Snake Bite

Just out of curiousity. I have been looking around Youtube and saw a few guys who got bit and the snake latched on as if it was trying to eat them. One guy finally got the snake off by dunking him under water. The other guy finally shut off his camera so I have no idea how he got the snake to let go. So my question is this. IF a snake did this what are some ways to get them to let go? They were getting constricted pretty tight too it looked like. However rare it may be I would like to be able to have a few ideas ahead of time just in case. I can just see myself being munched on while I type a one handed post on here, looking for help and waiting for a reply.

Well, a snake like a ball python, or a snake like a retic?

For a ball python, first just wait and see if it will let go after a few minutes. They really can't hurt you that bad. Sure, there will be some blood, but nothing even remotely dangerous.

I have heard a lot of people say dunking them under water works, but that would not be my first choice of action. Most ball pythons absolutely HATE to be sprayed with water, I know mine does, and so my plan if this ever happens is to sprits her with my misting bottle. I did this ONCE when she missed her mouse and bit the cloth "plate" I was feeding her on so she didn't eat substrate and started coiling around it. I was freaked out she would try to swallow it, so I sprayed her with water and she let go immediately. She then struck her real food like nothing happened. haha.

Just remember, after any bite, clean it up good with some peroxide and a little Neosporin. All animal bites and scratches CAN give you an infection, snakes are no exception, so it's silly not to do 90 seconds of simple first aid. :)

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Originally Posted by gr8gugly

Just out of curiousity. I have been looking around Youtube and saw a few guys who got bit and the snake latched on as if it was trying to eat them. One guy finally got the snake off by dunking him under water. The other guy finally shut off his camera so I have no idea how he got the snake to let go. So my question is this. IF a snake did this what are some ways to get them to let go? They were getting constricted pretty tight too it looked like. However rare it may be I would like to be able to have a few ideas ahead of time just in case. I can just see myself being munched on while I type a one handed post on here, looking for help and waiting for a reply.

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According to an episode of SnakeBytes TV on youtube (Brian is awesome), you can use a little capful of Listerine. He shows the difference between a defensive strike and feeding response bite (what you described), and explains the best way to get them to let go. I would consider looking that up. It was a good video.

Sometimes the water thing works, I think it just depends on the snake. But according to Brian, Listerine works every time. lol.

i heard if you put some mouth wash on a cotton swab and rub it by there mouth/pits some will let go...also heard the dunking in water sometimes

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Originally Posted by warlord

i heard if you put some mouth wash on a cotton swab and rub it by there mouth/pits some will let go...also heard the dunking in water sometimes

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x2 but i would just spray them with water...

For a small snake, I'd just open it's mouth to get it off me. I've never been constricted by a large snake, but I've heard hot(not scalding) water, cold water, alcohol(your least favorite in your liquor cabinet), all work...as a last resort, biting the snake and jamming a finger into the wound is said to work as well.

The ones i saw were BPs. There was something said about the mouthwash in the comments of one of them, that was kinda why I was asking. But this one guy just sat there forever trying to pry this snake off. I just thought this may be some useful trivia to have.

One of my girls grabbed me a few weeks ago and started throwing coils. The bite was my fault, but I grabbed her tail to keep her from coiling further. I thought I'd give her a few minutes, and she'd let go on her own. It hurt, but it wasn't agonizing. It was more of a "Ow, okay Roxanne, that's nice, please let go now, ow, owowowow, ow, why are you doing this to me, okay I'm sorry, I know you're just the most starved snake on the planet, let go and I'll feed you." (She's actually my best eater, I swear to god she eats for fun.)

After about 7 minutes of her not letting go, and my hand turning red/cold, I doused her nose in water. She didn't like that, so she bit down harder and pulled back, that kind of hurt. Eventually, I just, gently, grabbed the back of her head and pushed her forward and upward. We were both covered in blood, but she ate like a champ afterwards.

Moral of the story? Don't panic if a ball python grabs you. They usually let go on their own.

For you people who just love to look at snake bites: http://imgur.com/a/knjZ1
:rofl:

I have heard the water thing as well. If it ever happens, I would also try to be careful to not do damage to their teeth if you try to remove physically.

