Where do I sign-up for the bite club?

Well I suppose it was just a matter of time. But it really caught me off-guard and scared the living daylights out of me.

I"m not a real big fan of the term "rescue" but I suppose you could call this one a double rescue. The Craig's List ad said five year old female BP and cage $200.00. I brought my own pillow case, and when I saw the 4'X10' screen cage in the kitchen next to the dryer, I thought, oh my, I'm going to need a bigger sack!!! So the boyfriend opens the cage door and steps in and comes out with a tiny little BP. I asked if he was joking and he says no, why? (blink blink) Then his girlfriend comes in with the two little kids and says yup we got her five years ago at PetCo (hence the double rescue reference). I told her that I had a seven month old fermale BP at home that was quite a bit larger than her FIVE YEAR OLD bp! Really??? she says. How big do they Get? She said she had fed the snake a mouse almost every month just like the pet store told her to do. When I questioned her she admitted that she had missed months regularly.

Then she grabs the snake by the head to show me the scar where the cat "got " her, and the snake doesn't even flinch. Of course she still had her eyecaps on from what looked like every shed she ever had. I don't think the snake had ever actually seen anything before. The girl goes on to tell me how the kids like to play catch with the snake and dress her up in Barbie Doll clothes!!!!

So fast forward about five rats, a great shed (eyecaps and all), and about a month later. I reach in to take her out and BANG. WOW, I had no idea how frightning that could be. Heck a month ago this poor snake was a frisbie. I did everything wrong. I pulled away VERY quickly, and said a dirty word, and closed her enclosure. Then she just sat there looking at me as if to say "go ahead stupid, try it again.

Well I feel like a prize idiot now for offering advice to others about this same topic when it turns out I have no idea what the hell I'm talking about. :please:

Dont feel bad, Ive been bit a lot, it doesnt hurt it may draw a drop or two of blood... Just be glad the snake is in good hands now, a screen cage next to the dryer does not sound like a warm humid enviornment suitable for a ball python...

Hey maybe after not being fed for so long its just looking for food lol....

That's what I'm telling myself, even though it was clearly a defensive strike.

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Originally Posted by Jenn

That's what I'm telling myself, even though it was clearly a defensive strike.

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I guess everyone has to get tagged sooner or later....I just hope mine is later...much later :D

yea i kinda felt the same way my new female tagged me the other day it was a shock but it doesn't hurt just a shock just put it behind you and watch her next time you look in watch her make sure she knows your there so you don't give her a little shock

First, I hafta say that I was horrified reading this story. The ignorance some people can live in will never cease to amaze me.
I'm glad you got that poor snakie to a more comfortable, stable home. :gj:

About the biting... I feel your pain! :P My neighbor and I just bought several babies from a 'feed and seed' store, where they were brought in by a customer who just needed to get rid of them. (Thankfully they don't normally sell reptiles!)
Anyway, we've named the largest one Nibbler, because he's
always trying to take someone's face off!
When he senses someone around him, he goes into defensive mode, and strikes wildly at anything near him.
And yes, he's tagged me several times. The first time he got me, I actually dropped him, the poor guy. It scared me more than anything. :P I've since added tons of wadded up paper balls
to his tank, and he's been moved to a nice, dark closet in
hopes of calming him down a little.

Aside from helping him feel more secure, and not smelling like food when I handle him (on feeding days), there's really
not much else to do, right?

(sorry if this seems like hi-jacking!)

honestly the snake still doesn't trust humans sweetie what do you expect!? what an absolute NIGHTMARE situation that is... it will DEFINITELY learn to trust you (unless it's just a bratty snake) but imagine... snake as a frisbee? like oh em gee... never being fed? yikes... maybe she is still hungry?

i got bopped on the nose for pickin up my rescue while he was in blue. angry lil bop, but pretty much harmless. one... UNO. ONE TINY dot of blood. nothing. it wasn't like he was tryna eat me :P maybe yer snake just needed some space....

You took a snake that was completely disengaged from her environment and made her attentive enough to strike out within the limited range of communication she has.

I would congratulate yourself daily for that. :)

Bruce

wow poor little snake good thing you took her in... I responded to a craigslist add for a ball python and king snake for adoption I told them I could take the ball and they said they could not seperate them as they lived together and are friends .... wow I did not know what to say to that

Thank you all for your kind replies. And Bruce, that was such a wonderful thing to hear. I'm happy this animal now has the chance to be a snake. I guess I should be proud that after five years of abuse the first person this snake ever bit was me. I had to handle all my other snakes right away, just to be sure. But I'm still afraid of her.

Do you guys think I should just reach in and take the bite, and take her out, or just continue to let her settle in some more? Also, I know it doesn't hurt too much but I'm afraid I may drop or injure her because of my own fear now. Gloves maybe????

Anytime I have been bit I pick the snake up anyways I dont know if they can learn this but just in case I dont want the snake to learn that if it bites it gets left alone....

And why are you afraid of her? She wont hurt you... This will give you a chance to learn how to handle a moody snake...

