You never know when there ganna bite.

[Tzatch]

I was cleaning my red-tails, cage today she's about 5.5 feet long. I had my brother holding her. I was scouping the substrate out when I hear my brother say ouch she bit me. I look over and he was holding her head down and she was biting his hand. I went over to him and we put her back in the cage to see what had happened. He showed me where she bit him on the neck and right next to the ear. He said he was just holding her and she come up and bit. Just goes to show ya that you can just be holding them doing nothing unsafe and just get bit. What I think happened is she felt his sideburns with her tounge and associated it with a rats fur. There was no real damage just a little blood and some very small puncture wounds. She had never bitten before. She got his hand too when he pulled her from his face. Just thought I would share this reminder with everyone to always be careful with reptiles. You sometimes forget that they will bite out of the blue for no apparent reason, just nature I guess. I always try to treat big snake like guns, you dont point them at your face.

 

[Gillian]

Oh yeah...
You never know. Even the traditional warning signs, aren't a good indicator. My Red Tail nailed me in the face, as I was lifting him out of his enclosure. Got the tip of my nose, and my arm.
The worst thing? The tip of my nose had bright red spots all over the tip..REALLY embarassing...
My Ball Python..whom I always have trusted, nailed me hard, when I opened the feeding tank, to feed him. He's been especially hungry and feeding well lately. I had the rat in the tongs. I opened the lid, and as soon as the lid was open, he struck. In retrospect, I think he smelled the rat, and just struck towards the smell of food.
Now, THAT hurt when he hit..He's 5 and a half feet long, and pretty weighty. The wound bled for a good bit.
Peace, Light & Eternal Love..
Gillian
)0(

 

[Love to Foxtrot]

Funny, I was thinking about this yesterday. The one snake that I never expected to bite me, did. I was handling my adult Rosy boa, and he had been perfectly calm, when he looked at my finger with a little too much interest and chomped me. I was surprised because he has always been very docile, but I know that eventually the most trustworthy snake will probably bite you. Interestingly enough, I had my mean-as-the-devil Taiwan Beauty snake out after that, and he was much nicer than usual!

Aubrey

 

[Gillian]

Originally posted by Love to Foxtrot
I had my mean-as-the-devil Taiwan Beauty snake out after that, and he was much nicer than usual!

Aubrey

OoOoOo!!
You have a Taiwan Beauty?! Lucky, lucky...
Peace, Light & Eternal Love...
Gillian
)0(

 

[skinheaddave]

I've been biten the first snake I ever got a couple times. Most recently, I picked him up and I guess didn't give him enough warning or something. He whipped around and got me on the nose. Fortunately, he is a ratsnake and the damage was such that I actualy had to ask Tamara if I had really been bitten. She told me to go wash the blood off.

Cheers,
Dave

 

[Bry]

Haha Dave...I know what you mean. Even my largest ratsnake at 6' hardly produces painful bites. Now, carpet pythons, they can bite hard. A couple years ago, the smell of rat wafting from several rooms away was enough to send my JCP in a feeding frenzy. As soon as I opened her cage, she bit me on the thumb joint right before the thumbnail, and wrapped around my hand. To this day, I can't bend that thumb fully. Bites from most non-vens are usually not painful at all. The only thing I hate is the way they strike so unexpectedly that it makes you jump. Nevertheless, they're such cool animals. BTW, what kind of ratsnake was it that bit you?

Bry

 

[skinheaddave]

Bry,

In this particular case it is a Deckert's or pseudo-Deckerts. E.o.quadrivittata x rossellini anyhow. The other ratsnake I've been bitten by is my yellow. He is larger (around 6' now) but, like you said, it is still nothing. He got me on the ankle once and the hands a couple times.

Cheers,
Dave

 

[Bry]

On the ankle? Heh...how'd you manage that one? Most bites generally stay above the waist.

Bry

 

[BigSam]

mine are held alot so they are less incline to bite but they still can. People never understand that a any snake doen't matter if it's C.B. or W.C. are an wild animals and have the potential to bite, which sometimes they do. My male got me a while back for no reason.

Sam,

 

[Phillip]

A mean beauty snake now that's an odd one. They are usually squirmy as hell but tend not to be bitey.

Phil

 

[skinheaddave]

Originally posted by Bry
On the ankle? Heh...how'd you manage that one? Most bites generally stay above the waist.

I was letting him run through my hands towards the floor. He was stretched right out and almost at the floor when he just whipped around and nabbed me. I wasn't wearing shoes or socks so he got the front of my ankle just at the bend between foot and leg.

Cheers,
Dave

 

[Bry]

Originally posted by BigSam
mine are held alot so they are less incline to bite but they still can. People never understand that a any snake doen't matter if it's C.B. or W.C. are an wild animals and have the potential to bite, which sometimes they do.

That logic holds fairly true for most snakes. They do get used to being handled. But, there are some snakes that don't care about all that, no matter how many times you've handled them. Although most aren't that bad, there are definitely a few that seem to have the mindset of "You move, I bite. You don't move, I bite anyways."

Bry

 

[skinheaddave]

For attitutde, my western hognose takes the cake. When it is on the ground, it is a viscious cobra-like entity. When it is off the ground it is perfectly calm. The catch here is that you can switch between the two states as often as you want. You can pick it up and put it down and pick it up and put it down etc. and as soon as you pick it up it will be completely docile and as soon as you put it down it will try to kill you (which, at the approximate thickness of a pencil, is not a particularily big deal).

Cheers,
Dave