My 6 foot RTB bit me and I'm a little freaked out

I've had my girl for about 6 months now and she has never shown any signs of aggression at all - eats and sheds regularly, etc. I am a dancer and intend to perform with her soon. I had to film an audition today, so I brought her to the studio in a large basket, ran my routine with her several times, which entailed me needing to take her out of the basket and put her back in several times in a row. All was fine during this time. When I got home, I was taking her out of the basket to put her back in her cage and she struck my shoulder. Luckily I was wearing a thick sweatshirt so it didn't hurt terribly bad. I was casually talking to my roommate while bringing her out so not sure if maybe she was in a weird position or something was hurting her, I don't really see what it could have been. I don't know what caused this - could it have been stress from the day? I also normally only bring her out about once a week and this was about the fourth time this week I brought her out. I have friends who perform with snakes and they were shocked to hear of the incident as they regularly travel and do shows with their red tails with no issues.

The other possible factor is that I recently discovered she has mites. I tried treating her with a natural spray earlier in the week but I don't think it worked as she is back in her water bowl. I have ordered PAM and waiting for it to arrive.

She is also due for a feeding, it's been a little over 4 weeks now but I don't think this would have been an issue?

I'm glad to know that i can handle a bite from her, but I don't want it to happen again! And if it happened on stage it would be mortifying. Does anyone have any insights as to what could have caused her to do this?

I also noticed that she has a strange reddish/pinkish mark on the underside of her mouth that I have never seen before. Could this be from the mites? Unfortunately I can't get the dropbox link to the photo to work right now.
https://www.dropbox.com/s/tm1ja5algf..._1672.jpg?dl=0https://www.dropbox.com/s/tm1ja5algf..._1672.jpg?dl=0

https://www.dropbox.com/s/tm1ja5algf..._1672.jpg?dl=0

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Originally Posted by aliamo

I also noticed that she has a strange reddish/pinkish mark on the underside of her mouth that I have never seen before. Could this be from the mites? Unfortunately I can't get the dropbox link to the photo to work right now.
https://www.dropbox.com/s/tm1ja5algf..._1672.jpg?dl=0https://www.dropbox.com/s/tm1ja5algf..._1672.jpg?dl=0

https://www.dropbox.com/s/tm1ja5algf..._1672.jpg?dl=0

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I would say that if you are worried, or care about her i would take her to the vet for a check up. Meanwhile, i would not use "pam" if im thinking that the cooking spray? i would order some of this for her https://www.lllreptile.com/products/391-provent-a-mite

Dylan - yes Provent a Mite is what I meant. Trying to upload the photo again. I am wondering if it is a marking I just never happened to notice, but the color is not consistent with any other markings. https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/s/..._1672.jpg?dl=0

I have zero experience w boas nor any large snakes for that mattee

going off common sense alone the simple math adds up and you answered your own question really.

The snake is scared stressed sick hungry and may have other issues.

You said youve been handling and doing things with it 4x more than ever.

It was out and about all day. In out in out of some basket. How long was it out was heat regulated ?

how the heck did it get mites all of a sudden. Is it being kept around other snakes ??

how often do you feed it? 4 weeks sounds like meal time to me.

I mean no no disrespect but this is an animal not sure what type of dancing you do or what the plan is but it sounds like the snake is some glorified prop and maybe you need to ease it in and cut out the other factors first because it sounds ticked off as I think anyone or thing would be when stressed tired sick and hungry

Sounds like you stressed the heck out of your snake with all the handling and stuff you did, it seems like you had her out of hours at a time and all that dancing probably isn't helping matters. I gotta say preforming with your snake like that doesn't seem in her best interests.

A agree that you might be handling her too much, and not in a way she likes.

The more important thing here is that you have a potentially sick, and definitely a stressed and uncomfortable snake (if she has mites).

She wants to be healthy and allowed to heal in peace. Assuming she is given the proper environment/proper husbandry, fed properly, and you get rid of the mites and potentially take her to a vet for the sore on her mouth, I would give her some time. Also, if she is not feeling well, taking her away from her nice warm enclosure and to a cold and stressful place is not good.

Not sure what kind of dancing you do, but generally, even snakes that do okay being handled won't like being danced with, lights, people/audience, etc.

I think she was telling you enough is enough.

Pissed off, scared, or hungry... = bite

Read your post a couple times. Common sense, no mystery here.
Its a snake not German Shepherd.

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In reading your post I feel bad for the snake. That environment can't be good for it. Snakes are not the kind of animal that you parade around with. They need to be in the warmth and safety of their cages except for the occassional handling in the privacy of your own home.

I sincerely hope you reconsider using this snake in your dance routine. Just not fair to the animal.

What I fear most is that your snake will act out in one of your performances and then once again "snakes" get a bad rap from the public as being dangerous. Please rethink this.

Thank you