Snake likes to constrict my sons neck????

My son has a one year old ball python, we got almost two months ago. Snake is great eats f/t no problem, he is about 563 grams before last feeding. Never strikes or hisses, easy to handle ect... The only thing is he loves to constrict around my sons neck, my son is six. He never handles his ball python without me there so I'm not worried about safety just curious why the snake does this. The snake isn't simply cruising around he digs in and I have to unwrap him. I'm guessing its a security thing for the snake but I'm new to this. Any thoughts.

Yeah, the snake isn't constricting for any reason other than to not fall. Ball pythons are terrestrial snakes, and they can feel frightened when they're lifted and not on a solid surface. To them we're basically like warm, soft, moving trees (the scariest kind!)

Both my current BPs and my former BPs ALL liked to constrict my arm, my neck, my leg, etc. I walk around my house with my "BP jewelery" and my wife will just giggles. I think it's their way of "hanging on" and feeling comfy. I have never felt this was strange and they only held on strong enough to keep themselves "attached" to me...not like a multiple coil feeding constriction. I have an 8 & 10 yo son and they do the same thing...kudos though on supervising :gj:

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Originally Posted by NormanSnake

Yeah, the snake isn't constricting for any reason other than to not fall. Ball pythons are terrestrial snakes, and they can feel frightened when they're lifted and not on a solid surface. To them we're basically like warm, soft, moving trees (the scariest kind!)

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Are you sure they are terrestrial? I thought they lived in rodent dens and others things in the ground and underneath it.

My ball will get a good grip but my brb can make it hard for me to breath. His power is very impressive.

That's what terrestrial means. Lol :)

Just gotta remember, snakes don't have hands to hang on! Ha so they just wrap themselves around whatever they can find :)

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Originally Posted by Andrew21

That's what terrestrial means. Lol :)

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Lol, I read tree and thought arboreal! Did I mention I was new!

I never let them wrap completely around my neck. Especially double wrap. They may not mean any harm but if they get freaked out and tense up.

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Originally Posted by Rob

I never let them wrap completely around my neck. Especially double wrap. They may not mean any harm but if they get freaked out and tense up.

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A ball couldn't do any damage no matter how tense it got. :confusd:

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Originally Posted by Rob

I never let them wrap completely around my neck. Especially double wrap. They may not mean any harm but if they get freaked out and tense up.

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I'm with you on that. I know he doesn't mean harm, but my fear is my son freaking out and snake freaking out and someone gets hurt. I prefer to just not allow him to do that anymore.

He is just hanging on so he doesn't fall. I don't ever let mine coil all the way around me though, they can hang on tight enough to be uncomfortable.

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1 of my snakes wraps around my neck but doesnt always contrict. Sometimes he just hangs out and flickers his tongue. He is the calmest of my BPs. The younger ones contrsict my arms when i carry them.

I think since the snake is still small it isnt so much a problem but as it gets bigger I wouldnt allow it around the front on the neck. My bigger ones feel secure enough just draped over my neck that they dont wrap.

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Originally Posted by meowmeowkazoo

A ball couldn't do any damage no matter how tense it got. :confusd:

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No? Apparently you don't know how easy it is to stop blood flow to the carotid artery. Doesn't take much pressure on those to make you take a little nap. I'm not taking the chance, it won't kill ya. But it won't be fun either. Well unless your into that kind of thing.

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Originally Posted by Rob

No? Apparently you don't know how easy it is to stop blood flow to the carotid artery. Doesn't take much pressure on those to make you take a little nap. I'm not taking the chance, it won't kill ya. But it won't be fun either. Well unless your into that kind of thing.

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Im not sure if theres any profanities in this video, i watched it on mute. Watch at your own risk or just watch it on mute lol:
http://youtu.be/67isFmH5vQ8

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Originally Posted by Rob

No? Apparently you don't know how easy it is to stop blood flow to the carotid artery. Doesn't take much pressure on those to make you take a little nap. I'm not taking the chance, it won't kill ya. But it won't be fun either. Well unless your into that kind of thing.

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I'm not into:
-passing out
-losing my snake while I'm passed out
-crushing my snake when I pass out
-losing control over situations involving my snakes


They can't really kill you, but neither will their bites, and how many of us rub our hands with mouse/rat and stick our hands in there on feeding day? I personally know what it feels like to pass out, I had a few months in high school where anything could set it off. Some people have no idea what it is until it happens, so they may not recognize it until they wake up at the bottom of a flight of stairs with a squished snake. All it takes is one really scary moment for a bigger snake. The more you flail, the harder they may hold on. Yes it won't kill you, but passing out pretty much equates to some kind of brain damage. The chances of me getting hit by a bike fatally are miniscule and highly unlikely. I still look both ways every time I cross the biker's paths when I am wandering around my neighborhood.

