i dropped my baby ball... i feel horrible

[AM1GROSS]

she seems normal, she fell from about a four foot counter top.. i was holding her while getting her water and she struck and fell out of my hand. i quicky picked her up and looked her over and put her back in her container. what should i look for? i am sure this has happened to someone else at some point. any advice? i feel so bad..

[WintersSerpentine]

The only advice I know to personally give is this:

Snakes don't so much have a conscience but they can make the connection between good behavior and getting what they want. If your Bp ever strikes at you again (though I know it may startle you) try to keep a loose but firm grasp on your bp, hold them for a minute or two and then replace her back into the tub.
This makes the snake think: "Oh, hey, if I strike or act negatively I do not immediately get what I want (which in this case is the tub and safety.)"

I feel as though you can see this much easier in Burms, as you must practice patience and routine training to keep them docile whereas a ball python will strike only when stressed or as a feeding response, but this method is still a solution.

By holding your snake for a few moments after the strike/bite, you are not rewarding your BP and they will correlate striking with negativity (or in this case, not getting what they want )

Hope the little one is alright,
Make sure not to have her too high up until the trust is reconnected between you two.

** I'm pretty sure that snakes are fairly fragile, and you wouldn't really know for sure if any bones were broken without an XRay.

[Warren_Booth]

Snakes don't so much have a conscience but they can make the connection between good behavior and getting what they want.

As an evolutionary biologist I don't believe that for a minute. The reason the snake struck is purely defensive (i.e. it felt threatened). Nothing at all to do with getting what it wants. By handling your animal frequently many will not associate as a threat, however if you turn around and grab it aggressively, it doesn't matter how tame this animal is, it will likely respond with a strike. Why, because it felt threatened.

Regarding the snake that was dropped. Depending on how it landed, from what height, and onto what surface, will all affect the outcome. high, on a hard surface, on it belly can result in the tips of ribs being broken, on its side, may resulting mid rib fractures or breaks, whereas on its back may result in spinal damage. If it feel only a foot or so, then it is unlikely to have caused any damage.

Warren

[Coluber42]

I don't know if your snake was actually injured or not... but one thing to remember is that smaller animals have less mass and they hit the ground with a lot less force. So all else being equal, a fall from four feet probably does not hurt as much for a baby BP as it would for you, because it hits the ground with so much less force.

That doesn't mean falling can't cause injuries, but there's a good chance it's less bad than it would be for you to fall from the same height.

[WintersSerpentine]

As an evolutionary biologist I don't believe that for a minute. The reason the snake struck is purely defensive (i.e. it felt threatened). Nothing at all to do with getting what it wants. By handling your animal frequently many will not associate as a threat, however if you turn around and grab it aggressively, it doesn't matter how tame this animal is, it will likely respond with a strike. Why, because it felt threatened.

Regarding the snake that was dropped. Depending on how it landed, from what height, and onto what surface, will all affect the outcome. high, on a hard surface, on it belly can result in the tips of ribs being broken, on its side, may resulting mid rib fractures or breaks, whereas on its back may result in spinal damage. If it feel only a foot or so, then it is unlikely to have caused any damage.

Warren

I completely agree with that,I was not trying to downplay that the snake bit in a defensive manner... I was trying to give tips about how to overcome any future issues. Tired and probably worded it incoherently

Thank you for the information Warren!

[Stewart_Reptiles]

A few years back, one of my females (an hatchling at the time that I took to teach the staff there how to sex snakes) was dropped by one of my vet's assistant onto the concrete floor.

It was like nothing happened which is surprising given the fall and the surface, this girl is now 4 years old and over 3000 grams.

[BeelzeBall.]

its made of nothing but muscle, its fine.

[AM1GROSS]

thanks all for the replies, she seems to be fine, so far.. moving freely about her cage. i am sure she was stressed, i just got her the day before and i was changing her water, lesson here is to leave the snake in the tub until she knows that my hands are the ones that feed her and we get that trust. i will continue to keep an eye on her as time goes to make sure there are no negative signs. thanks every one again.

[Kibbleswhites]

A nice definition for those of you who think of a reptile as a mammal:

Define anthropomorphism - the attribution of human characteristics or behavior to a god, animal, or object.

Reptiles do not have a frontal lobe only a cerebral cortex. No frontal lobe = no feelings; no emotions.

Reptiles do feel pain and security but will never love or hate you. They will never feel guilty for biting you or learn to trust you.

A reptile will tolerate being handled as it disassociates handling with eating or danger over time. This is why a new snake or a baby snake is more likely to strike your hand. Do not confuse this with trust, love, or any other human emotion. This is why baby humans have in the past fell victim to large reptiles with negligent owners.

[Fraido]

I've dropped my fair share of snakes, probably more than most people... whoops. No real harm has ever come from the incidents, thanfully. I've also had big boa butts drop to the floor like a big block of concrete, and let me tell you.. THAT sounds terrible.

Sent from my LG-H812 using Tapatalk