Marshall bit me!

Well I never imagined it would happen, but my sweet little Marshall took a chomp at my finger. Pretty sure he thought I was food... I was fooling around in his cage, adjusting stuff and what not, when he jumped out of his cave, but my finger(hardly) and as quick as he bit me he let go and was back in his cave. To be honest, the whole experience was hilarious. Silly little snake! The bite didn't draw blood and didn't hurt, it was a cute little baby bite;)

Anyways, he is obviously hungry. Should I offer him two rats next time? He just got fed Tuesday, and is scheduled for another feeding Sunday.


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Probably need to up his food size. One appropriate sized feeder is better than 2 small feeders unless of course you have no choice. Then any food is better than no food.

that was a defensive strike, he wouldn't have released so quick if it was a food response bite

Typical hatchling and young ball python behavior. Probably thought he was under attack and became defensive. Did you by any chance have the smell of rodents, cat or any type of bp food on your hands? I think the smell of a cat or dog on your hands can trigger a defensive bite or even a misinterpreted food strike especially in younger bp's. :gj:

Babies are always hungry! Stick to your feeding schedule :)

LOL too funny, what is his weight? You may need to up his feeder size, if possible.

Yup, a defensive bite. Only time I've ever been struck at by one of the girls is because I opened up the tub and started messing with stuff using quick movements without giving her any warning. Serket didn't even come close to hitting me, but I stopped moving and left my hand in sniff range until she figured out it was me and calmed down. If I had actually got tagged it would have been my fault for not thinking and scaring her.

Yup, defensive strike. If they really think you're food, they'll hang on for awhile trying to kill and eat you.

Yeah that was a "go away I don't like you" bite. Food bites are grab and hold, or grab and wrap... or in the case of my foody boa, it was bite, hold, wrap, let go... wait it's still moving I'll bite it again!

You think it was defensive? I mean, this is marshall were talking about. He lets me touch his head all over and comes out to see what's going on every time I enter the room.

Come to think of it, I probably did smell a bit rodent like, as I was playing with the sugar gliders minutes before the incident. Go figure.

He weighs around 160 grams, and is eating 20-30 gram weaned ASF.

My hand was completely still when he did strike, which is another reason that makes me think it was hunger, not fear. After he struck and went in his cave, he came out again and his little tongue was flicking a lot.


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Absolutely defensive. If he thought you were food he would have bit and held on or more likely wrapped. I've had ball pythons that were totally mellow for years strike one day when I startled them. No big deal, he'll be fine. Babies can get defensive at times as they need to protect themselves. It's much rarer in older snakes at least in my experience.

Yeah, it was definitely defensive. You're talking about what is essentially a wild animal; they can easily get startled and bite you.

I'm actually more surprised at his size. Wasn't he like 70ish grams 4 months ago when you got him? And now he's only 160g? While I agree that is a defensive strike, I still think you need to up his food. Dottie went from 102g 12" back at the end of November to now a 1028g 3' eating machine. You definitely need to feed that boy some food :P

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Originally Posted by Sauzo

I'm actually more surprised at his size. Wasn't he like 70ish grams 4 months ago when you got him? And now he's only 160g? While I agree that is a defensive strike, I still think you need to up his food. Dottie went from 102g 12" back at the end of November to now a 1028g 3' eating machine. You definitely need to feed that boy some food :P

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Wow really? About maybe two months ago he was around 70 grams. He wasn't really growing much the first few months, now he's gaining 20-30 grams each feeding! Hopefully he will catch up here. Is there any reason he would be so small?


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No idea other than too small of food. Dottie was labeled a problem feeder(didn't eat for them for almost 3 weeks) and a biter(bit the manager 6 times) so they had a very well known reptile vet(only one certified in Washington state) check her out and gave her a clean bill of health. Well 2 days after I got her home, she started eating and hasn't quit. As a baby I was feeding her every 3-4 days and once she hit 433g, I backed her off to once a week. She eats small rats now once a week. But like I said, yours probably needs to eat more. Hard to really overfeed a ball python. Both my BCI are on strict schedules of once every 2 week for my big girl and once a week until June for my little girl as she hits one year old then. Then she goes to a 2 week feeding as well. At 160g, yours should be eating around a 20g rat at least every week. I prefer every 3-4 days at that size as that's their most crucial growing time. And yes Dottie grew like a weed and she LOVES to eat. At about 5-6 days, she is out pacing the cage in all her fatness looking for a rat and that is feeding her a rather large small rat. I think she is going to be a big girl. Funny part is the store manager got bit by her 6 times, Dottie has never tried to bite me. She has gotten scared a few times and will bury her head under her fatness but never coiled or tried to bite me, guess she just didn't like the store manager lol.

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Originally Posted by gameonpython

You think it was defensive? I mean, this is marshall were talking about. He lets me touch his head all over and comes out to see what's going on every time I enter the room.

Come to think of it, I probably did smell a bit rodent like, as I was playing with the sugar gliders minutes before the incident. Go figure.

He weighs around 160 grams, and is eating 20-30 gram weaned ASF.

My hand was completely still when he did strike, which is another reason that makes me think it was hunger, not fear. After he struck and went in his cave, he came out again and his little tongue was flicking a lot.

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Your food is fine. If you're feeding him that once a week, I don't think it's hunger.

You probably smelled like rodents like you said. They have pretty good senses of smell.

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Originally Posted by gameonpython

Wow really? About maybe two months ago he was around 70 grams. He wasn't really growing much the first few months, now he's gaining 20-30 grams each feeding! Hopefully he will catch up here. Is there any reason he would be so small?

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You said he weighs 170 and you're feeding him 20g to 30g ASF's each week?

That's fine for food. He'll grow quickly on that. You'll be upping that to the equivalent of weaned rats (30g to 40g) in a few weeks feeding him like that.

He would be small either because he was underfed, genetics, or some combination of both.

I highly doubt that this had anything to do with smell.

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Originally Posted by tbowman

I highly doubt that this had anything to do with smell.

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Oh why?


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Originally Posted by 200xth

You said he weighs 170 and you're feeding him 20g to 30g ASF's each week?

That's fine for food. He'll grow quickly on that. You'll be upping that to the equivalent of weaned rats (30g to 40g) in a few weeks feeding him like that.

He would be small either because he was underfed, genetics, or some combination of both.

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Yup! He's finally starting to grow at a good rate, so I'm glad!


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Originally Posted by gameonpython

Well I never imagined it would happen, but my sweet little Marshall took a chomp at my finger. Pretty sure he thought I was food... I was fooling around in his cage, adjusting stuff and what not, when he jumped out of his cave, but my finger(hardly) and as quick as he bit me he let go and was back in his cave. To be honest, the whole experience was hilarious. Silly little snake! The bite didn't draw blood and didn't hurt, it was a cute little baby bite;)

Anyways, he is obviously hungry. Should I offer him two rats next time? He just got fed Tuesday, and is scheduled for another feeding Sunday.


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Monty did this as her way to tell me to up her food size. Little Marshall may need bigger food. :) glad it didn't hurt. My mom freaked out when Monty tagged me because she bit and coiled. And mom didn't think about the fact that she's not venomous.