Almost got TAGED... a bit disappointed...

Recently I saw that my BP eyes have little cracks/wrinkles... Just now I took her out and looked at her eyes... I know there very head shy, she usually hides when I use to do fast movements around her face... Tonight I just wanted to make sure she can see.. so I held her in my left and and put my other hand half a feet away from her face and move it side to side very slowly... I thought the most that will happen is that I will freak her out a bit... At first it looked like it got sceared and turn her head away... Boy I was wrong... she snapped right at my right hand!!! I instantly put her back in her vivi.. What should I do, leave it alone for a while or what? What usually happens with you guys..? does your snake just gets sceared or does it strike when you put your hand in front of them? I swear I have moved my hand way faster b4 in front of her face and she just back off and hide... WHy did it strike this time? :(

She may have thought your hand looked like dinner with it moving that way right in front of her. Or...while a fast move may startle them into hiding...a slower, but still threatening (in their eyes) move may have made her decide to try and "chase it away."

The little "cracks" or "wrinkles" across their eyes is most often a sign of very low humidity and will clear up when proper humidity levels are reached and maintained.

Also...just keep in mind that snakes will always be snakes. No matter how "tame" they may seem...they may strike out and bite at any time. They'll always have a reason, but we may not always figure out what provoked it.

Something else to consider -
All those little holes wrapping around her mouth are heat sensors, well except for the front two which are nostrils. They use those to detect the heat of prey items. Your hand moving slowly in front of her face might just put out the heat signature of a nice, fat rat. This is even more likely considering you have already described an eye problem. Please bump up the humidity in her enclosure! The eye problem will probably go away.

Steve

Or this could have been her saying welcome to the club. LOL.

Her humidity is okay... its always around 55%.. Could mite make her eyes like that? And don't they need the smell of a rodent to triger the eatting mode?

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by 581775017

Her humidity is okay... its always around 55%.. Could mite make her eyes like that? And don't they need the smell of a rodent to triger the eatting mode?

---

I've never heard of mites causing that sort of condition. What are you using to measure your humidity?

They don't necessarily need the smell, if the size/heat/movement seemed close enough...but I would suspect it was more likely a defensive strike and she was trying to make this threatening thing go away and leave her alone.

i would bumb up her humidity a bit regardless, for a few days and see if that helps. place your water dish over your UTH and that should help. ;)

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by JLC

I've never heard of mites causing that sort of condition. What are you using to measure your humidity?

They don't necessarily need the smell, if the size/heat/movement seemed close enough...but I would suspect it was more likely a defensive strike and she was trying to make this threatening thing go away and leave her alone.

---

I measure by one digital and one dail type... 50-60% Is good right?

Atleast she did't try to bite the hand I was holding her with... thank god lol...

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by 581775017

I measure by one digital and one dail type... 50-60% Is good right?

Atleast she did't try to bite the hand I was holding her with... thank god lol...

---

That's a good range....but like Aleesha says, you might try bumping it up a bit for a few days and see if that helps. Maybe see if you can get a clear picture to post for us because we may be misunderstanding what you're trying to describe. And if you really can't figure it out and it doesn't fix itself with a bump in humidity, you might want to seriously consider a trip to the vet. No one can tell you for sure over the Internet how serious any given problem is.

As for the bite...don't worry about it. It'll be more startling than painful. Just relax and convince yourself that when it happens, it's not going to be any big deal. If you psyche yourself up into thinking a snake-bite from a little ball python is some terribly frightening event, you're likely to freak out and drop or fling your snake if she should happen to catch you next time....and then you'd feel really bad! ;)

Its not that im afraid of the pain... I know it won't hurt alot... Its just that I try to do the best for her in everyway and kinda got attached to her fairly quickly.. And when it strike at me it kinda hurt me inside... Just disappointed.. But I guess yoru right... A snake is a snake... It has no feelings...

Well, even a devoted dog or cat may take a snap or swipe at you if they're annoyed enough. Doesn't mean they don't love ya. Even our human loved ones...who's emotions and moods we're most likely to understand...will snap out at us unexpectedly if we catch them at a bad time.


So a snake...with extremely primitive emotions (at best)....can't be expected to never have a "bad moment." It doesn't mean you've necessarily done anything wrong....just use it as an opportunity to get to know your snake even better. :)

I wouldn't say a snake has no feelings, just in ways that we likely cannot understand or relate to. Part of understanding a unique pet like a snake is acknowledging that they are so different from us (as well as the "normal" type of pet) that we will likely never fully understand what drives them to react in certain ways. We can understand however some of their triggers. Moving a big warm hand in front of your snake is asking for a strike so basically you got exactly what you should have expected to get. The snake acted just like a snake should act given that set of circumstances.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by JLC

Well, even a devoted dog or cat may take a snap or swipe at you if they're annoyed enough. Doesn't mean they don't love ya. Even our human loved ones...who's emotions and moods we're most likely to understand...will snap out at us unexpectedly if we catch them at a bad time.


