Bitting

How bad can a ball-pythons bite be?:confused:

not bad at all...when they're little, when mine was a little baby snake it bit me and it bled a little but it was more of a shock than pain...mine is almost 4' now and i haven't gotten bitten by it but i can imagine it could hurt considerably more and i also think it depends if it's a feeding strike or just a defense strike.

My females about 4', 4' 1/2 ft long right now and I got bit while feeding her jus a few weeks ago. It didnt hurt at all while she was biting me (and she even had gotten stuck- she bit me between my fingers and wasnt able to let go even though she was trying), it hurt a little bit after she let go, but I just washed my hands and forgot about it. I did take a pic though. lol.

Well, having been bit quite aggressively by a large adult female, I can tell you it doesn't feel good... It's also not the most painful thing I've ever felt.

She got me between my thumb and first finger, with a full-on feeding response strike. She coiled my hand and wrist, and refused to let go for several minutes. Every time I'd twitch she'd tighten up. I ended up with a perfect set of marks, showing basically every tooth in her mouth. It's all healed now, but you can still see where it was.

As a comparison, it hurt less over all than any of my tattoo's, and far less than being tagged by the iguana I used to have. Just remember, if they bite don't jerk back because that'll cause more harm to your skin...

It's like being slapped with a cheese grater. You'll have a nice set of very shallow punctures that sting a bit and heal pretty quickly. It hurts but not nearly as much as a cat or Chihuahua.

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Originally Posted by slartibartfast

It's like being slapped with a cheese grater. You'll have a nice set of very shallow punctures that sting a bit and heal pretty quickly. It hurts but not nearly as much as a cat or Chihuahua.

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LMAO :rofl::rofl:.If you are concerned about getting bit then you could wear some gloves until the snake ceases bitting you ;).Word of warning though do not pull away if you do get bit with the gloves on as you will pull the snakes teeth out.;)
You have not had a real bite until you are bitten by a retic though :rofl:

Nice question, and great replies.

I have a follow-up; it has been said that if they bit you good, than you will be able to see an impression of their teeth. What about their fangs, if they have any? If so, how long are they?

EDIT by JLC: The auto-censor bleeped out a word here and it took me a minute to figure out what you were trying to say...I think I fixed it for ya. It made no sense with the bleeped out word. ;)

I've been bit worse by my kids. Think I'm kidding, ask any female that's nursed a baby or dealt with a teething toddler, she'll know what I mean. :)

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Originally Posted by NightLad

Nice question, and great replies.

I have a follow-up; it has been said that if they bit you good, than you will be able to see an impression of their teeth. What about their fangs, if they have any? If so, how long are they?

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They don't have fangs....(hopefully that is what you were trying to ask! LOL) ...but their front teeth are are longer and the back teeth shorter. Still, compared to many other snakes and animals, those teeth are very tiny, even in a fully grown ball.

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Originally Posted by JLC

They don't have fangs....(hopefully that is what you were trying to ask! LOL) ...but their front teeth are are longer and the back teeth shorter. Still, compared to many other snakes and animals, those teeth are very tiny, even in a fully grown ball.

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Yeah, a full grown ball's front teeth are MAYBE 1/4" long..

:disbelief

Thanks for the edit, JLC! I was half-way through my question when my stove alarm went off and I had to go turn down the heat on dinner, so I quickly pounded out the rest of the question and hit ‘submit’. (I forgot a crucial ‘n’ didn’t I? :redface:)

Indeed, the faNgs is what I was asking about, and thanks for the replies! It sounds like I’d still not want to get bit, but at least if it happened, knowing this will help.

I’ve heard that if they do bit, and latch, one of the ways to get them to release is to put cold water on their head – and as a last resort, some alcohol. How does that work? I mean, do you sprinkle it on them, or actually pour it over them, or what? (I’d be worried about getting something harsh like alcohol in their nose!)

Gotta love a good cheese-grater slapping. :rofl: That made my day!

There are some long threads on the latching issue. it seems like there isn't a 100% reliable method. From what I've read, its probably best with a BP to wait it out. The fact that you're not dealing with a possible fatality eliminates the need to try any drastic measures.

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Originally Posted by frankykeno

I've been bit worse by my kids. Think I'm kidding, ask any female that's nursed a baby or dealt with a teething toddler, she'll know what I mean. :)

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OMG I definately know what you are talking about. When my kids were teething, and after they got the first 8 teeth in, both of them (at one time or another) had caught me off guard at least once and took my hand/finger and had really bit into it. Wouldn't break the skin, but GEEEEZZ..... talk about leaving a nice set of teeth marks and a nice bruise as well!!! OUCH!!! I figure if I survived that as well as all the sharp toothed puppy nips I've gotten over the years, I can take any BP bite. ;)

hey carly its quinton. yeah it doesnt hurt at all. it only bleeds a little :8:

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Originally Posted by bearhart

Gotta love a good cheese-grater slapping. :rofl: That made my day!

