So she finally bit me.

It's about time, to be honest. She's barely a year old and she nailed me harder than any other snake I've had... Ever! My finger is actually a little swollen, and between my thumb and finger is bruising. Ouchers.

I don't know what's been up with her lately. Her demeanor has had a complete turnaround in the past two weeks. It's a struggle to even get her out of her tub now, as you can so clearly see.


I now also understand how much more power there is behind a short tail, albeit a small one!


http://i.imgur.com/CwGNq33.jpg


Obligatory I didn't put her back right away, but she didn't exactly calm down either. From the moment I opened the tub to even after I got the lid shut she was flailing and raring to bite. I'm hoping this is a phase and we can get back to chilling on the couch together soon.

Oh that sucks.. Hope she tames out with age!

Oh boy, she got you good! =/

She really did get me good, lol. I ended up having to clean blood off of the tubs, carpet, and my sweat pants. I always seem to bleed like a stuck pig when snakes bite me.

Snakes also have something in their saliva that makes your blood run. So that's why you bleed like a pig :)

This could be a silly question, but has anything changed that brought on this new temper of hers? Higher traffic in the room, higher temps (since it is warming up), etc? Maybe it is time to move up a prey size even? One of my girls got a temper on her that seemed to come out of no where, and I pretty much fixed it just by moving her up a prey size.

Bleed like a stuck pig. What a horrifying idiom.

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Originally Posted by Skilla6000

Snakes also have something in their saliva that makes your blood run. So that's why you bleed like a pig :)

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Some have anticoagulants, I couldn't find anything saying bloods do though.

Op either there is some water mixed in with that blood or you have the thinnest blood ever. Either way, nice bite :gj:

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Tikall

This could be a silly question, but has anything changed that brought on this new temper of hers? Higher traffic in the room, higher temps (since it is warming up), etc? Maybe it is time to move up a prey size even? One of my girls got a temper on her that seemed to come out of nowhere, and I pretty much fixed it just by moving her up a prey size.

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I upped her prey size a month ago, and it's still well within suitable range for her. Her mood changed a couple weeks after she moved into that specific tub, so she had been in there for some time right as rain. Maybe I should put her back in the smaller tub? I'll try adding some hides, but she has always just hid underneath the newspapers. Also the temps dropped a couple degrees recently, but only like 1 or 2.

She may not have anti coagulants, but maybe some enzymes? I remember reading an article recently about something having to do with all snakes once being venomous but some now use that "venom" as saliva to help wash down prey? I dunno just silly speculation. She raked more than punctured, so I think that had something to do with the sheer volume lol.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by catzeye21138

... Obligatory I didn't put her back right away...

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Puts the BLOOD in Blood Python huh? Is this the "Sweet as Pie" one in the vid? Good on ya for not immediately returning her, that would have been setting bad precedent in the worst way. There are some decent vids on behavior modification out there. Best of luck... .. .

Quote:

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Originally Posted by catzeye21138

I upped her prey size a month ago, and it's still well within suitable range for her. Her mood changed a couple weeks after she moved into that specific tub, so she had been in there for some time right as rain. Maybe I should put her back in the smaller tub? I'll try adding some hides, but she has always just hid underneath the newspapers. Also the temps dropped a couple degrees recently, but only like 1 or 2.

She may not have anti coagulants, but maybe some enzymes? I remember reading an article recently about something having to do with all snakes once being venomous but some now use that "venom" as saliva to help wash down prey? I dunno just silly speculation. She raked more than punctured, so I think that had something to do with the sheer volume lol.

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Yeah try adding hides to help her feel secure. A new environment could scare her. She is still young and probably still feels like everything wants to eat her. Besides, hides never hurt. :) If that doesn't work then hopefully she grows out of it with calm, regular handling. Or you can even just open her tub and sit beside her for 10-20 minutes each day if she doesn't want to be handled to get her used to you again. That worked with one of mine that I could barely even touch in the beginning.

And I think I read the same article. The "venom" in constrictors adapted to lubricate large meals going down, but there are still trace amounts of venom proteins in there.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by catzeye21138

It's about time, to be honest. She's barely a year old and she nailed me harder than any other snake I've had... Ever! My finger is actually a little swollen, and between my thumb and finger is bruising. Ouchers.

I don't know what's been up with her lately. Her demeanor has had a complete turnaround in the past two weeks. It's a struggle to even get her out of her tub now, as you can so clearly see.


I now also understand how much more power there is behind a short tail, albeit a small one!


http://i.imgur.com/CwGNq33.jpg


Obligatory I didn't put her back right away, but she didn't exactly calm down either. From the moment I opened the tub to even after I got the lid shut she was flailing and raring to bite. I'm hoping this is a phase and we can get back to chilling on the couch together soon.

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better getting tagged now rather than later,;) transfer that over zealous enthusiasm to its adult form and you have a very painful bite. This was from a 30Ib Blood ( my fault not the snakes I may add) http://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c1...8/ouchcopy.jpg

This blood was very aggressive from a hatchling and tamed down with regular handling but it really is mostly due to size when they are small they start off jumpy hissy and like a coiled spring.
Just put a pair of gloves on so you are not hesitant in the slightest and just continue to handle regular as it gets bigger it will gain more confidence and should calm right down.

What you got was a defensive bite rather than a feeding response which is far more aggressive and they literally throw themselves at you and put everything behind it. When I got tagged it was like someone punching me hard in the arm and you can see the damage she done to me.

Dont give up on her though just have a healthy respect, remain calm and confident during handling sessions and she should calm down in time and end up like a big cuddly sausage :D