So a snake...with extremely primitive emotions (at best)....can't be expected to never have a "bad moment." It doesn't mean you've necessarily done anything wrong....just use it as an opportunity to get to know your snake even better. :)

---

Yeah I guess your right! I know I will get over it... when I decide to pick her up again :D Thanks for your help!

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by frankykeno

I wouldn't say a snake has no feelings, just in ways that we likely cannot understand or relate to. Part of understanding a unique pet like a snake is acknowledging that they are so different from us (as well as the "normal" type of pet) that we will likely never fully understand what drives them to react in certain ways. We can understand however some of their triggers. Moving a big warm hand in front of your snake is asking for a strike so basically you got exactly what you should have expected to get. The snake acted just like a snake should act given that set of circumstances.

---

Yeah, That was stupid of me... I was just so worried that she can't see..Never again! lol.. Now Im sure it can see!!! :D

Remember even if her vision was not the greatest, these aren't creatures that depend on clear sight to hunt with or deal with their world. From what I understand their sense of smell and the images they process through the heat pits and their tongue as well as the ground vibrations they pick up give them a very clear idea of what's going on around them.

Heh; my female coiled around my thumb and started constricting, a few weeks ago. Did I hate her for it? Nope; I might have either had remaining rat scent on me from cleaning, or she just got her wires crossed; I had to have my boyfriend peel her off; since my thumb was turning blue.
People often forget, since these are usually such docile and even timid snakes, that they Can do damage. My thumb still hurts if I pick something up wrong, and it bled like a stuck pig.
Am I trying to scare anyone.. no. I am just telling what can happen. This happened while I was carrying her, after removing her from her tub; when I thought she had gone from defensive or feeding mode, to laid-back, I-am-part-of-the landscape mode. Fast motions near their head should never be done. It is like sensory overload for their heat sensors. Now, to pick this particular girl out of her cage, I place a towel over her and let her realize that there isn't a rat coming on dangling for food.
I admit, I become a tiny bit nervous now picking her up.. this is a natural response that you have to consciously train out of yourself. It was a VERY educating occurance, and I feel like I have nearned more in that one bite, than any single BP-related event over the past 4 years I have kept them.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Ginevive

Heh; my female coiled around my thumb and started constricting, a few weeks ago. Did I hate her for it? Nope; I might have either had remaining rat scent on me from cleaning, or she just got her wires crossed; I had to have my boyfriend peel her off; since my thumb was turning blue.
People often forget, since these are usually such docile and even timid snakes, that they Can do damage. My thumb still hurts if I pick something up wrong, and it bled like a stuck pig.
Am I trying to scare anyone.. no. I am just telling what can happen. This happened while I was carrying her, after removing her from her tub; when I thought she had gone from defensive or feeding mode, to laid-back, I-am-part-of-the landscape mode. Fast motions near their head should never be done. It is like sensory overload for their heat sensors. Now, to pick this particular girl out of her cage, I place a towel over her and let her realize that there isn't a rat coming on dangling for food.
I admit, I become a tiny bit nervous now picking her up.. this is a natural response that you have to consciously train out of yourself. It was a VERY educating occurance, and I feel like I have nearned more in that one bite, than any single BP-related event over the past 4 years I have kept them.

---

Im glad you found your bite so educating... I don't don't what else to say about your response... :(

If you remember back Jen when Mike and I first got Brannagh how wild she was and hard to handle safely. We never blamed her for it either. We've often commented that we are blessed to have the chance to work with her as she taught us a lot of handling techniques that otherwise we might not have learned for years and years or only read about. It's a good thing to remember that even the most docile, captive born snake is a heartbeat away from the wild. Captive born is not tame. They will react as a snake should and sometimes it won't be for any reason us humans can figure out or see coming. Personally I find that part of the charm and ongoing fascination of living with the snakes.

I wound definately never blame the snake; I agree 100%. I would never hold it against any of them that bit me.. dealing with them is a lot different from, say, training horses or dogs. People (IMO) relate more easily to things that are cute and cuddly, and imbed them with human emotions; we can't do that with snakes. But to me, that is part of their beauty and power.
You can't feel indignation toward them, or anger, or disappointment; it is unproductive. Simply learning from it, moving on, and preventing it from happening again; these are the best things about "gittin bitten" :)