There are some long threads on the latching issue. it seems like there isn't a 100% reliable method. From what I've read, its probably best with a BP to wait it out. The fact that you're not dealing with a possible fatality eliminates the need to try any drastic measures.

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Believe me, you do NOT want to wait it out... If it's a feeding strike, they will continue to bite, and constrict, until they don't feel a pulse. In just the 5-7 minutes I let mine stay latched on before I started untwisting her my entire hand was cold/numb, tingly, and was tingly for several hours after.

curious...does anyone have any pics of their bites?

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Originally Posted by CntrlF8

Believe me, you do NOT want to wait it out... If it's a feeding strike, they will continue to bite, and constrict, until they don't feel a pulse. In just the 5-7 minutes I let mine stay latched on before I started untwisting her my entire hand was cold/numb, tingly, and was tingly for several hours after.

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But see that's just the thing with this issue, you can never get consistent experiences. There was a thread a while back from a guy that got BOTH hands locked in together by freak accident. He was alone, water didn't work, and he didn't want to hurt his snake, so he waited. After a bit, it let go.

Also, when feeding foul, I've seen my JCP let go prematurely before. I don't know why but there was this one time the bird would pass out and, for some reason, he would release it too soon and it would wake back up on him. He had to re-constrict it three times. It was the most uncomfortable live feed ever - I just had to quit watching and check in ever so often until he got the job done. :(

We have had a smake for about twomonths. His last shed was at an odd time and being new we did not know he would not eat during this time. Went to purchase his rat and were advisedto give him a week after the shed to prevet trauma to the newly exposed skin. The problem is that he has gotten extremely aggressive (I think he is just hungry and striking andything that moves). We go to pick up his newest feeding tomorrow but I'm afraid the newfound aggressiveness will continue to cause problems. Once fed, on a reg basis again, do you think he will return to his normal sweet self?

Hi,

Some snakes will eat even while in shed so next time I would offer as normal and just make contingency plans in case he doesn't eat.:)

There is no real reason to avoid feeding a newly shed snake as their new skin is perfectly ok - it is mainly animals with exo-skeletons that need to wait until their new skin dries and hardens I think though I will happily be proved wrong.

I would say he might very well be hungry so I would feed him as normal and see what his temperament is like after the 48 hour after dinner no handling period.

Hope everything works out for ya.:)


dr del

Don't be casual about a BP's ability to bite! I got a nasty one, though I will readily admit that it was my fault. My large female was not eating the rat that I offered her, so I put my hand in th remove the rat and WHAM. She started constricting my thumb that she was biting into, and it was literally starting to go purple. Luckily my husband was around and helped peel her off.
This was fully my fault; and I learned from it and have not been bitten since. I use a trick offered from Adam Wysocki and use an empty water bottle to gently tap the snake back if she is in an S-curve, to let them know that I am not food, and it works great.
My point; while most BP bites can just be little defensive nips, this can happen. A BP deserves as much respect as any animal that can bite.. Never "aim" it at people, or be flippant about it; they can hurt!

you feed F/T? Perhaps the prey item was not warm enough.

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Originally Posted by Ginevive

Never "aim" it at people, or be flippant about it; they can hurt!

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That's right! You should never aim a snake directly at another person unless you plan to eat them with it! :P

I crack me up...

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Originally Posted by mischevious21

My females about 4', 4' 1/2 ft long right now and I got bit while feeding her jus a few weeks ago. It didnt hurt at all while she was biting me (and she even had gotten stuck- she bit me between my fingers and wasnt able to let go even though she was trying), it hurt a little bit after she let go, but I just washed my hands and forgot about it. I did take a pic though. lol.

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can we see the pic? lol

Ive only been bit a few times a few years ago. But tonight I got it from two different snakes. I havent been bit by anything over 500g so I cant say how an adult bite would feel. The smaller ones arent bad I guess its like a tattoo kind of. How bad it hurts depends on where you get it.

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Originally Posted by joepythons

LMAO :rofl::rofl:.If you are concerned about getting bit then you could wear some gloves until the snake ceases bitting you ;).Word of warning though do not pull away if you do get bit with the gloves on as you will pull the snakes teeth out.;)
You have not had a real bite until you are bitten by a retic though :rofl:

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I got tagged by a 17 foot retic under my left arm about 2 years ago. Scariest thing ever.