BP biting once in hand?

Hey, this will probably sound like a silly noobie question, but bare with me, I am a noobie ;) I was just wondering if your BP has ever bitten you once you were already holding it. Like it seemed docile when you picked it up and while you were handling it, it just out of the blue bit you? I'm more concerned for my kids, we just got our first BP and I have basically told them that she doesn't bite, and I would hate to give them a bad experience with snakes. When I was about 8-12 years old I spent a lot of time finding and catching (and releasing) snakes (and turtles, and frogs), and I always found that if a snake was non aggressive when you picked it up, it would never bite later while you were still holding it, and likewise, if you found an aggressive snake that was striking, as soon as it calmed down and was ok with being held it wouldn't bite again. These are wild local snakes though (garters, corns, red bellied), I have no experience with pythons.

Nope. That would be really strange, IMO. Then again...I think a better way to explain it to your children is that anything with teeth can bite, but that It's extremely unlikely that the bp would bite them.

Ok, thanks, so far this just reaffirms what I felt I already knew about snakes, they don't just up and bite when you are holding them and they are relaxed. It's true though, anything with teeth can bite. I got a bit freaked out the other day when I was holding her and she yawned (or what appeared to be a yawn). I have never seen a snake yawn before, and OMG, that's a big mouth LOL.

I have a 3 month old, handled him for the first time today since I got him, he startled several times but didn't strike although I was probably hyper cautious. The first time I held him during a cage adjustment I was sitting down with him and when I stood up he startled and struck at my other hand. So it is possible, in my experience sudden movements can cause a bite reaction. Although in my case it may be because he's still very small.

He yawned today and I caught it out of the peripheral when I was hanging out with him, it is so adorable

Never been bit by my bp's but there is a wild rat snake about five foot in my yard that I mess with a couple times a month and he will be calm then tag the crap out of me, lol!! Granted he lives under my deck and I do "catch him " enough to where I know he gets annoyed with me but come on!! He is big and pretty and sooooo worth the bite! Lol

I've gotten nervous babies to strike at me while handling them, but I wouldn't say that it wasn't at least partially provoked (I like to test the temperaments of babies by waving my hand in front of them to see if I can get them to strike) but the only other time i've gotten nailed is when I stuck my hand into a tub just a couple hours after feeding to rearrange some substrate. So my answer would have to be a combination of all three of the 'yes' replies. I have yet to have an unprovoked or undeserved strike at me.

The only time I was bit by a calm snake while handling it was when my daughter went to clean the girls tub and handed her to me to hold. I had just been petting our small dogs and I am sure the scent coupled with the heat signature of my hand in front of her, prompted the strike. Other than that, never. If you have small mammals, (cats, dogs, hamsters, etc.) just make certain the children wash their hands before attemppting to handle the snake. Have a great time with your new BP.

I have never had a BP bite me, but my 2.5 year old BCI bit Tiffany aka RoseyReps in a similar fashion. She was moving through her arms and just kind of opened her mouth and her teeth made contact with Tiffany's arm, but there was no aggression or strike. She wasn't being defensive or anything.


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If the snake is nervous and feeling the need to defend, it will strike. Hatchlings do definitely strike once holding. I think an adult would be less likely to.

Just teach your kids to be calm, 'be the tree' and don't restrict the snake, just guide it, and not to wave anything in front of their face or make abrupt movements and they'll be fine.

My little girl struck at my fiancee once...but I think she was hungry... we got her June 8th and she didn't eat for me for 2 months! Since she's been eating regularly ( trick was live) she's back to her normal docile self!

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No, they dont usually bite, its kind of rare, if they do its because they are really hungry

I've had some nippy hatchlings, just defensive striking. Had one that wasn't happy about beimg held suddenly start on me once. felt something thumping against the same arm that was holding her, looked down and saw her hit me again. never evn felt teeth, though I did end up with a couple tiny droplets of blood. Never had problems with any reptile that I did not somehow cause though.

Thanks for the replies everyone :) My girl seems really calm, she's never struck at me so far. My 6 year old daughter is fascinated with her though, and I'd hate to have her experience turn sour, so I'll make sure she's calm and moving slowly when holding her. She was in blue when we got her and she would just sit all balled up in her hand, now that she's finished shedding she's very lively and my daughter is a little overwhelmed with all the movement, it's like she can't figure out where to put her hands LOL

Out of the 12 ball pythons in my house, only one has bitten me. My albino is a bit of a weirdo, and has struck me once, and tried on several other occasions. He has also been observed striking the hide in his tub, the glass, and anything else he can think of. He is not the nicest guy, but he is the exception. All my other snakes are super tame, and I have used them all for educational purposes at the vet school with kids between the ages of 10-17. They even made it onto the news :) In general BPs are docile and will usually not bite without a reason, unless you get a sour apple like I did ;)

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Originally Posted by xbikez

No, they dont usually bite, its kind of rare

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True

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if they do its because they are really hungry

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False

In the last 7 years it happened twice.

