Calming a Milk Snake

Milk snakes are relatively small and highly attractive reptiles and are often kept as pets. Individual milk snakes, and juveniles in particular, may prefer to stay hidden from sight for lengthy periods. Nervous milk snakes will typically regurgitate their last meal, or defecate when being handled. Very stressed individuals will attempt to bite. The best way to calm your milk snake is to handle the animal on a regular basis, for short periods of time.

  1. Mild Temperaments

    • Most milk snakes have mild temperaments, which help when calming individual specimens. Milk snakes in the wild do not encounter people very often and are instinctively cautious about being touched. For this reason, you need to be gentle and relaxed when making initial contact. Handling sessions should be kept short and although you must be gentle, the snake must also be held firmly enough that it does not feel it will be dropped. Milk snakes, which are nervous as youngsters, normally calm down as they mature.

    Introduce Yourself

    • Present a flat area, such as the back of your hand, for the snake to smell. Milk snakes will flick out their tongue to get your scent. Do not pull back or make a noise at this point. Lift the snake with confidence and do not drop it, or the animal will be more afraid and less cooperative the next time you attempt to handle it. Although you should not handle a snake immediately after it has eaten, keep your milk snake well fed, as hungry snakes will be difficult to work with.

    Handling

    • Make the milk snake aware of your presence by speaking gently before attempting to touch or lift it up. It is best to handle the snake during daylight hours, while it is awake. Snakes take on the same temperature as the surrounding environment and nervous snakes should be handled when it is cool and they are most lethargic. Move slowly and approach the milk snake from the side, as opposed to reaching toward its head, or approaching it from above. Always support the weight of the snake fully and allow it to rest on your hand as if it were resting on a tree limb, unless it wriggles and struggles, in which case you will have to hold the reptile firmly but gently. Don̵7;t grab or pick up milk snakes by their neck, or the delicate vertebrae may be damaged.

    Shedding

    • It is best not to initiate or to continue handling your milk snake when it is shedding its old skin. Snakes feel vulnerable at this time and are more likely to strike at the handler. Your milk snake̵7;s eyes will become opaque just prior to the shedding process and it will easily be able to see you. Also never disturb milk snakes after they have fed. Touching and handling a milk snake at these times may cause the reptile to become aggressive or to attempt to escape.