Hmm Can She Bite?

Hi,
My Friend Is Scared About Holding Her, I Want To Prove To Her That She Is Not Bad, But How Do I?:banana:

Well, if you want to prove to your friend your snake is not as scary as she thinks, just try holding it in front of her. If she has a fear of snakes, she won't just beat it by doing nothing. Anything with teeth can bite, but BP's are known for being the more docile python. Hope this helps. :)

Ball Pythons CAN bite, but rarely do. My old roomie was afraid of snakes, but was okay with me having a BP if I kept it in my room. Well, I walked around holding her until one day I was sitting next to my roomie on the couch and asked if she wanted to pet her. My roomie was nervous about that, but I said "Just touch her tail, here, I'll watch the end with teeth. She doesn't bite anyway, or never has before, but just so you feel better I'll watch her head so you can touch her." The roomie pet her then, and slowly but surely she got more comfortable until finally, when my girl got an RI, my roomie was so comfortable she even helped me hold her for shots. :P It's a process, but it's doable.

They can definitely bite, but most of them will not bite. I agree, just hold the snake to show her it's safe and wait till she feels comfortable around the snake till you let her hold it. I tried to get my mom to hold one before she was ready and she dropped the snake on the couch. Granted it was only a couple feet, I was still not happy, lol.

Anything with teeth can bite. Ever had a baby pull your finger into it's mouth for a good chomp? Ever had a puppy or kitten chew your fingers up ?

Now, the real question is will she bite, and a solid 99% of the time the answer is no.

If your friend is that worried, start out by letting him/her pet the tail with the snake facing away. That is usually a good place to start.

It will take time to get over the fear, so be patient. And even more important, be understanding and kind, don't push and don't tease. Not everyone is cut out for snake handling, and that's ok. But, if the fear is conquered, ball pythons are among the coolest and most docile snakes in the pet trade.

Gale

The thing that scares most people about snakes in my experience is not that they will bite them (this is the answer they give but not actually the scary part when questioned) it is the way they move the absolute still ness snakes have little to no movement and then super speed. I usually just get them to watch nigh explorations of the snake safely behind glass. The key is patience pulling a snake out and thrusting it at them is more likely to traumatize that person than anything. As already suggested patience is what is needed quiet and gentle understanding often makes for better encounters. Of course a snake can bite and eventually you will get bitten it happens. The experience is often startling but nothing more a little scratch. I often point out dogs dental hardware when you get truly (not a nip but a true bite) it is a serious occasion. I got 22 stitches and one hell of a bruise when it happened to me.

Very good advice on here. I have showed people that I can wiggle my fingers in front of my snakes nose and pet her head and all she does is flick her tongue, she won't even flinch once she's been out for a few minutes. Seeing you hold your snake and it just casually cruise through your fingers can really help to show people that it is not vicious.

You could do what I did. I randomly pulled out one of my ball pythons and put it on my girlfriends lap and said "make friends" and walked away. I came back in my room after about 10 minutes and she was holding it and petting it. She now never leaves my snakes alone.

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Originally Posted by DavidMundy

You could do what I did. I randomly pulled out one of my ball pythons and put it on my girlfriends lap and said "make friends" and walked away. I came back in my room after about 10 minutes and she was holding it and petting it. She now never leaves my snakes alone.

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Your GF is a keeper, i cant think of many girls that would handle that situation the way she did lol!!!!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by DavidMundy

You could do what I did. I randomly pulled out one of my ball pythons and put it on my girlfriends lap and said "make friends" and walked away. I came back in my room after about 10 minutes and she was holding it and petting it. She now never leaves my snakes alone.

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LOL. Thats literally what I did to my sister except I said "I gotta pee" then i left. LOL, although I wouldn't recommend this tactic if the person is scared of snakes. My sis was just unsure. When I got back she grilled me with husbandry questions so maybe in the future she will have some balls too...pythons that is. (I don't know about you guys but the balls jokes for me NEVER get old)

I agree with all of the above, but just to be clear - if the snake were to bite you or your friend you shouldn't consider the snake to be "bad" it just means you didnt read it's behavior correctly and its most likely the owners responsibility. By that I mean it is your responsibillity as an owner to not let the situation get to the point were the snake feels frightened enough to have to bite. It's not about being a "good" or "bad" snake.

It has a mouth right? So my guess would be yes it can bite. Lol but seriously as long as you don't smell like a rodent the chances of a bite are extremely slim with a ball python. Ball python, not bite python :)