Have all of you been bitten?

Is owning a snake kinda like riding a motorcycle? In a sense that everyone "falls"? I'm not afraid of my BP and have yet to have an aggressive experience, but how common is it? Just curious

Everyone gets "bitten" at one point. There is a difference in being "tagged" and being "bitten." Tagging is the quick nip that usually doesn't result in blood. That is the more frequently occurance. Being "bitten" is the actual, bite, gnaw, and hold on. In 14 years with snakes, I've only been "bitten" twice. Once by my 7 foot Columbian Boa who got locked on my left hand and did a good amount of damage. And my 2300 gram BP who smelled the rat I was about to toss in and got my hand, wrapped in full feeder response. The first hurt like all hell, the second didn't at all. Their teeth size is completely different.

Bps have tiny little teeth, so if yours does bite or tag you, don't worry. It's not going to hurt.

my female butter was a straight witch with a capital B when i got her... she bit me around 5-7 times... not counting the times she struck but missed. she just had a bad temper when she was a baby. im use to getting bit by things though. i use to go chasing animals everywhere as a kid.

Never been bitten, two of my snakes have tried. My adult male tried a couple times when he was eating while hanging off a fixture I had in his tank. And he tried striking me through the tank. My new lesser has tried once, but he will pretty much strike anything that moves in his field of view. I swear this snake gas gone airborne before, but he never actually tagged me. I figured out the best way to handle him is to just scoop him up and not give him a chance.

If you own "a snake", you are not guaranteed to get bit.

If you breed snakes or keep more than just a couple, you're likely addicted by this hobby enough to own at least one snake that is snappy at times and you're likely to get hit.

I've only ever been bit once by a captive snake. It was my corn snake the first day I got it, and it was very young (maybe only a month old). Of course it couldn't even break the skin, it just looked like it tried to chew my hand. If I had not seen it happening, I couldn't have known I was being bit.

Other than that, all my snake bites have come from wild snakes (all of which I could have avoided, but I enjoy getting "hands on").

I have been keeping snakes since I was 8. So except for that first day which can be attributed to "stressed baby bite response", I have gone 15, approaching 16 years without being bit by a captive snake. Only 4 of those years (college) was I without a snake.

I have been tagged more so than bit, Actually last Saturday while feeding my reg. ball python, The most common mistakes come when people get a little too comfortable with their snakes and start overlooking common safety stuff like washing the rat smell of our hands :oops: :oops:

Its like being and infielder; bad hops are going to happen, but you have to keep getting in front of the ball.

Brandon

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Originally Posted by BrandonsBalls

Its like being and infielder; bad hops are going to happen, but you have to keep getting in front of the ball.

Brandon

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lol I like that one. I played short stop in high school so I cam relate. I hope a BP bite isnt as bad as a base"ball" poppin you in the jaw.

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Originally Posted by Ludeboi

lol I like that one. I played short stop in high school so I cam relate. I hope a BP bite isnt as bad as a base"ball" poppin you in the jaw.

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Depends on the hop and the jaw.

Lets see a ball that probably ways like half a pound so like .25kg is traveling with a downward acceleration 9.8 m/s^2 (gravity) force = mass x acceleration

2.45 Newtons of force being taken to your face, while a BP's head is like 50 grams? Traveling with an acceleration of like 2 or 3 m/s^2... thats like .1 or .15 Newtons.

Mind that I dont have a set of velocity readers to figure out their average acceleration, nor do I have a ball python head to shove on a scale, this was just guesswork, anyway the difference is pretty big. Mind that I'm not going to sit here and try and figure out momentum, kinetic energy, or collision information for the baseball, I'm too lazy for all that and I'd need to know more about its velocity before and after impact for that anyway.

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Originally Posted by Oxylepy

Lets see a ball that probably ways like half a pound so like .25kg is traveling with a downward acceleration 9.8 m/s^2 (gravity) force = mass x acceleration

2.45 Newtons of force being taken to your face, while a BP's head is like 50 grams? Traveling with an acceleration of like 2 or 3 m/s^2... thats like .1 or .15 Newtons.

Mind that I dont have a set of velocity readers to figure out their average acceleration, nor do I have a ball python head to shove on a scale, this was just guesswork, anyway the difference is pretty big. Mind that I'm not going to sit here and try and figure out momentum, kinetic energy, or collision information for the baseball, I'm too lazy for all that and I'd need to know more about its velocity before and after impact for that anyway.

