bp bites

[twisted-wing]

Two things. First, I'm a horrible scardie cat, which I never expected, and here's why. I took a high school class at my local zoo. We cared for an adult bp that was already extremely used to being held. I'd put him around my neck after class and read till my ride came. I was completely comfortable with him. (I even accidently bumped his nose once, and he just pulled his head back and sat there.)

Now I have my own bp, a young CH, and I'm afraid to pick him up. Like I said, I never expected to react like this.

So anyway, I haven't been bit yet, though I have pet and held him for very short amount of times. I'm okay if his head is looking the other way, but when he turns and his head is closer or on top of my hand, I freak... like sad little chicken : P

I'm not under the illusion that I'll never be bit. Nor would I get rid of him after he does bite me. But I thought learning more about how to handle a snake bite would help. From what I understand, there are two kinds of bites, though I may have the terms off. There's the defensive bite; snake is scared and stressed, he does a quick strike and release as a warning. Then there's the feeding bite; the, 'mmm smells like chicken, let me try and eat your hand.'

The defensive bite I'm not worried about, that one's straight-forward. But what do I do if he bites and tries to constrict my hand? How do I get him off without hurting him or myself further?

I also wanted to ask about gloves. Someone posted once that he/she would rather see a confident owner wearing gloves than a nervous handler without. What kind of gloves do people use? I think I saw someone say thin leather once. Any other kinds work well?

Many thanks!

[llovelace]

, it's just a baby, just hold it a few minutes each day, except after feeding wait 24-48 hrs to handle, I keep a spray bottle handy for the bigger ones, if they are in feed mode during tank spot cleaning I give them a little mist/spray to snap them out of feed mode.

I have one girl she's around 1200grams who supposedly is very nippy according to her previous owner, she's always in strike position when I open her tub. I have taken her out of her tub to clean major water spills and such without incident so far

I personally don't wear gloves, I want to feel my snakes when I handle them.

[frankykeno]

I also wanted to ask about gloves. Someone posted once that he/she would rather see a confident owner wearing gloves than a nervous handler without. What kind of gloves do people use? I think I saw someone say thin leather once. Any other kinds work well?

Many thanks!

That would have likely been me. I know a lot of folks aren't big on using gloves with ball pythons but I figure you use what works for you until you feel ready to do otherwise. Just sensible I think.

Personally I keep a pair of medium grade gardening type gloves around. Not thick enough to lose fine control and touch but thick enough to slow down a bite. Any snake with larger teeth is going to get through most likely but not by much and the gloves will take most of the hit. You can find those at any major department or house/garden store.

I'd suggest you start a handling routine for your snake. I think these snakes do very well with simple routines for their lives - one for feeding, another for enclosure cleaning, another for handling. Just stuff like a certain way you pick up the snake or touching it first to let it know you are about to lift it, that sort of thing. Make handling sessions short, calm and easy on both you and the snake. Each successful handling experience builds a calm routine that reinforces for you and your snake that handling is no big deal and nothing to get tense over.

Take your time and go easy. This snake will be part of your life for many years so there's no real rush. Ball pythons aren't a social animal that needs to be handled constantly so once or twice a week for a few minutes is enough really to establish a handling routine. Avoid handling for 48 hours after feeding and personally I don't like to handle the snakes for anything other than maintenance purposes on the day of feeding since they know their feeding routine and tend to be very hyped up and waiting to strike at dinner.

Btw, of the two bites the quick slap and release bite is the far more common one, in my experience. Also bp's really aren't a big "bite first ask questions later" type of snake so most of them don't do a ton of biting preferring to withdraw into the safety of their coils (hence the whole ball knickname).

Just take it slow, wear gloves if you need to for now - you and you're snake will be fine I'm sure.

[anatess]

So, I'm really this super over-protective mother (shhhh! don't tell my husband I'm admitting it) so when we got a western hognose, I contemplated getting a kevlar glove or a cut-resistant glove (used by people working at the deli meat cutter) for my sons just to make sure they don't get hognose venom injected in them. I never did get the gloves because my hubby nixed the idea. I was one click away from bidding on the kevlar on ebay.

