Ok, so how bad is it, really?

Just got my 2nd bp. He's a hatchling and he hasn't been handled too terribly much. I've had him for a week, he's eaten for me once. Here's the problem. Every time I go in to try and pick him up (a whole twice now) he automatically goes into defense mode and tries to tag me. Tonight there was a whole lot of hissing and me using something between him and me to put his hide back (and he struck at it!) and he won. LOL why am I so afraid of a little baby bp? He's just over 100 grams so he's a little feller. So please tell me all about your horrific hatchling bite stories. I guess I could go through the 23 page bite topic, but I'd rather not! Pics are great, too! I keep trying to tell myself it's not that bad but then I wimp out! Argh! I am so embarrassed to be putting up this topic...:oops:

This is what separates from the every day poodle flaunting snake hating (insult goes here) pet keepers.

Snakes aren't your average pet, as I'm sure you know. You are going to eventually get bitten, sorry there is no way around it. Just pick him up like a doughnut, and do not release him when he bites. That way, he'll learn that biting you is inane and he will eventually stop.

Just don't do it too much, if he gets too stressed he will stop feeding.

dont worry, hatchilng bites dont hurt at all...its more of the shock and the "oh %^$&*%^ I JUST GOT TAGGED" lol! get it over wiith =P....but i would say leave him alone for a week of so, just go in to feed him and dont try to handle him at ALL....he is just in his whole rebel phase

Well I had this one baby ball python who bit me. Took the skin clean off my finger and it wouldn't stop bleeding for an hour. There was blood everywhere! :D

Ok, not really. I've been bitten by a couple ball pythons. One was a hatchling and I can honestly say I couldn't feel it. I saw a small dot of blood and that's the only thing that convinced me that I actually got bit. Baby ball pythons don't hurt at all. When they get larger, it feels like a tiny pin prick but that's it.

If you get bitten it will scare you more than anything. It doesnt really hurt. Babies are naturally more defensive and shy. I have one baby that has bitten me twice already. She has a great feeding response and will come sailing out of her hide at the first movement.

Once you take the hide off reach in coming from well behind her head. Scoop up the part of her body that is farthest from her head. Use your other hand or the hide to distract her. Once you have her out of her home she should calm down. She will calm down with age regardless.

Id rather be bitten by a snake than a dog, cat, bird etc..

My husband has a little monster of a BP, and he's tagged me.

The only reason I knew he'd got me, I felt him hit my finger and there was a very teeny tiny eentsey weentsey little microscopic drop of blood. If you had a magnifying glass you could just see it.

It's more then instant shock of, " That snake just bit me! " Then it's, " At least I think it did, I don't see anything, but I'm pretty sure that was a bite." And finally it's, " If it did bite me, and I didn't just imagine the whole thing, I can't figure out where it got me. I guess we'll just keep this between us."

Really, it's nothing to be afraid of, kittens do way more damage than even an adult BP does. Your best bet is just to get it over with, once you know there isn't anything to be afraid of, you'll feel better about handling.

Gale

This little scratch made me scared of my little 250g plus little spider hatchling for about 2 weeks, no joke! I still dont understand why...

https://ball-pythons.net/gallery/fil...5/100_1955.jpg

He will probably get better as he ages.

i think it pyschological, most of use are raised to fear snakes, its more the fact of OMG a snake just bit me than i just got my finger pricked by a needle(what i think snakw byte feels like)

Your little guy is probably still stressed from being on his new enviroment as well as he is a baby which makes him more defensive times 2. You have to figure the only chance they have of surviving is hoping they can scare off a potential predator with a few strikes, otherwise they are pretty much defenseless especially considering they cant do any harm or damage if they actually tagged you. Until you get used to being tagged your reflexes will get the best of you and you will jerk even though you know they cant do any harm. It still happens to me sometimes and I have been dealing with 100's of them for years, LOL

He will get over it and stop as he gets older and he settles in. The first time a baby tagged me I was reaching into a tank of like 50 CH imports and I pulled my hand away so fast I banged it on the side of the enclosure. Needless to say smacking my hand on the enclosure hurt way more then the bite ever did. I can control my reflexes better when I am expecting to get zapped, its when I am not that I tend to jerk away out of pure reflex.

Dont worry, he's not Satan, just a scared little baby just trying to defend himself the only way he knows how.

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Originally Posted by blackcrystal22

He will probably get better as he ages.

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No he WILL get better, its just a young ball python thing to do! They have to be protective and take any threat to them as a serious thing, they get used to it though.

My first and only tag was buy my friends adult female pied. I took out her boyfriend to show him to my hubby and went to put him back in her tub and she tagged me, I guess thats what I get for messing with her man:D:D:D. It did not hurt any more than a cat scrach. Iam a pet groomer and I can tell you a cat scratch hurts a lot more and a lot longer than a ball python bite.

I would just leave him alone for a couple of weeks! He is still stressed and just needs more time to settle in! My male took a month to get settled before he calmed down! No worries!!!:)

Leave him alone for a week. He's probably stressed. But some snakes are biters and will continue to do this to show you they don't want to be messed with. You have 2 choices, let him win and never get near him or let him bite you. I know this is going to sound crazy, but let him bite you. When he sees you're not going to back down, he'll get the message that you're the boss. Also it will allow you to see what being bit is like. Go into the enclosure with a closed fist. Let him bite you, he's really only going to strike at you, I would be amazed if he actually latched on.

