bad tempered Burm

I have a 3 foot long female het for albino green burm, but she is b*tchy most of the time. she will hiss at me when I try to pick her up, but once she is in my hands she seams calm. I held her a lot when she was smaller but yet she still acts like this. she also tries to hit me with he tail when I try to pick her up to put her in her cage after eating. she has only bit someone once but I don't really want it to happen again. any suggestions?

Alyson

hold her for a little while everyday and if she bites/ hits you with her tail(never seen that) you dont let go if you do it will teach her thats all she has to do to get you to leave her alone so she will keep doing it

if shes nasty in the cage and ok out then get a good hook esp made for large bodied boids. that will kepp your hand from being a chew touy and also help better let her knows that whats comming in isnt going to hurt her at the same time .

I agree with getting a hook and maybe some welding gloves (more for your comfort than anything else). The best thing with a snake which is large and inclined to be slightly agressive when handled is to simply be aware of the animal and it's capabilities and handle it appropriately. If she's more agressive around feeding time (not unusual for a burm at all), then be more careful around feeding time... and so on.

A snake is not a parrot or a puppy... allowing it to bite and chew to "teach it" that it doesn't get it's own way isn't going to work. These animals are hardwired and instinctive, letting a burm chew on you just results in a need for hydrogen peroxide, it won't prevent future bites.