Handling Blood Pythons

Video Transcript

"The next thing we're going to talk about is handling your blood python. Now, when he's this size or, say a baby or juvenile, anywhere up to say four to five feet, it's okay to handle on your own; though when he's getting to that four to five foot area I do recommend that you start getting another person to be around while you're handling the blood python. And definitely once he reaches over that five foot range, starts getting into six feet, or if you're on the rare occasion to get one of the really big ones, you definitely want to have another, another pair of hands around, just in case something does happen and there is an accident. Better to be safe rather than sorry. When you are handling a blood python, you want to make sure you're supporting his weight. They are a very heavy-bodied snake; they're very thick and you want to make sure we're not going to allow any damage to his spinal cord, as they really aren't designed for climbing trees all that much. They're used to sitting on the ground and, you know, shooting through the underbrush and the bushes. So, make sure you're supporting all his weight nice and well. Also, you don't ever want to be grasping him tightly or moving, or grasping him hard. You want to be gentle and firm, unless of course he is acting defensive or aggressive. In which case it's okay to grab him behind the head, like that, and hold him nice and tight so he can't bite you if, in case, that is what looks like he's going to do. But generally, they should be relatively well-mannered as long as it's a captive born species. So, just make sure you're gentle and firm and you let him do most of the walking."