bite

just out of curiosity, how painful is a BP bite?

ive never been bitten b4 but from what ive heard,they are painful!Mostly from the shock of the bite.

not really, they feel like a bee sting...ive been bit numerous times.

honestly, in my exp with an constrictor, the bites usually aren't bad.....9 times out of 10, they strike, but dont grab/coil....almost as if they realize "whooops...thats not food"

but...in the case that a snake constricts, it can be a problem
a while back i was helping a local shop owner handle an 8ft albino burmese, and somewhere between getting it out of its tank, and taking it to its feeding area, it decided to give me a nice "hug" - but....it relinquished eventually....but left some bruising, and hurt pretty bad....i'm assuming if it would have bitten, it would have been alot worse

My wife got bit by one of my BP's a few weeks ago. We're still not sure why the snake struck at her. I was holding the snake and she was just fine with me; my wife was checking her out, though, and the snake nailed my wife at the base of the thumb. The bite broke the skin in several places, and left a rather sore bruise.

This earned the snake the name "Nippy". She's an aggressive feeder, though, and we're wondering if the skin oil my wife had put on might have triggered a feeding response. The oil contained some cedar extract, and if the mice that Nippy was fed before I got her had been kept on cedar shavings (not a good idea, I realize, but that wasn't in my control), that might have been enough.

I have only been bitten once by a RTB. It wasnt bad at all, just like a needle prick. He bit me on my ring finger nuckle and pearced the skin and drew blood in about 7 or 8 places.

The only bad BP bite I have ever gotten was completely my fault./ I was feeding Goblin a rat and he lost interest in it, possibly because I had not heated it up just enough after thawing it. I was going in to remove the rat and he assumed I was food, and Wham he bit me and actually coiled a bit, but I reflexively jerked my arm away and he let go before he could coil around me. It hurt mildly afterward, but itched more than anything! And I had some funny teeth marks in my hand for about a week. But this was an extreme example; normally a bite is really fast, as in a defensive bite, and it barely even hurts. This one was my idiocy in putting my hand in his cage while it smelled like rat, so it is an xtreme, rare example.

for the most part if you do get bitten it will be your fault, handling a rat or mouse and attemting to handle your snake without washing your hands. But if you did get a nip, it wouldn't hurt much anyway.

Ive been nailed several times by my big male Apok and it wasnt anything to even trip about....just a lightning quick strike, a short stinging sensation and then some little pinprick holes where the teeth penetrated my skin. Nothing really to get worked up about. Now a snake like an Emerald Tree Boa is something to NOT get bit by, what with those four huge fangs that they have !!!!!!!!!!

EyelashViper

thanks. reason i asked is just for info and to be prepared.
other than you smelling like rodents and sudden movements, what are the other causes of bites?
thanks again.

I think that's really it, at least for ball pythons. Unless you startle the snake, smell like food (or your snake is so hungry it's striking at nearest moving warm thing), you generally don't get bitten.

A really stressed snake might also try to bite, I think.

Once my mom was feeding her 6ft. Boa, and she dropped the rat in, and he immediatly went for it, missed the rat, and got her arm. She said it hurt like CRAP! But, this was a feeding thing, and a 6ft, RTB, not a 3ft. BP.

the 1st and only time my bp struck was at my friends hand, my friend had brought his bp over while he was staying the weekend, mine appeared to be getting along and they even slept on top of each other, but mine was nervous wreck, constanlty on gaurd, as we had the two of them out (on my coffee table) my friends snake slid by mine and mine went into "I am curling my neck for a reason mode" and thats when my dumb friend stuck his hand out to pick my snake up and bam. . . but it barley drew blood,
just let it happen when it does, its real fast, but jerking back could rip your skin more!

Last year when I was thirteen, I was visiting my uncle in BC and I had asked to hold one of his adult female burmese pythons. What he didn't tell me, was that she was fasting and was not in a very good mood, so when I opened her cage and reached inshe all of a sudden struck me in my arm pit and started to coil around my arm! Man did that kill! But then she realized that I was not food and I was posong no threat so she let go but why did she have to bite me in my armpit? Of all places?
That was not a fun experiance for me.

Wowee.. arm pit bite.. that's something I hope I don't get. Wasn't very nice of him not to tell you she was grumpy.. that could have turned out much worse than it did.

Ive only been bitten twice once by my ball and once by my boa and neither were painfull but it was a big shock..the speed of the bite will scare the crap out of you lol

The standard constrictor bite is like getting stabbed with 60 small stingers with bruising in the general area of the bite if they get you good. No big deal, really....I like snakes with a little spunk and I'm not afraid to take a couple "red badges of husbandry"

Been bitten by my ball python once,did'nt hurt at all just a quick stinging sensation.

More of a shock then anything else.

It was my fault,not his.

Ours has never bitten - but a couple of weeks ago after feeding her her 2 mice I put my hand in the other end of the viv to fiddle with the cool side hide a bit (stupid human) - and she sure looked interested in my hand moving - needless to say I withdrew it hastily and left her alone(even though she's just a 2ft baby). Worst bites I ever get are from my parrot (hormonal little monster) they bite and hang on and won't let go - now we're getting a Savannah monitor - now that IS scary :eyepoppin

it probably bit you in your armpit beause it is one of the warmest places in your body.

From what we experienced with Brannagh biting, the bite didn't really hurt or even leave any major marks and was so fast you barely could follow it with your eyes. The only real damage came when we instinctively pulled back from the bite and dragged her teeth through a layer of skin. Sort of like a bit of a mark and some minor "road rash" lol. When she nailed me slightly through the edge of my gloves it was seriously nothing, I've had worse paper cuts and like I always say....I've been bit far worse by my own kids! LOL

Just wash the area well with hot soapy water, apply some neosporin and you're good to go is all we've ever done. I figure owning snakes you're likely to get bit a time or two (which would be why I'll never personally own a hot).


~~Jo~~

It's nothing. really. (with ball pythons anyway)

I've been bitten a few times by now (My smallest ball python still occasionally thinks everything is going to eat him.) It's a short quick bite and you might bleed a tiny bit.

I've had worse papercuts.

A defensive BP bite is not that bad. It is over before you know what happened, and there are just a few tooth marks that will bleed for a little while.
Now a feeding-response bite; that ain't pretty! My adult male did this to me; it was completely my fault, as I was removing a prekilled rat that he hadn't touched overnight. He must have thought I was dinner, because he bit and coiled around my hand. Then just as fast as that happened, he let go; maybe I didn't taste too good? Of course I reflexively pulled my hand back, pulling him out of the front doors of the cage.
Be alert; don't be complacent around your snake because any of them can get startled by your motion and bite. If you do these things, a bite should never happen :)