4th Snake Bite in 30+ years

[dakski]

I got my 4th snake bite in 30+ years of keeping, and it wasn't even one of my snakes. That's the good news, along with the fact that it wasn't a very large animal. The bad news is it was a food bite.

I was at my buddies reptile store getting some supplies. I was asking him about Stimson and Children's pythons. He said he had gotten an adult male on trade and that he was very "food driven" but, "fine when out." I said, "oh, like my boas?" His employee didn't seem so sure, but he took out this 3+ foot stimson's python and it seemed pretty chill. He held it for a couple of minutes and it seemed happy, tongue flicking slow and exploratory, etc. He handed him to me and was crawling around my arm and seemingly relaxed.

Next thing I know he nudges my finger by my wedding ring and stops tongue flicking. I look at him and am about to say "don't you dare," but it was too late. He had grabbed my finger and was starting to wrap.

I stayed calm (honestly not that painful in the scheme of things), kept him from wrapping too much, and my buddy came over, got some hand sanitizer near the snake's head, and helped get him off gently. It bled a lot on the top of my finger, but the biggest marks and swelling is on the bottom of my finger. Again, not really too painful, but startling and swollen now.

I write this for a number of reasons.

1. Snake bites aren't that bad - at least the ones I have had. This was the biggest snake to bite me and the worst bite as he didn't want to let go, etc. Still not bad.

2. If you work with and know your animals and your species it can be very rare - 4th bite in 30+ years of keeping.

3. Snake bites aren't that bad. I repeat because so many people are afraid of bites and, well, they aren't that bad in many cases. I know people who have had bad bites from a) big snakes b) certain types of snakes (tree boas for example). I also know many people who have had bites from young snakes and small snakes who can be more fearful that are basically anti-climactic.

Basically, no one should live in fear of a bite from most snakes that an individual can handle alone.

I may have a different pain meter given that I've had multiple surgeries and illnesses related to my kidney transplant, but I've gotten more startled from the bites I've had then felt any real pain.

I will say that I didn't like the "I am totally cool........nah, let me try to eat you!" attitude of this particular snake and have never experienced that with any snakes I've owned.

Anyway, pictures or it didn't happen right?

[Bogertophis]

Impressive swelling- I've never had a snake bite do that. That was a very rude little python- I've seen a rosy boa that would do that too- wasn't mine either, it belonged to a nature museum & just didn't want to bother to differentiate between handlers & prey. My Spotted python is not a biter at all, but I've read that some in that family can be, & let's face it, no one selectively breeds snakes for "temperament" or IQ (maybe they should?), so I'd imagine that's the result of all the captive breeding with limited bloodlines- some are just kinda jerky.

[Snagrio]

Not a bite, but an almost similar situation happened with my BP the other day. I was doing some spot cleaning and he poked out several times to see what was going on, though he was looking a little too curious towards my hands. I tapped his hide (which is the "not feeding time" signal I've trained him on) probably more times than necessary to remind him of the protocol.

[KMG]

4 bites in 30+ years is pretty amazing. I've had that many in a day. My mind takes me back to a young Biak GTP I had or the three young Blood Pythons I got. Needles to say I've lost count of how many times I've been tagged. I certainly don't try to be but at the same time I'm really not bothered by it so I've never not done something just to avoid a bite. Some were just crazy too like my BRB climbing on me so calm and then suddenly bite my stomach going right back to being calm and climbing around.

The only one I've had that tried to eat me was a Western Hognose. Latched on the side of a finger and I had to pull her off. She was chomping. Finger swelled a bit and was a little numb from the venom but nothing to worry about.

[dakski]

Not a bite, but an almost similar situation happened with my BP the other day. I was doing some spot cleaning and he poked out several times to see what was going on, though he was looking a little too curious towards my hands. I tapped his hide (which is the "not feeding time" signal I've trained him on) probably more times than necessary to remind him of the protocol.

I generally don't worry too much with my BP, but all my food driven snakes like my Boas and my carpet python, are removed for 90% of cage maintenance. The other 10% they are hook trained and it is used to let them know "no food now." I read them and use my judgement. I probably should remove them all when doing cage maintenance, like water bowls, as I do with cage cleaning. However, probably just too lazy the 10% of the time and usually dealing with younger snakes. My bigger snakes I do not take the risk as they can do some damage.

As I said, and KMG alludes to below, not many try to eat you though . I've had 2 defensive strikes and 1 food strike over the years but all where bite and release. The former 2 where a BP I scared the crap out of in her tank. I was ten years old, she was a baby, and I was reaching into the tank and lost my balance. My hand fell a few inches from her face and hit the tank bottom. BAM and release. Scared her more than me. The second was my corn snake Solana. Something was spooking her like crazy recently and I went in to what was up. She struck at me and tail rattled etc. I should have left her alone, but got her out and she was calming down. Told a worker who was over that she was fine and put my hand up near here to show him how calm she was. BAM. Bite and release. Again, no pain, and she calmed right down after she smelled and tasted me in the other hand (that was holding her). Again, read your animal. Since she cannot do any real damage and I was worried she might be hurt, not spooked, I checked on her. My bad judgment. The food bite was young boa - Behira as a baby. She got me good (top and bottom jaw) on the arm, but released quickly (1 second or less) and never coiled. I assume that was a food strike because of the how good she got me and that 3 seconds later she let me pick her up seemed calm. Either way, I've hook trained her and never had an issue since.