With younger kids, it is just common sense that they can apply to all animals. Don't give the snake/dog/horse the opportunity to get one over you. Us oldsters can afford more brain damage perhaps but I wouldn't want to have anything bad happen with a kid and a snake, or any other animal. Remaining calm, being aware and keeping the upper hand in all interactions is how we prevent accidents. More bad press isn't needed for herps,lol :)

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Originally Posted by Mike41793

Im not sure if theres any profanities in this video, i watched it on mute. Watch at your own risk or just watch it on mute lol:
http://youtu.be/67isFmH5vQ8

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Lol I have seen that before.
But yeah back in the army days, we would all practice rear naked chokes. Occasionally someone would end up out and making all kinds of crazy sounds. Like I said doesn't take much pressure to make someone go night night. Hence me saying don't let your bp wrap your neck completely.

I'll let my bps wrap. They've never constricted tight enough to be uncomfortable. If they tried, I'd just unwrap them starting by the tail.

i know how it feels like from olympic wrestling. there they have quite a few grips that close some blood vessels in your neck, up to 4 at the same time.

if a second person nearby its not really dangerous because you continue breathing, you just go unconscious, so it also causes no brain damage. but you can still get badly hurt and so can the snake, from, for example, crashing into furniture.

i think as long as you keep your throat and the front side clear, carrying a BP around your neck is not really a problem, as long as you know how to unwrap her and do it without panic but also quickly enough if the snake constricts. and dont allow a full loop, u-shape is the limit. and thats maybe only for people wth some experience. in serious non-entertainment olympic wrestling it happens all the time that you get constricted, you still have a few seconds to respond, like maybe a few seconds, but these feel like an eternity and are enough time to try something or make a move. you have symptoms for maybe just 3 seconds if it happens quickly, getting from mild to worse: seeing stars, tunnel vision / delayed vision, strange hot or cold skin sensations, total visual blackout and audio problems, and then you pass out. and in training you signal a time-out and end the fight when you get tunnel vision. but often enough there is miscommunication and someone passes out in training, and snakes are not known for listening to commands.

it all depends on the size and strength of the snake i think. and ball pythons are right in the middle between the big or giant snakes that can overwhelm people, and smaller snakes that cannot. i personally wouldnt worry below 1 kilogram and above 1 kilogram i would think twice and wouldnt do it without someone else nearby, i mean, when it comes to putting one around my neck.

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Originally Posted by Seanjackmc

I'm with you on that. I know he doesn't mean harm, but my fear is my son freaking out and snake freaking out and someone gets hurt. I prefer to just not allow him to do that anymore.

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Good choice. Not that the snake will hurt him through constriction, but through panic and a resulting bite. A bite by any snake to the eye could be horrible. I keep all snakes away from my face, no matter how "tame" they are. There are plenty of people bitten on the face that wished they had followed this advice.

I have the opposite problem with my balls. When I put them around my neck they sort of relax and let themselves fall =\ I always caught them of course but they either ain't afraid of falling or have completely trust in me lol.

It's weird with Mario. He has never shown aggression. For whatever reason my son thinks it cool to have him around his neck. As soon as he gets the chance the snake wraps around and digs in. Don't know if that makes sense to anyone. He isn't u shaped he his trying to get a full lock around my kids neck. He is super tame like I said but I don't want my son to freak out and hurt the snake or vice versa. I don't allow the snake near his face. Although jack (my son) always wants him to hang out there. Maybe I should try to let the snake coil around my neck and see how far it goes. Like I said, I have a lock on Mario's cage that only I have the key to. If jack wants to get Mario out he needs me to open the cage and I never leave them unsupervised so I'm not really worried about my son being hurt. Just curious why the neck is so attracted to coil. He doesn't do it around arms the same way.

Because he is high up, with out anything to secure himself. And younger snakes don't usually have the length to get all the way around something and hang on good. So they squeeze onto what they can, for grip. I really don't think he is trying to constrict your sons neck. Like someone else said, they don't have arms to hang on with. Really, highly doubt he is trying to "constrict".

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It could possibly be because your neck is one of the warmest parts of your body and he's trying to get close to the heat.

I thought about the warmth and security too. Like I said I'm not too worried. I don't think the name thinks he can kill a 50 lb six year old, lol.