First Snake Bite Today

[ashesc212]

Well, today I received my first snake bite from my jungle carpet python. Up 'til now she's been super friendly and amenable, but today, I don't know what her problem was. She had already been handled and had eaten, I went to take her out of her feeding box and put her back into her enclosure and boom, 10 tiny bites into my hand! It was truly an interesting experience, and one that I would not want to experience again!!!

These are the only pics I have of it, and they don't even show all the little incisions. There were over 10.

 

[dragonqueen4]

i know what that feels like.. my BRB bites me all the time, and i was bitten by an adult ball python a while back because i was helping someone treat it for scale rot. i have to say, it kind of turned me from snakes a little.. i dont not trust them at all anymore

 

[JohnMatthew]

Grats on your first bite, the anticipation is usually much worse than the actual process(unless maybe it's venemous and/or over 15ft, lol)

 

[DaveDragon]

Get used to it!!! You'll get more! Just hope Lucky doesn't get you!!! I've never been bit by a full grown Tegu, but our 4 year old 26" female mini-Blue Tegu got me good a few months ago. She took a chunk out of one of my finger tips!

Our BRB bit my wife 2 days ago after she tried to take her out of her feeding bin too soon. It's called a SFE (Stupid Feeding Error), all of us will do it eventually. I normally carry it downstairs to her tank, my wife took her out in the dining room (yes, we feed our snakes on the dining room table!!). The hard part is usually prying them off of you!

 

[Red Earth Exotics]

well congrat's! probably not what you want to hear, but it's not necessarily a bad thing! if you really think about it, it probably wasn't that bad. now you have the first one over with and shouldn't get all psyched up about the next time. at the size of your snake, their teeth are super sharp and small and it really doesn't hurt. it's more of a psychological thing than anything else. they get less and less sucky each time...unless it's a hot or a biggun' like JohnMatthew said!

 

[Beazer]

Lol, nice. First bites are always the most fun. I dont know if its just me but for some reason when little snakes strike and bite it freaks me out. Big snakes/venomous snakes dont.... but man baby snakes I dont know why they make me jump so bad lol. Congrats on the bite. Its an initiation of sorts for snake keepers lol.

-Jon DeLong

 

[Red Earth Exotics]

that is weird Beazer. when i sex my baby burms out of the egg, they all latch onto my hands and wrists. i can let them do that for days. now the big ones, that's a different story. i know it will only hurt for a while, but i still don't want my big girls lunging at me!

 

[ashesc212]

Get used to it!!! You'll get more! Just hope Lucky doesn't get you!!! I've never been bit by a full grown Tegu, but our 4 year old 26" female mini-Blue Tegu got me good a few months ago. She took a chunk out of one of my finger tips!

Did that hurt more than the snake bite?

it's more of a psychological thing than anything else. !

I agree; but that prickly sensation was weird!!!!

Lol, nice. First bites are always the most fun. I dont know if its just me but for some reason when little snakes strike and bite it freaks me out. Big snakes/venomous snakes dont.... but man baby snakes I dont know why they make me jump so bad lol. Congrats on the bite. Its an initiation of sorts for snake keepers lol.

-Jon DeLong

The little snake (Weaver, my Cali king snake) doesn't scare me at all. In the past 7 months he hasn't bit me once. The python though, she's intimidating!

I agree, we all need to go through this initiation...I keep trying to get my bf to shove his hand in her tank now to get his! He won't do it!!!

 

[grapesofwrath]

Why do you feed in a separate enclosure? Snakes aren't like tegus, and their digestive systems are completely different. It may behoove you to feed the snake in their enclosure, so as not to associate handling with feeding (opposite of tegus). Also, you can then let them chill with their meal for a good 24 hours prior to handling to prevent regurge. Food for thought....

 

[DaveDragon]

Get used to it!!! You'll get more! Just hope Lucky doesn't get you!!! I've never been bit by a full grown Tegu, but our 4 year old 26" female mini-Blue Tegu got me good a few months ago. She took a chunk out of one of my finger tips!

Did that hurt more than the snake bite?

You better believe it!!! Snakes have very little jaw pressure. The Tegu clamped down so hard she pooped!!!! I was giving her a plate of food, she charged it and bit me instead!!

 

[Red Earth Exotics]

The Tegu clamped down so hard she pooped!!!!

Wow! Now that's a hardcore bite!

 

[laurarfl]

Tegus and snakes are very different bites! I got bit by my adult tegu once and it is quite a sensation. I get the feeling that she didn't clamp down very hard, but she had the back side of my hand for a good couple of seconds before she let go. Lots of blood and little the marks, but no bruising.

