supporting it’s body.
At least two thirds of it’s body should be supported by your hands and arms. Many thick bodied species like blood pythons tend to flail around a lot if they aren’t completely secure, which can cause it to be afraid.
Don’t worry if the snake’s head is coming towards you with a flicking tongue. This is it’s way of exploring it’s surroundings, and exploring you.
What you want to watch out for is tensing. A snake that puts it’s neck into an “S” curve and just sits there, could be prepared to strike. A moving snake is typically a calm one.
Avoid petting your snake until you’ve learned to read it’s body language, and are confident that it has become accustomed to handling.
Snakes are not dogs, and generally don’t “enjoy” being pet. You can however, pick up various parts of your snake’s body and allow it to slither through your hands.
I usually recommend to people who are new to handling snakes, to sit on the floor.
Your lap and the floor around you are perfect for making sure the snake feels secure.
You should also avoid touching the snakes head or face while handling. This may sound like common sense, but I still see a lot of people do it.
Snakes tend to be protective of their heads since it is one of their most vulnerable areas. That’s why species such as ball pythons bury their head into their bodies when scared in order to protect themselves.
6. Handling A Snake Often Is Of The Best Ways To Calm It Down
Once you’ve learned how to properly pick up and handle a snake, I recommend doing so often.
You should get it out at least two to three times a day for short handling sessions. This will get your snake accustomed to being handled, and help it to become more docile.
Your goal during these sessions is to get the snake to completely relax.
Watch the body language. Look for tenseness, and work with the snake until it is peacefully exploring it’s surroundings while you are holding it.
I guess I should throw in a small disclaimer here.
Make sure you are doing these things in a safe manner.
Obviously you should not be handling a venomous snake with your bare hands. And if you have a snake that is longer than you, you should have an extra person or even extra people helping you. Safety first!
Handling sessions should be short and sweet when calming down an aggressive snake. You aren’t trying to get the snake out to play with it, or show it off.
You are conditioning the snake to being handled, and to calming down quickly when it is taken out of the enclosure.
Once your snake is calm and peaceful, you can put it back in it’s home. I suggest sessions be around 10-15 minutes in length until your snake no longer seems aggressive when you take it out.
7. Do Not Handle A Snake During Shed
When a snake’s eyes begin to look milky and opaque, they are getting ready to shed.
Their outer layer of skin, including the skin covering their eyes, is detaching from the body and will soon fall off.
During this time, the snake has troubles seeing. As the eyecaps are drying out and detaching, they become more like blinders placed over it’s eyes.
As a result, the snake is naturally going to become more defensive. It is at it’s most vulnerable and might be willing to strike anything that disturbs it.
My guess would be, the snake is also a little more agitated by dry itchy skin! I don’t have proof, but I can only imagine what it would feel like if all my skin began drying out and peeling!
8. Do Not Handle A Snake Before Or After Feeding
I cut off all handling of my snakes 24 hours before feeding. I do this for several reasons.
- A hungry snake is more apt to think anything is food, including my hand!
- If you feed your pet on a regular schedule, it’s internal clock will tell it that feeding time is near and it will begin going into hunting mode which makes it more likely to strike.
- I feed frozen food, and typically begin preparing the food the night before. This puts the smell of prey into the air, which causes the snake to go into hunting mode.
- Handling a snake causes a certain level of stress, even of they are accustomed to it. I want my snakes to be stress free when it is time to feed for health reasons.
- Stress also effects the digestion process. I like my snakes to have 48-72 hours to get a good start on digesting their food before they are handled again.
- When a snake has a full belly and is frightened, the first thing it will do is usually regurgitate it’s food. This is another reason I like to wait 48-72 hours before handling.
9. Read And Understand Your Snake’s Behaviors
I think one of the biggest things that separates an amateur snake keeper from a pro is the ability to read a snakes body language, and decipher it’s behavior.
A slight tensing of the muscles, a small jerk of the head, a change in the direction they are moving. These are all potential signs of a snake becoming aggressive.
OR
They are small things your snake is doing naturally, and it doesn’t mean anything.
Both statements can be true, but you’ll only know for sure as you become better at reading the signs, and understanding what they mean when your snake does them.
I clearly remember when my rainbow boa bit me on the face.
At the time, I thought she was turning around to look at me in an exploratory way. In hindsight, she was tensing up to strike. The difference between those two movements was very subtle.
This is one of the reasons why it’s so important to handle your snake often, and get them calmed down.
It allows you to realize the subtle differences between when your snake is relaxed, and when they are tense and prepared to show aggression.
This only comes from putting in the work on your part in order to gain the experience.
Summary
As you can see, calming down an aggressive snake is all about making them feel safe and secure.
Unlike most pets, snakes do not have facial expressions. They make little to no noise, they aren’t active enough for you to notice major changes in a short time, and their body language can be hard to read.
At least that’s true for the amateur. YOU however, are moving from an amateur to someone with experience. You now know that aggression IS a way for you to read your snake. It can mean fear, stress, sickness and a number of other things.
You also have several ways to calm down an aggressive snake. That is GREAT news! Congratulations!
Now get your snake out, and begin working on turning it into the calm and docile pet you hoped for!