Ball Python bit without striking first

I had an adult Kingsnake do this to me a while back. She would just casually rub her nose against my hand and wrist, then slowly bite. She would hold on for any where from a few seconds to I'm guessing a minute or so, didn't time it, hahaha. After about 6-7 bites there was one lone little blood droplet and a few teeth marks.

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Originally Posted by dakski

Look, no one wants to get bitten, by anything, especially larger snakes! That kind of bite sounds pretty harmless, almost exploratory, as KMG said. I wrestle with my dogs and play bites from them hurt more than a BP bite.

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Am I the only one who sometimes wishes I could play with my snakes the way we play with dogs, cats, ferrets, etc... just some gentle rough housing and a few play bites?? Maybe a little tug-of-war, chase the toy, etc...Hahaha!!
I said that to my girlfriend a while back and she looked at me like I had 7 heads!!
Maybe it is just me??

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Originally Posted by craigafrechette

Am I the only one who sometimes wishes I could play with my snakes the way we play with dogs, cats, ferrets, etc... just some gentle rough housing and a few play bites?? Maybe a little tug-of-war, chase the toy, etc...Hahaha!!
I said that to my girlfriend a while back and she looked at me like I had 7 heads!!
Maybe it is just me??

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Hahahahahaha.. To funny. I get some strange looks myself.. I call them Sweetheart and i dont know how many times ive gotten:
"I don't know the last time you spoke that sweet to me but your in there with the snakes calling them Sweetheart" [emoji15]
[emoji23][emoji23][emoji23][emoji23][emoji23]
We have some Pet Norway Rats also that are really cool and smart. They play just like our Dogs.. Tug a war, wrestle your hand and love a massage... And yes i think to myself...
"wish the snakes would come over to me & wanted to get scratched and rubbed" Hahaha[emoji216][emoji216][emoji216][emoji23][emoji23][emoji23]

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Originally Posted by kathleenwdwrd

So my ball python bit someone without striking. He just started rubbing his nose against his hand and then started biting him pretty slowly. I've had a similar situation happen with a fuzzy blanket that he thought was a rat and then acted like he was going to bite me. He didn't just stayed with his nose right against my wrist and was hard to pry off. He's generally pretty friendly and always comes to me when I go to handle him. Now I'm scared he might bite me. I know it's to be expected, but would like to avoid it if I can. He is a Killer Bee and has a pretty intense head bobble and a strong feeder. I'm just wondering if there might be a reason he bit in such an unusual way...? Does his head bobble have anything to do with it?

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This is crazy interesting. It sounds like the way my girls eat Fresh Kill...
I noticed you said "its really hard to pry him off". Did you mean on this one occasion with the guys hand or other times also like the Blanket? How did it react when it bit down on the Blanket?

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Originally Posted by CALM Pythons

This is crazy interesting. It sounds like the way my girls eat Fresh Kill...
I noticed you said "its really hard to pry him off". Did you mean on this one occasion with the guys hand or other times also like the Blanket? How did it react when it bit down on the Blanket?

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Both occasions. When he bit the guy's hand he wrapped around his wrist and would not release his bite.

With the blanket he started rubbing his face against the blanket and started to move his head back and forth and slowly bit it. I saw this and knew he could very well bite me now because he's in feeding mode now. I immediately got up to put him away, that's when he wrapped around my wrist and remained nose down on my wrist like he was about to do the same thing time to me. It took us a couple minutes to unwrap him but he never bit me. I like to think he really actually likes me and knew to not bite me. He is at least way more curious about me than my fiance, anytime I come by and say his name a few times, he comes out to greet me and would just slither right onto my arm when it was handling time.

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Originally Posted by kathleenwdwrd

Both occasions. When he bit the guy's hand he wrapped around his wrist and would not release his bite.

With the blanket he started rubbing his face against the blanket and started to move his head back and forth and slowly bit it. I saw this and knew he could very well bite me now because he's in feeding mode now. I immediately got up to put him away, that's when he wrapped around my wrist and remained nose down on my wrist like he was about to do the same thing time to me. It took us a couple minutes to unwrap him but he never bit me. I like to think he really actually likes me and knew to not bite me. He is at least way more curious about me than my fiance, anytime I come by and say his name a few times, he comes out to greet me and would just slither right onto my arm when it was handling time.

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If he coiled, almost definitely a feeding response. Aggressive/defensive bites are usually strike, bite, let go, and possibly repeat!

Also, as you probably know, he might recognize you and/or your scent, but he can't hear you, well like we do. No ears! LOL!

Cool he is a friendly little fellow. Sounds like an odd duck a little with the biting and coiling on a hand though!

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Originally Posted by kathleenwdwrd

Both occasions. When he bit the guy's hand he wrapped around his wrist and would not release his bite.

With the blanket he started rubbing his face against the blanket and started to move his head back and forth and slowly bit it. I saw this and knew he could very well bite me now because he's in feeding mode now. I immediately got up to put him away, that's when he wrapped around my wrist and remained nose down on my wrist like he was about to do the same thing time to me. It took us a couple minutes to unwrap him but he never bit me. I like to think he really actually likes me and knew to not bite me. He is at least way more curious about me than my fiance, anytime I come by and say his name a few times, he comes out to greet me and would just slither right onto my arm when it was handling time.

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Very interesting and Im sorry but I couldn't help but laugh when you said you were discussing how gentile he was and then he Bit the guy ROFL.... I was laughing so hard ny wife didnt understand what I was trying to tell her happened hahahahahha.
This is the Exact way my 2 girls eat fresh kill. They push their nose into the Rats fur nosing around and i always sit there saying "come on already are you going to snuggle & kiss or eat" lol.. Once they do that (sometimes leaving it and coming back 2-3 times) they eventually Walk their jaw onto the Rat like a Dog picking up Meat and drag it to their Hide to eat... Its all so Strange to me as I never had snakes do any of these behaviors 20 years ago... I dont understand 1/2 of it and wonder if they have picked up odd Captive Bred traits through breeding over & over through the years. Especially Ball Pythons because of the Morphs that are available.. they started being produced like they were the latest Iphone years ago.

I got a bite like that a few years ago. I didn't wash my hands between playing with the rats and taking out the snake.

Totally my fault - never happened again though.

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So just tried to take him out to feed him and he bit me almost immediately -_- I'm afraid the taste of human blood has turned my friendly little guy to a meanie :(

Even made sure to clean my hands up to my elbows

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Originally Posted by kathleenwdwrd

So just tried to take him out to feed him and he bit me almost immediately -_- I'm afraid the taste of human blood has turned my friendly little guy to a meanie :(

Even made sure to clean my hands up to my elbows

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What exactly happened? Why would you be taking him out to feed him? This is the snake you've had foe 2 years if i remember correctly...where was the food compared to you and the snake?


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