What to do when things go wrong? Discussion.

[Skyrivers]

Honestly, I don't understand the mystique of keeping either hots OR giant snakes...they're both a LOT more trouble, not fun pets that you can just enjoy (IMO). Everything that you take for granted as being easy to do with a harmless snake becomes a big deal...from cage cleaning to medical issues. To me, a "pet" is something you can relate to & handle...that's off the table with hots, and goes from difficult to impossible with giants as they grow.

As someone who owns larger snakes I can tell you this. Even though they are more work and have big personalities they are so worth it to me. I enjoy them much more than my BPs because they are more interactive and inquisitive. As for medical issues? I don't find them to have more or less than my other animals. For the most part they are just as healthy as the rest in my care. I think of them like a wild toddler. They can get into trouble if allowed to and often will. They have moods and can throw tantrums if they don't get their way. They sulk or get excited over specific things. They want to know everything about the world around them.

Cage cleaning is just bigger cage. My animals are placed in a transport container for a few minuets and then cleaning is performed. I don't clean on and around food days if I don't absolutely have to (same for any of my other snakes). Sitting on the couch with Rainbow curled up in my lap is both relaxing and enjoyable. I take her for walks when I want her to poop before a show. She usually poops in the grass like a good girl. Is great to see her outside as well.

Relating to a huge snake? I like to eat (she likes to eat a little more than me). I like to be warm. I like to swim and climb. Some days I even recluse. I even have bad days where I want to bite someone even if just to get them to leave me alone In different ways but yep I can relate to how she behaves.

I will continue studying them and loving them. I learn more and more every day.

[Skyrivers]

After the bite, I no longer trust them. I feel they are more likely to give a bite more so than a BP

Yes MR Snakes, I feel an earthworm would be perfect for you!

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I have been bitten by BPs more than any other species. Miss Snow was a BEL that hated being bothered. Now she is a breeder only female in my dads care. Every time you did anything with her or around her she would just bite anything that moved. The one time Monty bit me I was teasing him to see what it would take to get him to bite so that I would know if I could trust him around kids. I tapped him on the nose a few times and eventually he was like "OK YOU ASKED FOR IT!" That told me right there that he was not a good animal for allowing others to hold him. He is a little older now and one day I might test him again but for now going to keep him as a home pet only. In the end I did "ask for it".

IMO little guys are more bitty in general than the larger ones. The larger ones seam to bite more from confusion and breeding cycle than anything else. Still studying them and still learning as I go. What a cool experience!

[Skyrivers]

idk maybe it's just me but i really wanna get bit. i love pain. no joke. i get excited when i think about being bit/scratched

Is traumatic IMO for the animal doing the biting if you look at the most common reasons why they bite.

1. Mistaken for food. (geez I am hungry and what that is not food?)
2. I am afraid. (Please don't hurt me or GO AWAY!)

[Skyrivers]

I am seeing a commonality for bites mostly being mistakes made by the owner as much as the animal. Something that I feel can be take away from that is that using proper handling procedures and consistency will help limit the issues you have with bites and herps in general.

I've been bit by my 7 foot boa, 6 foot boa and 9 foot retic. They are all VERY laid back but a snake is a snake. The retic and 6 foot boa were from me being stupid with food. The bite from the 7 foot boa was from me startling her when she was sleeping at the front of the cage. I've had all of them since they were babies and have only been bit once by each. Stuff happens. Animals are animals. With all the bites, they didnt hurt but did bruise up very nicely. A defensive or 'omg thats not food' bite happen so quick that you dont even really have time to register it until you see blood all over. With my 7 foot boa that got startled, i reached in right after and once she smelled it was me, she was fine. The 6 foot boa and 9 foot retic, it was a feeding bite as they smelled food, so i left them alone except Caesar the retic who was outside the cage when it happened and i vent my snake hook lifting him back up to his cage so he could climb in.

Dont let a simple bite discourage you from owning a snake. Anyone who has kept snakes long enough will take bites and will take multiple bites. It's just the nature of the beast and it happens. Now if you own HOTs, then you want to triple check everything but accidents can still happen which is why you want to have protocols in place like bite kits and possibly antivenom around.

Oh and I've been bit by lots of stuff throughout the years....adult pacman frogs, bullfrogs, garter snakes, alligator lizards, geckos, ball pythons, carpet pythons and i'm sure i cant remember atm lol. Worst two that i remember were a BP who tried to drag my finger into her hide to eat it. I had to dunk her head in the waterbowl with my finger using my other hand to support her. And my pacman frog which i had to literally pry his jaws off my finger with a wooden chopstick. The whole time the frog was croaking and puffing itself up lol.

[Skyrivers]

Haha i hear ya. I'm 48 as well and assuming my snakes and especially my little gila live to their golden years, I'll be around 78 by then......I'll be that weird old man with snakes and lizards lol.

LOL.... so will I! I assume by then I will have a zoo to will to someone.

[Skyrivers]

I have to agree with Dianne and Sauzo. The very few bites I've experienced with my current boas were food related and my fault. There was lots of rat scent in the air and I wasn't careful. Just quick tags. Nothing serious. When they are hungry you have to be aware. When you aren't, things can happen. If everyone is being fed on the same night I have to feed the boas first because once they smell food they are tagging the sides of their enclosure every time something moves. Especially Creeper.

My feeding order goes like this.

1. Retics
2. Boas
3. Everyone else.

The smell seams to make them more excited than the little ones with Fiona (corn snake) being the exception. It is like she is starving every week but she is healthy.

[Bogertophis]

... As for medical issues? I don't find them to have more or less than my other animals. For the most part they are just as healthy as the rest in my care....

... My animals are placed in a transport container for a few minuets and then cleaning is performed....

Relating to a huge snake? I like to eat (she likes to eat a little more than me). I like to be warm. I like to swim and climb. Some days I even recluse. I even have bad days where I want to bite someone even if just to get them to leave me alone In different ways but yep I can relate to how she behaves.

I will continue studying them and loving them. I learn more and more every day.

Just to be clear, I didn't say they have MORE medical issues than other snakes, only that when they do, I was saying that it can be a bigger challenge to deal with.

And I am MOST impressed to learn that they dance!? ("minuets") Do you dance with them? I had no idea!

The nosy inquisitive nature of rat snakes is what I love about them too, I'm glad that your big snakes have you to be their advocate. All snakes need human friends.

[Skyrivers]

And I am MOST impressed to learn that they dance!? ("minuets") Do you dance with them? I had no idea!

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Typo

[Bogertophis]

Typo

Joke

[Skyrivers]

Joke

Lighten up! JK