Something bit me!!!

ok, so my mojave bit me last night. i've kept snakes for a few years now and have never been bitten (maybe i'm lucky) and this was just kind of strange to digest. i have never had any of my bp's strike at me, much less break skin and i was wondering a few things...
1.) how long should i wait for her to settle down before i try to hold her again?
2.) once i do have her out and holding her, how long should i hold her for?
3.) how long should she be showing agression before she doesn't do this anymore?
like i mentioned, i've had snakes for a few years and this has never happened. she is fairly young still 10/10 according to the breeder i bought her from, but none of the other ones have shown any agression what so ever. they curl up and after a few minutes, they relax and stretch out.
any suggestions and advice would be a great help. thanks.

:snake:

Hi,

Forget it ever happened and contine handling as normal. :)


dr del

I agree with dr.

I have a texas rat snake that bites me all the time, whenever he doesn't feel like being nice really! I am used to it and I expect it and go on handling him just the same. Don't get too worried about it!

If you're worried, I keep a pair of work gloves in my snake room, you may want to pick up a pair and use those to pick your snake up for the first couple times, to be safe.

Yeah, somtimes they get into their "moods". I had a SD tic that would strike sometimes but other times he was completely fine. I also just got a white lip and she strikes sometimes, even when i mist her, but other times I can just pick her up and she sqirms around a little and will just sit there.

Its nothing to really think about. Snakes bite and thats the bottom line. Maybe you "smelled" a little different or maybe even a little like a prey item. Who knows, but its nothing to really worry about. :D

thanks a lot for all the advice. i honestly appreciate it. i guess i was just more stunned than anything else. i had 2 normals that i had for about 4 years and never once did anything like this happen. i have also heard that it might help to keep a peice of a shirt or something in there with her so she can get used to my scent, is there any proven evidence to this being helpful? our dumerils boa is also new to our collection and the person we rescued her from says she doesn't much care for men and i was thinking about trying this with her as well.

again, thanks for all the helpfull advice.

I was bit by my little boa a while back, mostly because I startled him when picking him up. So I went and grabbed him anyway. Sure, it's easier to do when the snake is only 15" long and has a mouth smaller than the fingernail on my pinky, but that's what I've always heard - show them biting won't make you go away. Keep handling them anyway.

I have tried the t-shirt trick on the boa (who is otherwise a real nice little guy) and my kingsnake, and they both seem to trust me and tolerate me just fine. I don't know that they wouldn't have anyway, though, as all my snakes are docile critters. But the idea makes sense to me - they come to know your scent as part of the background, and nothing to worry about.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by freelancer

I was bit by my little boa a while back, mostly because I startled him when picking him up. So I went and grabbed him anyway. Sure, it's easier to do when the snake is only 15" long and has a mouth smaller than the fingernail on my pinky, but that's what I've always heard - show them biting won't make you go away. Keep handling them anyway.

I have tried the t-shirt trick on the boa (who is otherwise a real nice little guy) and my kingsnake, and they both seem to trust me and tolerate me just fine. I don't know that they wouldn't have anyway, though, as all my snakes are docile critters. But the idea makes sense to me - they come to know your scent as part of the background, and nothing to worry about.

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nice to see someone else who has a dumerils. i never knew anything about them or even heard of them til my boss asked me if i wanted one his daughter was trying to find a home for. she is still under quarentine and we havent messed with her too much yet other than to change her paper, water and get the skin from her shedding out. we are gonna try to feed her on thursday and honestly i'm a bit nervous. she has already hissed at me and has given me a warning strike. luckily she didnt make contact. i think it was because she was in shed and didnt wanna be messed with, but thats what i'm hoping for at least. thanks for the tip.

I love Dumeril's, they are probably my fave boa. I really like my little girl so far, I've had her about a week now and she has already fed for me. Still a little nervous but not aggressive at all. How old or big is yours?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by freelancer

I love Dumeril's, they are probably my fave boa. I really like my little girl so far, I've had her about a week now and she has already fed for me. Still a little nervous but not aggressive at all. How old or big is yours?

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the person we got her from thinks she is about 3 years old ( she was a hand me down from a college room-mate who up and dropped out and left her with the snake ) and she is about 4 foot long already, but not that big in gerth. she is gonna take some work from what we can tell. she was living in sub standard conditions and wasnt handled much as a pet. even the substrate they had her in was what they say NOT to use, she went from whenever they aquired her to almost a month before we aquired her before she even got a hide, so we're pretty nervous about quite a bit of things. we are all keeping our fingers crossed on this one.

I bred Dums a while ago, when Dums were still kinda rare. From my experience, get used to getting bit. I'm not saying they're gonna bite you every time, but many times they turn out to be very agressive when they think it's feeding time. Get yourself a hook, or just a wooden dowel. Tap the snake a few times to let it know it's not feeding time. If you have a hook, pull the snake out a little, then you should be able to pick it up. Once out, they're usually puppy dogs. They are a very nice snake to own. Not bad to breed either.

Good Luck!
Jim Smith

Quote:

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Originally Posted by j_h_smith

I bred Dums a while ago, when Dums were still kinda rare. From my experience, get used to getting bit. I'm not saying they're gonna bite you every time, but many times they turn out to be very agressive when they think it's feeding time. Get yourself a hook, or just a wooden dowel. Tap the snake a few times to let it know it's not feeding time. If you have a hook, pull the snake out a little, then you should be able to pick it up. Once out, they're usually puppy dogs. They are a very nice snake to own. Not bad to breed either.

Good Luck!
Jim Smith

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thanks for the suggestion. we'll give that a shot.