I have a corn snake that is a biter and he drives me nuts! He always manages to latch on in between your fingers or some super sensitive place and squeeze the begeebees out of your wrist and hand. The worst though is my 7ft boa. He doesn't strike, he just reaches around and grabs you. That's a bite from a good sized snake! He tagged my wrist once and let go right away, but blood was dripping on the floor and I had a good sized bruise for a week. I haven't quite gotten over that one and I have quite a psychological barrier with that animal now.

I feed my smaller snakes outside of the enclosure, but ball pythons, boas, and Burmese are fed in the enclosure and conditioned with a snake hook to reduce feeding errors.

 

[DaveDragon]

I feed my smaller snakes outside of the enclosure, but ball pythons, boas, and Burmese are fed in the enclosure and conditioned with a snake hook to reduce feeding errors.

We do the same. After nearly getting tagged twice by our former 6ft carpet python, I decided feeding in his tank would be best.

 

[argus333]

looks like i pin prick.

 

[Beazer]

I have been bit by tons of different snakes but I would have to say the worst was by a big female burm on the hand and my joints swelled for a week lol. The second worst was by one of my male Morelia tracyae. Though, for snake jaw pressure there is one snake I can think of that seems to have very strong jaws and thats the indigos. Id hate to be bit by one lol. I love snake bite stories lol.

 

[Suzanne]

I have had snake s for a few years now and haven't been bit yet. Probably because I'm chicken. I don't like reaching in to the enclosure to grab some of my bigger snakes or the ones that are a little nippy. I usually ask my boyfriend to do it (I know, that's mean, lol). My boyfriend on the other hand has been bit a few times. Same story, we used to remove some of our snakes from their enclosure to feed them. My boyfriends reached in to get the snakes out of their feeding enclosure a bit too soon and got tagged.

We've moved most of our snakes to a rack system now. We are in there quite regularly to clean the bins, change the water, handle them and feed them but I find that a lot of our snakes have become a little more agressive since they've been in the rack. I always stand to the side when I open the bins now because some of will strike as soon as you open it. Has anyone else who uses a rack system noticed this kind of behavior?

 

[ColdThirst]

Yeah well done. I got bit by my 7ft Columbian for the first time about a month ago, I was dreading the first time it happened, It now makes me a ton more weary of it and I dont trust it very much anymore.

It was my fault tho, I had just finished feeding the tegu and was getting him ready and didnt realise I still had the smell of mice on my hand so yeah,
ended up being 28 puncture wounds and three of which went into my thumb knuckle. It was most uncomfortable.

Tegu bites still hurt worst tho.

 

[DaveDragon]

Tegu bites still hurt worst tho.

OH YES THEY DO!!! :shock: :shock: :shock:

 

[laurarfl]

Lizards in generally do hurt more than snakes. Tegus have strong jaws and thick teeth and clamp down. Iguanas have serrated teeth and shake their heads. Snakes just kind of latch on.

As for the rack, I have found that some snakes become conditioned to a feeding response when they aren't handled much. If the drawer only opens to feed, or if you are feeding in the enclosure, every time it opens is a signal to eat. I just keep corns in my rack but I still feed them in a separate enclosure. It's just a different conditioning pattern and it gets them off the aspen substrate to eat.

Oh yeah...speaking of snake bites...I got a grey rat snake stuck in my toaster a few days ago. He's new and I was trying to getting him to feed. He's quite nippy, so I had him on the end of a hook. He was covered with mouse poo and urine so I thought I'd rinse him real quick. Well that little bugger jumped off the hook and scrambled into my toaster. I grabbed a piece of him, but he was just too squirmy. After I manged to get the 2-3 ft snake out of my toaster and had my hand in a dish towel, he very calmly decided to reach around and bite my forearm for revenge. It's amazing that it was so slow and fast at the same time. I hardly felt it, but I have a perfect U of teethmarks on my arm. Weird.

 

[Red Earth Exotics]

i don't feed any of my snakes in seperate enclosures. i don't have a problem getting them out either. the ball pythons are, well, ball pythons. i just pull the tub out and pull the snakes out when i want to handle them. no problem. the larger retics and burms i will use a hook to tap their nose to make sure they know i'm not food when i get them out. once they know it's not food time, i have no problem getting them out.

i don't like to handle the snakes after they have eaten. i would have to do this to put them back in their enclusures after feeding them. this could cause them to regurgitate it. not to mention if it were a big meal, probably some discomfort.