Lesson learned.

[EL-Ziggy]

I had my first hardcore bite and wrap experience last night which was no fun at all. This snake has never struck at me in the 5 years I've had him but I won't be feeding my bigger critters after midnight alone anymore that's for sure. I can see why it's nice to have a 2nd person around when handling even mid size snakes. This was only a 7' carpet python. It was all my fault for feeding by hand. These guys are getting a little too big for that. I had on gloves and he still managed to break the skin. Talk about a strong bite!! It hurt like heck and took me about 5 minutes to pry him loose. I got him back in his enclosure and tossed in the jumbo rat he initially missed. He caught it in mid air and gobbled it down like nothing happened. Nice one Chomper!

The culprit.


The damage

[Reptile$ 4 Life]

Ouch! Looks like he got you pretty good. Very impressive bite.

[jmcrook]

Through gloves?! Oof. Good thing you had them on. Not a lesson you need to learn twice no doubt.

Hemostats or tongs from here on out I’m sure. I use a couple pair of 15-16” curved forceps I got on amazon prime and they’re great. Also have 42’ tongs from when I had the retics but those things are overkill.

Once my gang grows outta the forceps I’ll probably get some 24-36” tongs from AE Stoney or Midwest Tongs. My buddy has a pair and they’re very nice. Tough and lightweight with a comfortable grip.


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[EL-Ziggy]

Yeah some 24 or 36 inch tongs are definitely in order.

[dakski]

Thank you for sharing your experience Ziggy and I am glad you are okay.

Yeah, I use tongs even for my corn snakes . I am probably overly cautious, but do not want to go through with what you did with Yafe, Behira, Jeff, or Feliz.

Get yourself some tongs buddy and be safe!

[Bogertophis]

I'm so glad that you at least had gloves on. Thanks for sharing this, so others hopefully won't have to learn the way you just did. Many excellent feeding tongs, forceps
& non-locking hemostats to choose from, & it never hurts to have a little extra length for those growing serpents. And a second person...it's awfully hard to unwrap a strong and determined snake when they're sure you're edible.

[Gio]

Hey,

This happens to the best of us whether it be a feeding, male combat behavior, or defensive bite.

No armchair quarterbacking from yours truly here as I've had a nasty bite and other less nasty bites. Mistakes happen and we ALL learn from them. You have a wonderful collection with a lot of variety.

Your carpet will probably never do that again and because you've fed this way for years, I'm sure this was a complete surprise.

I will say after the 8 foot mark, depending on the species, you are probably best taking on a second set of hands, or in your case so nice long feeding tongs.

I'm happy you're not injured and the snake is not injured.

Good post from a guy with a great collection!

[jmcrook]

Yeah some 24 or 36 inch tongs are definitely in order.

You’ll love having tongs once you use them a couple times. I had a nearly venomous routine feeding the retics. Scoot the door open enough to get a hook on it, open the rest of the way with a 40” hook, rat already on tongs, and then deliver to the flailing chainsaw. All but a couple of my gang here have the potential to reach larger sizes so I’m prepared to have a borderline HOTS ritual again if needed. Also not planning to push their feeding for max size potential either though.


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[Caitlin]

This could happen to any of us; I appreciate your sharing the experience because in a lot of social media or other forums people are reluctant to talk about the things that can go wrong.

Thank goodness you were wearing gloves! Reptile Basics has a great selection of tongs and hemostats in various lengths; I like their tongs with rubber tips. I use tongs even with my little Antaresia and with my gentle BP, but they're a necessity with my JCP and the Boas (who hit hard even as juveniles). And the Green Tree Python? While it's true that he's never even hissed at me, much less bitten, it's also true that as soon as it's dark, that guy is in full ambush predator mode. So tongs it is.

Glad that both you and the beautiful snake are OK.

[richardhind1972]

Wow thru gloves, would of made a right mess if you hadn't had them on mate

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