Anyway, it is a good thing to have lying around anyway. I mean, the kevlar or cut-resistant gloves, especially if you do a lot of wood-working and, of course, if you want to try your hand at owning hots.

[bobbi]

im the big chicken who liked the gloves at first i just got them at the dollar store. i used them a few times till i got over my fear of this perticular snake who might i add was one of the snappyiest i had ever seen ! after about a week of getting to know each other a little better, i sucked it up and took off the gloves. i dont think ill ever look back now. hes my first BP so i wanted to make sure i was confidante before i took them off. i had a terrible fear of dropping him. try the gloves, im sure after a while you will get comftorble.

[kc261]

Use gloves if it helps you feel more confident at first. Any glove will do. Even if you get something super thin, a BPs bite is pretty minor, so that will still prevent most of the damage.

If your BP constricts you, that is a little interesting. I had it happen to me once, and I don't think it was a feeding response, because the snake never struck at all, just grabbed on REALLY tight and would not let go. So I think maybe somehow it thought it was going to fall and was holding on for dear life. I thought I would just wait it out and it would get bored and let go. Except it didn't get bored very fast! Then when my hand was turning purple and getting numb, I decided enough was enough and ran some water over it. It let go immediately. Supposedly you can get a hold on their tail and just gently unwind them, but the snake was constricted so tightly that I was afraid of hurting it. Anyway, I think the water trick would work if it had been a feeding strike as well.

[cinderbird]

having been bitten by a few unhappy babies, i can say

1. you will have worse paper cuts
2. they always give you warning.

There is the occasional bp that will bite every time, but they are pretty uncommon. Most bites can be avoided by washing your hands before handling your snake. This avoids any mistaken identity bites (you smell like food or a threat or something). They puff their bodies up, they hiss, etc. they make it pretty well known if they are unhappy with something.

I had the same fleeting fear, but learn to know your snake. You'll be much less afraid of it after you get to know it. If you want it to know you're there, stroke in on the back before picking it up. And IF it manages to get you, it will let go eventually.

[brett1489]

i have worked with bps before at a nature center and they were adults and i wasnt scared at all!!! my first bp (who is no longer with me) becase i was keeping her while a friend was away for the summer struck at me about 15 times in one day. after that i was extremly scared of snakes. i jus recently got back into snakes and i love them!!! ur confidence will come with time. handle him when you are comfortable doing it.

you need to trust your snake. if you are scared they sense that, trust me. and if it makes you feel better to wear gloves then go for it! and u can use regular old gardening gloves. in time u will feel comfortable enough to hold him without gloves on.

[CTReptileRescue]

I understand your fear, Many people have it, no need to be ashamed.
In my experience with bp's they rarely bite. I have heard of some folks getting some warning snaps, but I personally have never been bitten by a bp. (Even thou I have had some nasty buggers come through with bad medical issues etc, if I were them I would've bitten every human I could.) I do use gloves on occasion with larger snakes, actually not to handle the snakes, but when I go into a few of my carpets enclosures to pull out their water dishes I know that they will snap. (Most of the time). It saves me the bite and they tend to back off quick once they hit the leather gloves. This is only on occasion because I know certain snakes (most have been starved and are in the process of rehabilitation) will snap in the very beginning stages, again because they are starving and on "hunt" mode 24/7.
This works for me. It's up to you to use gloves, like other people have said I think BP's do best with a handeling routine. If you need to wear gloves in the begining stages of that routine to help yourself gain confidence then I say go for it.
Hope this helps somewhat,
Rusty

[ctrlfreq]

So anyway, I haven't been bit yet, though I have pet and held him for very short amount of times. I'm okay if his head is looking the other way, but when he turns and his head is closer or on top of my hand, I freak... like sad little chicken : P

Getting bitten is like going on a roller coaster - when you've never experienced it, it's a source of anxiety - when it's happening the first time you think "I'm going to die!", then it's all over and you laugh about how silly you were for being scared in the first place.

My advice... get it over with - get yourself tagged (it's not that hard) and join the club.