This is not a defensive strike or a feeding strike it’s just a BP that I started handling and after 10 minutes she decided to slowly start chewing on me, compare to a feeding strike it’s no big deal.

http://ball-pythons.net/gallery/file...3/chewtoy1.jpg

LOL, that's really funny, I wonder why they would do that. Did it hurt, and was it easy to distract them from it? Do you think it was the snakes way of saying "ok, I'm done with the handling thing, can you please put me down"?

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Originally Posted by Shera

LOL, that's really funny, I wonder why they would do that. Did it hurt, and was it easy to distract them from it? Do you think it was the snakes way of saying "ok, I'm done with the handling thing, can you please put me down"?

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Hard to tell why they do this.

As far as pain it did not hurt, again the worse bites are feeding strike because of the strength of the strike.

I got her off my hand by pouring water down her nostrils.

I've been bitten by a BP that was already out of the enclosure, but she was nervous and hungry and I hadn't been paying attention to her body language and where my arm was. Tali's never bitten me, but I've/something has startled her during handling so she coiled back into the 'S' shape for a few seconds before relaxing and going back to checking stuff out. I've waved my hand in front of her a couple of times when she's like that to see if she would strike (because I'd rather get a 'you were being stupid' bite then not knowing what it looked like and it be someone else), and she's never struck, but probably if I pushed her she might.
From what I've seen/heard, most strikes come with warnings- the s shape, tense body, agitated movement so if it's not doing that you are most likely fine and if it does, you are still most likely fine, just be cautious I guess? If the snakes I've handled seemed not happy, I rotate them away from my face and other people so if they do decide to snap at something, it's open air and not me.

I've only had babies actively go for me lol although I have been bitten twice by adults (food responses only). Both of my spider babies are absolute turds and sometimes appear to calm down only bite me :rolleyes:

In my experience, it is usually only the hatchlings that get nippy once your holding them. We do have a couple of adult girls that during breeding season do not like to be messed with very much and will get a little nippy. I suggest to just keep working with the BP and get it used to being handled and should have no problems. Good luck!

There needs to be an option for "My BP bit me and so I bit it back in retaliation."

Been bit twice by BPs. Once was in the cage. My pastel was cruising around the day before feeding day and I was in a rush and just reached very quickly in not paying attention. He kindly let me know he didnt appreciate it lol. The other one was a female that I took out and was handling for a few minutes and then she decided to tag me on the arm. She was not calm though. She is very shy and wasnt handled much before I got her. As soon as I picked her I could tell she was tense, wouldnt relax her muscles or wrap around me in a any way so I kind of knew it was coming.

I've received a latch-and-wrap from the same snake two years in a row, both times after picking it up. But it was acting in a weird way when I opened the tank, which in hindsight was obviously feeding response.

Note that it's not MY snake, but it is used to regular handling. Apparently I'm just delicious!

Everyone on here must be really lucky. I have been bit more times than I can count. In the cage, holding it, hungry, not hungry, just relaxing in my hands, annoyed, every way possible. I think I attract the bites though because literally every bp, boa, cornsnake, kingsnake, and milksnake I have ever owned has bitten me at least once.

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Originally Posted by tattlife2001

Everyone on here must be really lucky. I have been bit more times than I can count. In the cage, holding it, hungry, not hungry, just relaxing in my hands, annoyed, every way possible. I think I attract the bites though because literally every bp, boa, cornsnake, kingsnake, and milksnake I have ever owned has bitten me at least once.

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That's totally unlucky!!! :-/

I have 2 ball pythons, one is very tame the other (a rescue) is a little uppity but I have never been tagged by either of them. My australians on the other hand will act calm when in your hands then slowly begin to chew on any exposed skin you might have. They are both handled regularly.. It hasn't made a difference. :p

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I only have one known "biter", though a few others have struck as a food response. The one who is defensive won't strike whoever is holding her, but she will strike out at movement while being held, so we just have to be careful when she's out of her tub.

I found this thread very interesting. I am a new BP mom and am also worried about my kids moving the wrong way and getting nipped. I have a question: If the snake bites 1) does it hurt? 2) how do you get them to release without hurting them?:confusd:

I haven't had one bite and hang on yet. They always seem to figure out that my arm's too big to eat. Did just get tagged by my 1300g male bee a wek ago. He has a super strong feeding response normally though, and was trying to hit the rat I was putting in his tub. Problem is, he's got horrible aim. usually takes 2-3 strikes to get hold of his prey. Then when I went to grab the rat to show it to him again I found he had coiled it with the back half of his body. very silly guy.

My mojave used to be housed next to my BCI and I'm convinced he learned his behavior from her because he is feisty as all get out! :P He is the only BP I have that has struck at me after being picked up, and of all places he just up and struck at my side while I was carrying him. He's a strange little creature. Lots of attitude. But he's always been like that. I think the fact that he was named after the God of War is fitting. Although sometimes I think I should have called him Diablo or something along those lines. All of my other BPs calm right down once they realize food is not in the picture, which is a much more typical reaction.