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Originally Posted by WarriorPrincess90

According to an episode of SnakeBytes TV on youtube (Brian is awesome), you can use a little capful of Listerine. He shows the difference between a defensive strike and feeding response bite (what you described), and explains the best way to get them to let go. I would consider looking that up. It was a good video.

Sometimes the water thing works, I think it just depends on the snake. But according to Brian, Listerine works every time. lol.

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Unfortunately, listerine didn't work for us, either time! Both times I had to carry the rest of our 11 foot burm upstairs into the bathtub to turn water on her so she would let go.

My sons dad was grabbed by a rescue burm we had awhile ago. She held on to his arm and threw a coil around it. She was about 7 ft. He stood there for a few minutes to see if she'd let go and then just went in the bathroom, turned on the warm water, and lowered her head under it. She immediately let go and went into the tub.

We also kept a bottle of rubbing alcohol by her cage just in case it was needed. She was a striker for sure but the warm water on her face worked.

I believe any person who owns a snake large enough to hurt you if it bites and does not let go should keep a spray bottle near by with rubbing alcohol in it just in case to spray the face in an emergency situation. If a very large snake grabs and constricts you, you can also bend the tail backwards fairly hard at the vent. This will almost always make it release too.


Factoid: "There are no such things as Hogg Island or Columbian boas"

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Originally Posted by heathers*bps

Unfortunately, listerine didn't work for us, either time! Both times I had to carry the rest of our 11 foot burm upstairs into the bathtub to turn water on her so she would let go.

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That doesn't sound like fun. Think I will stick to my bps. :)

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Originally Posted by gr8gugly

Just out of curiousity. I have been looking around Youtube and saw a few guys who got bit and the snake latched on as if it was trying to eat them. One guy finally got the snake off by dunking him under water. The other guy finally shut off his camera so I have no idea how he got the snake to let go. So my question is this. IF a snake did this what are some ways to get them to let go? They were getting constricted pretty tight too it looked like. However rare it may be I would like to be able to have a few ideas ahead of time just in case. I can just see myself being munched on while I type a one handed post on here, looking for help and waiting for a reply.

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your fear of this happening is almost totally unfounded. since a ball pythons bite is much more a warning than the fact, it wants to eat you.
If you get a bp you will get bitten, i'm about 100% sure of that, however it's not as if its gonna tear your arm off or anything.
I'm guessing your testing the waters about buying a snake.
Here is a great factor in buying a snake: they can live 20-30 years.

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Originally Posted by robinbanks

your fear of this happening is almost totally unfounded. since a ball pythons bite is much more a warning than the fact, it wants to eat you.
If you get a bp you will get bitten, i'm about 100% sure of that, however it's not as if its gonna tear your arm off or anything.
I'm guessing your testing the waters about buying a snake.
Here is a great factor in buying a snake: they can live 20-30 years.

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The video he is talking about I'm guessing is the one with the long haired kid with the spinner. The snake for whatever reason recognized his finger as food and was latched on and constricting. So no it wasn't a warning. He was as ridiculous as it is,was attempting to eat his hand. I think often BPs warning is hissing more then striking and even more then that just crawling into a ball. So @ gr8gugly don't let the whole biting thing stop you from getting into ball pythons. If anything it should encourage you too get a BP seeing as they are for the most part very timid animals.

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Originally Posted by robinbanks

your fear of this happening is almost totally unfounded. since a ball pythons bite is much more a warning than the fact, it wants to eat you.
If you get a bp you will get bitten, i'm about 100% sure of that, however it's not as if its gonna tear your arm off or anything.
I'm guessing your testing the waters about buying a snake.
Here is a great factor in buying a snake: they can live 20-30 years.

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Warning strikes are more common than aggressive (feeding) bites, but if your hand smells like food or they miss the rat when feeding and hit your hand instead, it can be tough getting them off.

Really though, neither type of bite is anything to worry about (at least with ball pythons). I've been keeping ball pythons for 5 years and the only snakes I've been bitten by are boas. It stings for half a second, it bleeds a bit (they have anti-clotting toxins in their saliva which is beneficial for washing out wounds), then you forget about it. I'd take a snake bite over a trip to the dentist any day!