If you want to wear gloves by all means do. But one thing I will do with a snake like that is put one hand just out of striking range and move it back and forth and it grabs the snakes attention and tracks it, with the other hand I come up behind the snake and pick it up, once you have the snake picked up they usually calm down... Next time you feed it I would try to feed it more, maybe 2 of appropriate sized prey that might help it to calm down...

A girl I work with wanted to give her 7 year old BP away so my husband went over to look at the snake and he was insanely small for being 7 years. She told us she fed him every other month.

I don't touch or feed the snakes at our house . . . It is solely my husbands responsibility. We've had the snake for about 6 months and he gets fed weekly and my husband says he jumps out of his drawer as soon as he opens it when he knows there are rats in the room so he gets fed first. Maybe your guy is like ours and very thankful for a regular meal and thought your hand was dinner.

Just a thought!

Now, just out of curiosity, do they latch on, or just bite and let go ?? Ive heard horror stories of them locking on and not letting go, requiring measures to remove them ? Sorry if this is a hijack :D

I don't want to scare anyone, but those of you that post that a bp bite doesn't hurt and only brings a drop or two of blood should remember that bps get much, much larger than 18" long and 100gms. A 5ft long bp that weighs 8 or 9 pounds is going to do significantly more damage. It will hurt, and it will bleed. Its not like a retic bite, and most likely won't require stitches, but it can be a lot more than a pinprick! Granted, the snake the op posted about is a small snake, but I'm betting that its big enough to cause more bleeding than a drop or two! The largest bp I've personally been bitten by was about 750 grams. She caught me between my thumb and forefinger. It felt like a paper cut, and bled like one too.

All that said, I'd rather be bitten by any of my bps than any one of my rats!

Steve

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Originally Posted by mikeamy2007

Now, just out of curiosity, do they latch on, or just bite and let go ?? Ive heard horror stories of them locking on and not letting go, requiring measures to remove them ? Sorry if this is a hijack :D

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I've never had a BP latch on. But the cali king at the petsmart I work at used to be a right little bastard... She would grab hold and try to swallow your hand (despite her head being about the size of my fingernail). The only way to get her off was to run warm water over her head until she let go to breath lol

She has calmed down quite a bit now though through regular handling (and lots of feeding to keep her hunger in check :P)

In fact she's nice enough now that we may even be able to sell her :O

LOL Tag your it!!! No Tag backs.

Just wait till you get taged by a 1700g+ snake and it is hanging by just your thumb LOL - (moral of that story - wash your hands after feeding another snake and handeling your big snakes.)

Don't sweat it - you play with fire you bet burned, play with snakes you get bit. Use it as a learning experience and don't repeat the same mistake twice. :)

They usually tag and release but don't for a moment think they can't or won't do more. These are relatively laid back snakes but they are snakes. A bite from a good sized female can cause a fair bit of blood and hurt quite a bit but that is just a part of keeping snakes. They aren't normally a "bite first, ask questions later" type of snake but again, this is a snake we're talking about LOL.

Jenn, as Bruce said, I think it's kind of great that this snake is now involved enough in it's life and feeling healthy enough to give you a bit of snakie attitude. Honestly I'd rather that than a snake just laying there in a sort of resigned to die, I don't care what's happening around me coil.

Don't allow a tag to change how you are around this snake. Keep to your normal routines, wear gloves if it makes you feel more confident, check your husbandry and feeding routines (I do this as a matter of course anytime a snake acts outside it's "normal" course of events) and just go on about your business. Some snakes that are a bit nippy will back down if you give them a gentle tap on the hose with the butt end of your misting bottle or a spritz of mist direct to the face. Some of them that are really determined to nail you, you have to physically block the strike with something like their own hide or whatever.

You'll figure it out and I'm sure you and the snake will do just fine. :)

Well I just got tagged by one of my rescues, Ball Bearing. She was in food hunt mode and i thought I got her past it, and had even picked her up..
Then bammm!!! right on my thumb, and starts to wrap around my hand...
I got her teeth out from around my thumb and put her in a smaller tub so I can clean hers.

I should have NOT fed rice krispies to the ASF's just before doing that... huh.!! DUH!!
I have food smell ALL over me.. stupid..
At least she is not the BIG 4 footer, who got my ring finger a couple months back.
ha ha..
Yikes
Carol

A bp bite is a cat scratch compared to a big pissy carpet's bite, they keep you on your toes

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Originally Posted by jeffjr464

A bp bite is a cat scratch compared to a big pissy carpet's bite, they keep you on your toes

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I hear that. The carpet gave me the worst bite I've ever had. I still would not like to dodge a bite from a blood/short tail python.....

lol, everytime I got tagged (which I think is only 3, 4 times?), I just sat there and watched her strike and bite me. (out of like, seven snakes only one has bit me). I just though it was interesting to watch her do it- even if it did suck after... Especialy the last time- she got stuck on me!! She had got me between mt pointer and middle finders, and got stuck, so my boyfriend and to hold her body and I had to unhook her teeth out of my hand...lol, fuuun!