Bitten by MY BP!!

when i was feeding him this mourning he bit my thumb instead of the pinky :shock: but it was aight it didnt hurt but it just scared the poop oouta me!!! who else has been bit?

LOL.....that's why I tell ya to use tongs or something when handing a snake food.

I haven't been tagged with teeth...but my gopher "hit" me with his open mouth the very first time I tried to touch him after we got him. Those guys are fierce when on the defensive...act like tiny little riled-up rattlesnakes! And yeah...it'll set your heart to pumpin', huh?

I have been bitten by my 3 1/2ft BP and my Boa...but she was only 2 1/2ft...but it bled like crap!

It happens. And, is it just me, or shouldn't your Ball python be feeding on ADULT mice? Not pinkies?

I was wondering that myself, Jennifer. Unless it's a tiny preemie BP. Still, sorry you got bit, but as you just saw, most BP bites are the result of SFEs (stupid feeding errors) by their owners, such as failure to use tongs or hemostats or putting a hand that smells like prey in an enclosure with a hungry snake.

I have never been seriously bitten by a BP; my late BP "The B_tch" bit me once but it was just a light bite that meant "leave me alone right now." It kinda hurts ya emotionally though, like a slap in the face from a friend!

Fortunately, I have never been bitten but most of the time Bob is a big sissy lol. He has to be the most timid animal I have ever seen but when it comes time to eat he is all business. When I am going to feed him I first put the rat box in the cage first to let him know whats going on and he comes out and starts sniffing. Then using a set of long BBQ tongs I lift the box out and put the rat in and then I stand watch with the tongs to make sure everything is ok. I would never put the rat in with my bare hands to me that is asking to get nibbled on lol.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by MacWin

He has to be the most timid animal I have ever seen but when it comes time to eat he is all business.

---

Just like my Octavia. She recoils in horror if you so much as touch her to pick her up out of the cage. But as soon as a f/t mouse is placed by her, she turns into a different snake and is quite the little hunter!

it was a fuzzy

Bite him back....he won't do it again. ;)

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by DavidBeard

Bite him back....he won't do it again. ;)

---

LOL!!

ya my friend said the same thing he got me sooo good that i have 20 teeth marks on my thumb. . . . how do they find there prey by heat or sent????

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by pinkham64

ya my friend said the same thing he got me sooo good that i have 20 teeth marks on my thumb. . . . how do they find there prey by heat or sent????

---

I think they use both.

they use the sight and scent to find there prey and close in on it, but when they strike its almost like they close there eyes and they are using only the heat sensors to make the final hit.

ya see taht must be why he nail my thumb instead of the mouse. . . the mouse was a lil colder then usually

Yup, people say that BPs have poor aim compared to other pythons also, so sometimes they may miss there mark by a little bit...

Animal Planet has a special on constrictors recently..mostly on giants..but it has some good info and camera scenes that showed heat....and you could def see why a hand could get bit instead of a dead rodent, which really doesnt throw off any heat at all in comparison...also showed some good ways to unconstrict them if they get at you in a life threatening way

Normal body temp for mice is 98.6F. Any questions? ;)

I have one word for feeding nippy BPs/horned frogs: tongs!

ya, but now that i have been bitten and know it dosent hurt ill be ok

It may hurt more when he gets older. Or he could just tag a more sensitive spot next time...or an area that bleeds more readily. There are an awful lot of stories about folks that get tagged by their little bp's and end up bleeding like crazy. Nothing that'll do any lasting harm, of course...but still messy and inconvenient and probably painful. Also, tagging you can cause injury to their mouths if you reflexively jerk your hand away.

Just had a comment about what you are feeding that bp. I know jen and marla questioned it earlier in this post, but i have to add on it since you came back and said it was a fuzzy. I am not familiar with your bp at all, but how big is she? Because most bp's can take hoppers right away. And never have to eat "pinkies" or "fuzzies". The more adult the mice are, the less fat and more nutrients the mice carry..

feeding it fuzzys the next step up from pinkies

Yes, but unless it was an unusually tiny hatchling, it should never have been fed pinkies or fuzzies at all, which was the point that Freak, Jen, and I tried to make. A hatchling bp can take small adult mice immediately.

Exactly....

Yup.. ;)

i just got my first BP and hes really nippy. he tries 2 bite me all tha time, but from wut i hear from everyone here, and my science teacher who use 2 have one they get better as they grow. till then, im just sittn back and enjoying his late night "adventures" around his tank

i havnt been bit, but ive been hissd at and snapped at. definatly scares the crap outta me, but doesnt make me want my BP any less...altho maybe its a gurl...kinda seems lik its pmsing