How to tame a Vietnamese Blue Beauty snake?

If you have a Vietnamese Blue Beauty snake or have done some research on them you know they can have a rocky attitude.

No one wants to have a 2m60 monster like this [no, it's not smiling]:

 (source)

(source)

A VBB kraken to be does this: rattles its tail, hisses and bites. That's when you have to start a taming training.

Here are some things that have worked for me, I hope you'll give them a shot and let me know what you think. These steps should work with virtually any VBB, though a sub-adult or adult may be more resilient to change its behavior than a hatchling. Then, it's just a matter of patience and setting a routine. If you have any trouble with patience, just think of handling this:

(source)

1. Get the snake used to your scent: you don't want to overwhelm your snake, so the best way to do this is to be progressive. Let the VBB know that your scent does not need to be associated with a threat, that you don't want to harm it. And just little by little let it get accustomed to it. 

For this, just take a piece of clothing you have been wearing - it will be impregned with your body scent - and place it in your Blue Beauty's terrarium. Leave it as many time as needed (overnight, two days, a week, it's really up to you).

What I did: I took the top of the pajamas I had been sleeping on for a couple of days and placed it in the enclosure. I left it there for two more days, in which I didn't attempt to handle the Fury, opening the viv only to change her water. Good news: I eventually found her hidden in there, several times. So even with my scent, that top felt safe enough for her to sleep on it. That's a win!

2. Handle your snake often, set a routine: Once your snake is somehow more accustomed to smelling you, you can take the taming training one step further: handling. Remeber that being progressive is the key point, so you can set handling sessions of 5 minutes and eventually increase their time span when you see your snake is becoming more comfortable.

Depending on your snake's personality (and whether its species is diurnal or nocturnal) it will prefer to be handled at a certain time of the day. VBBs are diurnal, and mine clearly preferred noon to morining and afternoon. Finding its "schedule" may help you in taming it, though it will be trial and error until you find the correct timing, if it exists.

3. Don't let it tame YOU: I think this one is really important. Admittedly, you're facing an aggressive snake (non-friendly at the minimum). It will hiss and rattle and bite and flee, at least in the beginning. It is not pleasant, it may even be scary. But what you certainly can't do is to cede to this nasty behavior and say "today is not the day, I will try tomorrow". You're postponing facing the problem, but most importantly, your snake is getting the feeling that if it rattles and hisses and bites you will give up handling it, and it will keep doing so until you quit trying or man up. That's a Vietnamese Blue Beauty taming you.

In order to be in control, you have to move steadily, to be firm in your movements. If your Blue beauty hisses and rattles, don't mind it. If it tries to escape, hold it. And if it bites... just insist in doing what you're doing. And that until your snake gets the idea that being mean won't help it not being handled.

I learned this the hard way. Furia was nervous yet non-aggressive when I first got her, and suddenly became a little fury when I would try to handle her. That's when she got her name *wink* She would get in her attack position, rattle and hiss. And even try to bite me at any occasion. 

A snake has two ways of "biting". The first is used to frighten its predator, and consists in attacking with its mouth close, hence just giving a hit. Snake mode slap. The second one is the traditional way: mouth open and ready to swallow. In any case, knowing that will hep you discern whether your snake is just pissed off or ready to kill, preparing yourself for the fight accordingly.

Here's one of the fiesty baby:

See how her upper body is lifted from the floor, in an "S" shape position? Just like the pictures of adults at the beginning of the post. That's the Vietnamese Blue Beauty attacking position. Get familiar with it. It's just useful to be able to read the signs; a snake doesn't talk or bark, so you've got to do what you've go to do to interact with it. 

Being bitten is quite a concern usually, especially with adult specimens. I have to say that I have just a hatchling and have never appreciated the idea of being nipped by it, mostly because I don't know how I would react. I fear that I could rip off one of its teeth or in any other way hurt my snake by moving out my hand too quickly out of surprise. A quick fix for this is to use gloves to take your snake out of its terrarium. 

I used gloves for more or less a month to take The Fury out for a cuddle, it gave me the security to know: (i) she couldn't bite me; (ii) I couldn't hurt her and (iii) I was calmer. Everything was smoother :)

Just use the gloves to take the snake out of its enclosure, and then take them off. You want your snake to get used to be in contact with your skin and familiar with your scent. That will give it confidence.

So now, I am guessing your next question is: how many time will elapse before I have a dog tame snake? Boy if I knew I wouldn't be writing a blog, I would be predicting shit and earning easy money. But I get it, I asked myself the same question. If you do some research you'll find some snakes can never be tamed. But for the most part, they have the ability to learn. And they will. 

Furia was very aggressive for two weeks, I spent 5 minutes just to take her out of the terrarium every time. It was quite a chore, but I kept reminding myself I wouldn't want an aggressive sanke that's longer than me. The taming training is really a programme for both of you (the snake and the reader): you have to follow a routine, set a tempo and try not to skip sessions. If you're thorough, it'll pay.

I kept that strict handling routine for two months straight, leaving Furia be the two days she was digesting her meal. I handled her for 10 to 15 minutes every day at my lunch break and noticed a change after the first month (again, she's just a 5 months old hatchling). I kept on with it just to make sure, and I still handle her at least 4 days a week. But I can gladly report that she's tame.

I hope it helped!

Scale up!

M.