These little guys can be nippy, but usually grow out of it. But they won't if they can continue to intimidate you to leave them alone.

Have fun with it. Get used to it, because you will be bite again and again if you're around snakes long enough.

Good Luck!
Jim Smith

Will do on leaving him alone for a couple more weeks! I've had my other BP for like 7 months and he's never even tried to strike at me! I guess I'm more worried about the element of surprise than anything...I have to watch when they give me a shot or take blood cause I have to KNOW when the pain is coming, otherwise I jump through the roof! I'm generally not such a wimp about things. My last kiddo weighed 10 lbs 4 oz for crying out loud! No C-section for this mama! So yeah, I shouldn't be such a wimp!

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Originally Posted by Punkymom

Will do on leaving him alone for a couple more weeks! I've had my other BP for like 7 months and he's never even tried to strike at me! I guess I'm more worried about the element of surprise than anything...I have to watch when they give me a shot or take blood cause I have to KNOW when the pain is coming, otherwise I jump through the roof! I'm generally not such a wimp about things. My last kiddo weighed 10 lbs 4 oz for crying out loud! No C-section for this mama! So yeah, I shouldn't be such a wimp!

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Wow that is a big baby. A bite will be nothing to you.

Ok, let's face it--some baby ball pythons are just psycho. I usually get one or two every year like this. Most of them are just defensive, and calm down as they get older, but a few of them are just nuts.

I've had some hatchlings that were so psycho, we had to fend them off with a paper towel roll in order to change their bin, and they would bite the water spray when I sprayed them. These hatchlings were also usually difficult to start feeding--they wanted to kill the rodent, but they weren't interested in eating it. They would just bite and bite and bite it, until they were so upset they were practically beside themselves, lol.

The best cure for them was to leave them alone as much as possible, and introduce a smaller than normal prey item at night. A rat peach fuzzy, for example--something small and not very mobile. Virtually all of them grew out of it by the time they were 200 grams, and you could handle them (with caution) and expect not to be bitten.

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Originally Posted by Punkymom

My last kiddo weighed 10 lbs 4 oz for crying out loud! No C-section for this mama! So yeah, I shouldn't be such a wimp!

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I was 9lbs 6oz when I was born and I thought my mom was tough......but you ma'am are a trooper.


I've rescued pitbulls my whole life. I've been bit by a few, twice to the point of getting stitches. When I went to get my ball, there were two in the enclose, one was insane and was striking at ANYTHING that moved. She got me in the webbing between my thumb and index finger. I'm ashamed to say, but I freaked out WAY more than any time I got bit by a pit. After a few moments I realized wait a second......I didn't feel a thing!!

Bite him back. That'll show him.

I was 11.7 pounds when i was born

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Originally Posted by pavlovk1025

Bite him back. That'll show him.

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LOL! I couldn't bite the wittle fella!

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Originally Posted by Kuba

I was 11.7 pounds when i was born

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HOLY COW!!! That's just madness...

Being tagged isn't that bad at all... I got tagged by my husband 2 year old ball python (I think I scared him) It shocked the tar out of me and felt like a little pin prick. I was like THATS IT?!?!

Ok I was tagged one When i was still living in Florida. My fault (feedeng outside enclosure, hand smell like mouse, grabbing hide and... buuuum) Dont hurt at all!!!! I was suprised as hell but that it :) 3 tine drops of blood... OK Floridian Mosquito can Bite harder!!!! just my :2cent:

I think part of his problem is that he's going into shed. I fed him again today and he ate, but his color is a lot darker and I wasn't able to see his belly, but where his back scales meet his belly scales is very pink like he's going to shed and his eyes looked a hint blue. I'm going to up his humidity and just leave him be for a week. Well that's just a run on sentence if I ever saw one! Oh well. And I'm not as nervous about getting bitten. I think in a week I'm just going to do what one of you suggested and present my fist to him and just let him bite it. I've got to get over it!

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Originally Posted by Seak

When I went to get my ball, there were two in the enclose, one was insane and was striking at ANYTHING that moved. She got me in the webbing between my thumb and index finger. I'm ashamed to say, but I freaked out WAY more than any time I got bit by a pit. After a few moments I realized wait a second......I didn't feel a thing!!

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So, which of the two did you get?

Prolly the psycho one...

My very first tag wasn't even from my own BP, (actually when I was going to GET mine) and he had to have been at least 500 grams. It honestly felt like nothing. And this was a feeding-response bite, not a defensive tag. Even after the little bugger held on for at least 30 seconds, I wouldn't have known I'd been bitten if it weren't for the blood! It's the detaching that hurts (if they actually hold on, that is). Running the snake's head under cold water will fix that, should it happen. :gj:

And, the funny part is, I took that as a sign to get one of his hatchlings instead, and it turned out to be a pretty female! Yay! Biting is POSITIVE! :D