I'm an Idiot :/ Ouch.

So i fed my 8 month old Ball two live mice consecutively (as usual) in her feeding tub, and then for the first time i noticed blood all over (from the mouse)...there had never been blood before.

When she finished swallowing the second mouse, i noticed she had blood on her head and her back...and i wanted to wipe her off (like a dummy),
so i took a paper towel with some sanitizer, and went in...

she turned around quick and went straight for my middle finger! I bled for a bit
and washed my bite off with soap.

I was kinda sad :/ because now when someone says "as she ever bit you?" I'll have to answer yes. :[ but it was all my fault. she was in her feeding zone.

ANYWAYS, i know this may be a stupid question but: will this strike at me
affect her in any way? In other words, will she be psychologically confused for awhile, or hurt? or was this just simply an instance where I got bit. I am a new dad, and so every little thing makes me wonder.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
thank you so much,
Andrew

Quote:

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Originally Posted by andrew123

So i fed my 8 month old Ball two live mice consecutively (as usual) in her feeding tub, and then for the first time i noticed blood all over (from the mouse)...there had never been blood before.

When she finished swallowing the second mouse, i noticed she had blood on her head and her back...and i wanted to wipe her off (like a dummy),
so i took a paper towel with some sanitizer, and went in...

she turned around quick and went straight for my middle finger! I bled for a bit
and washed my bite off with soap.

I was kinda sad :/ because now when someone says "as she ever bit you?" I'll have to answer yes. :[ but it was all my fault. she was in her feeding zone.

ANYWAYS, i know this may be a stupid question but: will this strike at me
affect her in any way? In other words, will she be psychologically confused for awhile, or hurt? or was this just simply an instance where I got bit. I am a new dad, and so every little thing makes me wonder.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
thank you so much,
Andrew

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She was in feeding mood and your hand entered her strike zone plain and simple.I suggest you give her some time to calm down before bothering her.Of course you have to wait a few days until she digests her meal anyway.Please do not use any sanitizers directly on her,plain wet paper towel with water is fine.

It'll be fine Andrew. Check your bite to make sure she didn't leave a tiny tooth in it. They tend to itch and then you scratch and set up an infection.

Animals don't cling to memories like we humans do and be damaged by their memories, most especially a snake that is an animal driven mostly by it's instincts. If she constantly bit you over and over, maybe it would set up some sort of poor action/reaction thing but a nip here or there is no biggie for either of you. Even snakes that once were big biters can be turned around. My biggest female who is now over 3,000 grams was once a crazy bite first ask questions later 1,900 gram snake that the pet store employees were afraid of. With work she came around. :)

Just remember what triggered the bite and avoid that situation in the future as much as possible.

I think you'll be ok, she was just in feeding mode. Give her a few days to digest and I'm sure you'll be able to handle your BP just fine. Try feeding her in her tank next time. It'll save you from having to move her and your hand won't have to go near her while she is in that mode. I feed mine in her tank and she is ridiculously friendly.

Hey, at least you've gone through the rite of passage lol.

Your BP has already forgotten about biting you. You should do the same. Welcome to the club. Shoulda' took pictures.

I got a lame first bite story. I was taking her out of her bag that i picked her up in and she tagged me I didn't even know it till my wife asked if bit me...


No biggie barely a dot of blood...

Mike

Thank you all for your responses,
they put me at ease, and didn't make me feel like an idiot.
I appreciate all of your help,
Andrew

Don't put hand sanitizer on that poor snake... :snake: I would have bit ya too. :)

Welcome to Bite Club.

Rule #1 of Bite Club, is that we do not talk about Bite Club.

(I totally stole that from somene else).

Bruce

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Bruce Whitehead

Rule #1 of Bite Club, is that we do not talk about Bite Club.

Bruce

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I certainly don't tell my GF about Bite Club....oh wait, she's on here now, dooh:fishslap:

I'm in the bite club. :P

I love that movie Bruce!!

Who cares about bites! Some guy on here said they will hit you with hammers that they hold in their opposable tails!!!!!

:O

Bite Club huh?
im down haha.
your or should i say "our secret" is safe with me ;]

OH. and is it not cool to hand sanitize your hands before handling your snake?

Use soap and water and wash it all off but I wouldn't use hand sanitizer. Wouldn't want the residue irritating the snake at all.

I always use Germ-X before I handle my boys, but I let it dry before picking them up.

hmmm,
okay isn't germ-x kind of the same thing as sanitizer if i were to let it dry?
i always let it dry before i handle her, but now im concerned.:(

Quote:

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Originally Posted by andrew123

hmmm,
okay isn't germ-x kind of the same thing as sanitizer if i were to let it dry?
i always let it dry before i handle her, but now im concerned.:(

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From your first post it sounded like you said you were wiping the snake with sanitizer... I sanitize between each snake and do not take any extra precautions.

just rub it in and move onto the next one.

B

okay thanks,
so in other words, as long as im not wiping her down,
but im using it on my hands im set?
thanks Bruce.

I dunno I'm a little sketch even using regular old purell hand sanitizer and then handling a reptile. That won't irritate their skin or eyes at all? I understand people with big collections or breeders can't be running to a sink every time they handle a new animal...

Hand sanitizer is gelled alcohol, it is meant to evaporate quickly with friction.

Bruce