Hello. A black African house snake joined my family collection today. I purchased it here on MorphMarket and he is an extremely good looking snake. But, when I took him out of his deli dish, he was an absolute terror! I currently have three ball pythons, a corn snake, and a hog nose and none of them ever tried to strike at me. I was surprised how strong this little guy was when he was constricting my hand. I have never felt any of my snakes be so tense. He launched at me three times before I calm down and just held him for about 2 minutes sitting still. He definitely was on the deffense and followed my head whenever I moved from left to right. So I decided to put him in his enclosure. Is this a typical behavior of house snakes? Because I read all over the internet and on YouTube that they’re super docile so I was expecting something like my corn snake. So this will be my first project to actually work with taming him down. For those African house snake owners out there, did you experience the same thing? And does anyone have any good tips and tricks to tame this particular species. Because everything on the internet is about taming boas, pythons, corn snakes, kingsnakes and milk snakes.
Im not sure but i think some things can cross over between species was this when u just got him maybe its just shipping stress and a new environment i own ball pythons and iron man was extremely defensive when i 1st got him and was even striking when i cleaned the glass outside his tank hes growing out of it with handling and learning im in fact not going to kill him or hurt him with short positive interactions like when i moved him to clean his tank into his holding container where he could watch or just sitting by him taking his hide out that he was under and he could go to the other 1 if he wanted just short holding sessions that only lasted a few minutes hes still very jumpy but he hasnt struck at me for a while he watches me do dishes now and cook sometimes and sometimes i would just sit by his tank and read or watch videos on my phone about ways to calm him down lol most people on here just said handling is really the only way to get them out of it but that was relevent to ball pythons
Not a House snake owner here
So I wouldn’t know if this is typical behavior, but it can be a few things…
He may be stressed from shipping, give him a week with no interaction outside of cleaning and refilling his water bowl so he can adjust to being in a new home.
He may have not been handled much either by breeder/previous owner. That typically leads to a more high-stress defensive snake, because they are being picked up by an absolutely gigantic creature in their perspective that they are not used to and they don’t know what to expect outside of trying to defend themselves.
The ither species you keep tend to be quite docile in comparison (outside of Hoggies, but if yours is friendly thats a plus) so I understand your shock. Once he is done adjusting to his new home, try to handle him in small increments until you notice improvement. 15 minutes a day minimum is reccomended for socializing snakes.
I find the best way to unbox a new baby is to open the container/bag and place the whole package, if possible, into the new environment. Then give @48 hrs before any interaction beyond checking for signs of life or possible issues.
Like any new baby that just arrived they need time to adjust to a new territory. And learn that the giant monster that has confronted them doesn’t eat baby snakes.
Check water and leave it alone for a few days to a week.
I have never owned a black house snake, but I do own Cape house snakes. When I first got my three capes I named one of them Spitfire because she struck at me 11 times in the approximately 10 seconds it took me to transfer her from the shipping deli into her enclosure. Since then (with just a little bit of handling) she’s one of my friendliest snakes and has never once struck at me again. I would definitely give yours some time to settle in.
I just took home 2 little house snakes last week.
They are a bit flighty until they get to know you. One of mine was striking up a storm at the enclosure window on day 3. But now as long as I’m slow and careful about picking them up they’re much better.
Any animal can have an adverse reaction to a new location. The most important part is to make sure they’re able to destress. Make sure they have a cozy spot to curl up and hide. Make sure they get a good meal in them before you start handling them regularly.
Once they know you’re not a threat they should open upp just fine. After they get that first meal in you can try leaving your hand in the enclosure nearby for them to sniff. They’re inquisitive little guys so they should take a peek once the nerves subside
As others have already said, it’s probably terrified out of its mind. Let it acclimate to its new enclosure for a good 1-2 weeks with no handling or interaction. Just go in there to freshen the water and spot clean as necessary. It needs to come to the realization on its own that it’s not going to be killed at any moment.
Thank you all for the recommendations and helpful tips. Such a supporting group! What everyone is saying coincides with what I am reading and watching on youtube. In a nutshell, I just need to take my time, let it de-stress, move slowly and interact with it minimally at first and gradually increase interaction so it realizes that I am not a threat. I just did not receive this type of welcome with my other five snakes so this really threw me off LOL. I will keep you all updated thank you so much!
Grats on your new housie! They’re great little snakes.
You’ve gotten great advice already, but I’d like to add something. Black african house snakes (boaedon fuliginosus) are in fact a different species of snake than brown/cape african house snakes (boaedon capensis), and fulis in general I’ve heard about are a bit more nervous at first than capes. A lot of the “they’re the friendliest snake I’ve ever had” comes from cape keepers. (This can also be case-by-case as evinced by inspirationexotics’ spicy little cape beauty!)
There’s some really good black housie specific care info on April Linkfield’s site here.
All of that said, as your guy gains some size and some familiarity with his environment, he’ll likely tame down just fine. They’re just as inquisitive and clever as capes, they’re just a bit jumpier from what I’ve heard.
I own a standard brown house snake. I have had him quite a while. Though he’s still a little spit fire, he calms down after I remove him from his enclosure. He’s got some strength in that little brown snake body too. He can wrap around my fingers until I feel like my circulation is cutting off.
I have heard house snakes described as teeny tiny little reticulated pythons. Strength and attitude But I wouldn’t have it any other way.