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Somebody paid attention in physics class :O.

I love having a snappy snake, they usually have the best feeding responses and they usually tame down with age. Sometimes your not so lucky though, its always fun having a 2000 gram girly launching at you.

Newtonian mechanics is a lie.

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Originally Posted by mainbutter

Newtonian mechanics is a lie.

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But gravity is not, as I have learned on many occasion's.

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Originally Posted by mainbutter

Newtonian mechanics is a lie.

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Pretty much, hence me claiming I'm too lazy to work with any actual physics :P

I'm actually in college physics right now, but it's lame algebra stuff, it seriously bores the heck out of me. I cant wait until I get into Physics Sci/Eng.

I have been bitten, but only once. It was shocking, but did not hurt, and only a lil bit of blood!

Sad to say I am not a member of the bite club yet!

:giggle:

I have been tagged 3 times, twice by babies upon arrival and getting them set up........and once as I lifted the paper during feeding, the bp never seemed to be up front but this time he was, touch the paper to find and he thought it was the rat, didnt hang on , didnt hurt, just a startle lol.

When I worked at BHB for a week in August that was a different story lol...cleaning racks etc etc by the hundreds you dont have time with the little new borns to make sure you get them out perfectly so got nipped quite a bit there, but all babies so can be expected lol..

Not part of that club yet...though I am sure it will happen eventually.

Now talk to me about pee and poop....I think I am the queen. One of my snakes secretly thinks it hilarious to go on me everytime I hold him.

my female dumeril has got me so many times it aint funny.in my face,my chest,neck,hands,arms every where.so just be careful:sniff:

The way I see it is like this having a snake and not expecting it to try to bite you and succeed is like owning a puppy and expect him not to have an accident on the carpet.

I have a few of them :rolleyes: and be bitten a few times.

I am a bite magnet and other people's snakes also try to take a shot at me simply for walking by or sitting next to people handling them ;) (True story)

Tattoos hurt worse...
Cat scratches hurt worse...
Puppy teeth hurt worse...

This one was from a large adult...

https://ball-pythons.net/gallery/fil...8/hpim0143.jpg

Of course, 24 hours later you couldn't even see the teeth marks...

You can also check out some of the episodes of Snakebytes TV, where they have some good clips of bites...

http://c4.ac-images.myspacecdn.com/i...84f490ddb7.jpg

7 foot boa. This was just the beginning. I'm anemic so it didn't stop bleeding for awhile and once it ruptured there was a lot more blood. Cut a nerve and a vein. This one HURT.

22 teeth marks, only 9 are visible in this picture. The rest bled later, leading all the way around my hand, my fore, middle finger, and thumb.

I actually have two motorcycles and two BPs...haven't been down or bitten...yet! ;)

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Originally Posted by GoBoilers

I actually have two motorcycles and two BPs...haven't been down or bitten...yet! ;)

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Wish I could say the same. I've been riding motorcycles most of my life and I have definitely went down more than I have been bit...

lol I been bitten so often I don't wrok about it until it stops then I just check to make sure I tooth not brok off under th skin. I still finch like everyone but it not an issue of if but when. and I don't worry about it ( until the boa) I have wants a chunck of me lol with her at almost 7 ft and a good 50+ lbs I guessing that be a bite that hurts.

ive only been bitten by baby bp's or bp breeders that dont get much attention. you dont have much to worry bout if you have raised and handled them.

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Originally Posted by Vypyrz

Wish I could say the same. I've been riding motorcycles most of my life and I have definitely went down more than I have been bit...

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I've only been riding for about 5 years, so have plenty of time to get intimate with the pavement...always have my gear on just in case! Not to hijack this thread, but what do you ride?

Getting back on topic, one thing I do to help avoid bites is to not handle my guys just before feeding day!

In the 9 years I've had BPs I've never once been hit/tagged/bit etc. I WISH that I had to be honest lol. Hell, I've been bit by my bearded dragon more times than the balls.

Because its been so long without a bite it feels like I'm due. At this point I want to get it over with so that I dont have such a mental hangup about it.

Almost at the point of pre-scenting my hand and offering it up. Almost. :D

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Originally Posted by joshn6805

Somebody paid attention in physics class :O.

I love having a snappy snake, they usually have the best feeding responses and they usually tame down with age. Sometimes your not so lucky though, its always fun having a 2000 gram girly launching at you.

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Baseballs dont have teeth and a locking jaw.

I havent been bitten yet, and hope that i wont be for a while! :)