Cheyenne, the Afrock

[Sherry Howell]

My post about Zoe and Baby, and subsequent replies, made me think of Cheyenne. Cheyenne is an Afrock that we've had just over a year. She came to us by way of her former owners who claimed they had rescued her. It appears the first owner (to my knowledge it was the first) kept Cheyenne (that's the name we gave her) in a shed and occasionally tossed in mice to her. The second owner "rescued" her and kept her in a good sized cage. However, owner #2 was not much better than #1. By his own admittance, he only fed her one large rat a month. Whenever he did anything with her whether it was feeding her, cleaning her, or whatever, he would slam a board down on her head and pin her head to the bottom of the cage. Then, she came to us when he decided to kill her because she was so vicious. We've never experienced any viciousness out of her. The girl is absolutely terrified of people. She probably thought she had died and gone to heaven when we first took her in. We fed her jumbo rats weekly and then switched to rabbits. She's gained length and weight and looks great. However, she's still terrified of people. It's a major feat to clean her cage. I can no longer mess with her because she's grown so much so one of our friends helps Donnie. As soon as her cage is opened, she goes into stress mode and starts zooming backward in her cage, trying to hide her head. Once Donnie finally gets her out, it's a dance. She doesn't try to bite or attack....she tries to flee from him. He bends over to let most of her body be on the floor and then lets her "walk" through his hands. After about ten minutes, she has either exhausted herself or decides he's not going to hurt her because then she'll lift her body and drape herself over his arms and just watch what's going on. Sometimes she'll turn her head and stick it under his arm and hide. She's an absolutely beautiful snake and it always makes me angry and sick at the abuse she has suffered.

[Ian]

Good job on the rescue. Keep at it, she will calm down eventually, though it may take a while. I know how it is to deal with a flighty AfRock, they are a handful to say the least.

[Sherry Howell]

Any tips that you can give us will be absolutely appreciated. I would certainly like to see her become less afraid of us and I would really like to get to the point where we can interact with her better.

[Ian]

Just stick to it and dont back off is the best advice. I tamed down a real b*thcy rock that way (unfortunately she died 2 months later).
Dont push the snake to "bite" mode, but just stick with it :D

[Omar]

Good ADVICE! These snakes are great!

[KLG]

Good ADVICE! These snakes are great!

We're glad to know you approve, Omar. :roll: :smt064 :smt064 :smt064 ;)

[Sherry Howell]

Um, remember I said she's never shown aggression?? Weird thing happened last night. Our friend Chris was over and he and Donnie were getting ready to clean her cage. It was open and she was watching Donnie. Chris was standing opposite of Donnie and Cheyenne's back was to him. He started ripping the flaps off a cardboard box for her hide (I wish I could find a non-destructible hide for her) and she suddenly turned to him as he was ripping the flap off. He stopped. She turned back to watch Donnie. Chris started ripping the flaps off again. She turned back to him and lunged out of her cage and struck at him. She didn't bite but she was certainly not a happy camper. That's the first time she's ever struck out at someone. It seemed as though him ripping that flap off triggered something in her. While it didn't fluster any of us when she did it, a soldier who's been in Iraq and claims NOTHING can scare him now, almost passed out when he saw her do it. I hate that we did something that upset Cheyenne but it was interesting that she reacted to it. Any thoughts on this?

[Ian]

HI Sherry,
Was it an open or closed mouthed bite? I have noticed that a lot of Rocks like to "head butt" before biting. Obviously something was bothering here, if it happens again see if you cant figurre out what is bothering her. Also, you can just let her be for a while (few hours, even a day or two) and try again. She should be calm by then :)

[Sherry Howell]

Hi Ian.

She had her mouth wide open when she lunged at him. However, she quickly chilled out and as soon as her cage was cleaned, she went back into her hide. She came out to play around in her cage during the night, as is her usual. Something just set her off and it was really weird.

By the way, Ian, I love your signature line about PETA. :smt023 :smt004

[Rob6656]

Sherry, I am glad you were able to rescue Cheyenne. It disgusts me the things that some people will do to animals. One of the things I do understand, is that in the year 2005, there are still people so ignorant, close minded and just plain stupid, that will treat an animal with such callousness (spelling). I hope she calms down for you, or at least begins to understand that not all people are deserving of a live skinning.

Keep up the awesome work with her. :)