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Originally Posted by gr8gugly

Just out of curiousity. I have been looking around Youtube and saw a few guys who got bit and the snake latched on as if it was trying to eat them. One guy finally got the snake off by dunking him under water. The other guy finally shut off his camera so I have no idea how he got the snake to let go. So my question is this. IF a snake did this what are some ways to get them to let go? They were getting constricted pretty tight too it looked like. However rare it may be I would like to be able to have a few ideas ahead of time just in case. I can just see myself being munched on while I type a one handed post on here, looking for help and waiting for a reply.

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do you own a snake????

I'm wondering what kind of snake you're seeing in these videos biting and hanging on that would have you worried. A ball python would never be a danger to anyone. Being bitten by one is not common but if it's a baby or a new acquisition that is completely unused to handling it is possible. BPs are more likely to strike out of fear but it's possible one may strike if it has a good feeding response and has smelled food. These bites we call SFE or stupid feeding errors, because it's entirely the keepers fault. Many fear strikes are also the keepers fault because you never reach in toward a snakes face (or front view) to pick it up. It's best to come from slightly above and behind. Then touch it's body and quickly scoop it up.

There really is no need to worry about being bitten if you know how to feed correctly, handle correctly, and get to know your animal.

A BP bite is nothing. They do not hurt at all. I've been bitten by rats and that hurts like heck for days. I'd rather be bitten by a ball python any day.

Even the Retic bite I got that bruised my fingers a bit was nothing compared to a rat bite.


Factoid: "There are no such things as Hogg Island or Columbian boas"

The videos that the OP is talking about are (if I'm not mistaken) of BP's. I've seen at least two myself where the snake has latched on in a feeding response. To me it seems more like the OP is curious as to what the best way is to get them to let go just in case it ever happened to him/her, however unlikely it may be; not necessarily freaked out that it's going to happen.

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Originally Posted by gr8gugly

Just out of curiousity. I have been looking around Youtube and saw a few guys who got bit and the snake latched on as if it was trying to eat them. One guy finally got the snake off by dunking him under water. The other guy finally shut off his camera so I have no idea how he got the snake to let go. So my question is this. IF a snake did this what are some ways to get them to let go? They were getting constricted pretty tight too it looked like. However rare it may be I would like to be able to have a few ideas ahead of time just in case. I can just see myself being munched on while I type a one handed post on here, looking for help and waiting for a reply.

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this person does not even own a snake....

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Originally Posted by robinbanks

this person does not even own a snake....

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Relax you don't have to jump down the guys throat, you don't need to own a snake to be on here. He is obviously testing the waters and seeing if he really wants a snake. I thinks it's a good thing he know all the facts rather then Find out once he has made a commitment and abandon the animal.

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Originally Posted by Rob

Relax you don't have to jump down the guys throat, you don't need to own a snake to be on here. He is obviously testing the waters and seeing if he really wants a snake. I thinks it's a good thing he know all the facts rather then Find out once he has made a commitment and abandon the animal.

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Don't worry, I'm sure this member has gotten infractions or is close to it. It won't be long considering how many posts I've seen that are very berating to members.


Factoid: "There are no such things as Hogg Island or Columbian boas"

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Originally Posted by robinbanks

this person does not even own a snake....

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Actually I own 6 BPs. This conversation wasnt started out of worry. It was more started out of curiousity of what you guys do in the situation that was presented. No more or less. Sorry if I got you upset Robin. I do have one girl who doesnt like to be handled at all and she is totally off limits to my children. I do want these tips in my back pocket just in case I ever run into this though.

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Originally Posted by gr8gugly

Actually I own 6 BPs. This conversation wasnt started out of worry. It was more started out of curiousity of what you guys do in the situation that was presented. No more or less. Sorry if I got you upset Robin. I do have one girl who doesnt like to be handled at all and she is totally off limits to my children. I do want these tips in my back pocket just in case I ever run into this though.

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Lol I hope I sensed sarcasm in that apology