First Bite and I am FREAKED

[MrLang]

Whenever I take mine out and they are sleeping (sitting still) I always give a light jostle on the hide they are in before removing it and reaching. It's just to give them the head's up that I'm coming to pick them up and I'm not food / not going to eat them while they sleep. I'd say the small meals, going into shed, and potentially startling the snake are what caused this. All perfectly avoidable moving forward. GL

[mvptext1]

This might be a bit off topic, but I would suggest you might get another BP. Might sound off but hear me out. I got my first BP when he was about a year old. And when I got him I didn't know any better so all of his behaviors and actions seemed normal to me. He was a picky eater, but eventually ate some F/T rats. Like any new BP owner I was hyper-sensitive about him eating and I think my energy rubbed off on him at feeding time.

About 3 months after getting him, I got 2 baby (75 g) female BPs. Both were sisters, but one was VERY nippy and the other was very CALM.

I have kids about the age of your daughter, and one of my goals in keeping BPs was to get them involved.

With the 2 baby females I got, I found they adapted to life in our home much easier than the male did. The reason being I think is that raising babies up they get used to you and the type of caging you use. The male I got lived in rack for a year before I brought him home and put him in an exoterra cage. That was an tough adjustment for him.

A year later, my male is a poor eater and a bit sketchy with being handled. He's been that way since day one. Both my females though, are great eaters (F/T) and are really good about being handled. Even the nippy female grew out of that, and I trust her with my kids holding her. I can see the difference between getting and "Older" BP that was a bit set in his ways, and a BP baby that you can condition somewhat.

So if you got a baby BP and held it regularly and got in on F/T at a young age, I think you'd have the experience you are looking for. Your first BP can still be a great family pet and it might be that you take care of him and handle him mostly, that's what I do with my first BP. My kids don't hold him as much, cause as I said, he is sketchy. I don't think the breeder I got him from handled him much as a youngster, I think he was just left in his tub most of the time.

[Saber402]

Echoing the comments of other's replies, getting bit is going to happen. I've only had a couple turn into a demon and strike suddenly but it does happen. Explaining what and why to your daughter will hopefully put her at ease.

I would also agree that 2 or 3 mice every two weeks is likely not enough food. A 3+ year old ball should be easily eating medium rats every 10 to 14 days.

Shedding might play a factor but it does sound like a feeding bite, since he latched on to you, rather than a defensive strike. Could you have had any food scent on your hand? Another tip is to reach in from the side rather than straight towards his head. I have also used the hide to gently tap mine to snap them out of what looks like a possible strike.

Waiting two days before handling is adequate. We typically wait just a day and all is good.

Good luck to both of you!