4 bites in 30+ years is pretty amazing. I've had that many in a day. My mind takes me back to a young Biak GTP I had or the three young Blood Pythons I got. Needles to say I've lost count of how many times I've been tagged. I certainly don't try to be but at the same time I'm really not bothered by it so I've never not done something just to avoid a bite. Some were just crazy too like my BRB climbing on me so calm and then suddenly bite my stomach going right back to being calm and climbing around.

The only one I've had that tried to eat me was a Western Hognose. Latched on the side of a finger and I had to pull her off. She was chomping. Finger swelled a bit and was a little numb from the venom but nothing to worry about.

I agree, KMG, pretty amazing, not impossible. I know people who are careful about what animals they select and what species and have done okay. I have 7 snakes now. 2 have gotten me and both where inconsequential to say the least (see above).

The more snakes and the more species the more likely you are to get tagged. I think it's important to put into perspective though. Not usually bad or painful and no reason to be angry etc. I wasn't even mad at this guy. I wish he hadn't bitten me, but he's a snake. No judgement here.

I also think this one was memorable as my finger became potential food, not just a quick strike bite. As you said, that's not super common, at least in my experience.

That BRB bite sounds annoying. Jekyll and Hyde sometimes with these guys.

We never know what will spook or entice them sometimes smell/movement, etc. We forgot how primitive they are sometimes, or at least how survival and/or food driven they can be.

Apparently Stimson's are known for this to some extent. See below. I just googled Stimsons Python and clicked on images. This came up pretty early on.

https://community.morphmarket.com/t/...g-to-eat/22118

[bcr229]

Apparently Stimson's are known for this to some extent. See below. I just googled Stimsons Python and clicked on images. This came up pretty early on.

Yes, they are, which is why they're not recommended as a beginner snake even though their husbandry is no more difficult than a ball python and they stay fairly small. Most new keepers haven't learned to deal with and laugh off a nip or even a food bite from a snake.

[Bogertophis]

I got my 4th snake bite in 30+ years of keeping....

I'm just so impressed that you've managed to keep track of all these "vicious attacks"! Do you keep notes & pics of all this trauma?

As someone that's lived with (WAY) more snakes for 3.5 decades, I haven't a clue how many nips I've thus far survived, but what matters is that NOT ONE was ever of any significance- no infection, no scars, not significantly painful, no actual damage, & certainly it goes without saying, none with venom. Most can be chalked up to raising hatchlings- "What was that? Was that a bite? Are you kidding me?"

I've had way bigger ouches from friendly playful dogs & cranky parakeets. Snake bites from typical pets just don't amount to much on the "pain & injury" scale- I wish more people realized that. Well that, & the fact that by paying attention & using good "snake manners", most bites are preventable & avoidable.

[KMG]

"Not usually bad or painful and no reason to be angry etc. I wasn't even mad at this guy."

For sure. None of mine have done anything more than some tiny holes. They are usually over before you know it happens and though they tend to bleed a quick rinse under the faucet and it's usually over. The teeth are just so sharp like little needles.

That BRB bite I believe was caused by my body hair. I'm a guy so I'm hairy like some of us are. I swear it has caused several bites. My GTP is a good boy but on several occasions after I first got him he would be crawling down my arm and feel my arm hair. He would stop and look at it and then bite me. This was usually done pretty slow as if he's just investigating. After a bit of time he learned it's alright and stopped biting me. If I trim my arm hair through you can see him thinking about it again because it feels different.

I think that's what the BRB was too. He felt my chest hair and got tickled. To which he thought he should spin around and bite me. Silly guy he is.

The worst bite I've had was from my Dum. I was fooling water bowls and he hit me like a train on my hand outside his cage. He didn't latch thankfully. It bled like usual but he actually bruised me he hit me so hard. Still nothing bad and didn't cause and issues. More surprise than anything.


For those that haven't seen some bites and would like to I have some pictures in my profile. Caution as there is some blood.

[dakski]

Yes, they are, which is why they're not recommended as a beginner snake even though their husbandry is no more difficult than a ball python and they stay fairly small. Most new keepers haven't learned to deal with and laugh off a nip or even a food bite from a snake.

Agreed on the not learning to deal with a bite yet. Alfred Hitchcock used to say, "the anticipation of the bang is worse than the bang itself." It seems many keepers live in fear of a bite and most cases and with the snakes many of them keep, it's not a big deal. I am glad I had a bite early on in my snake keeping journey to know not to worry so much.

I'm just so impressed that you've managed to keep track of all these "vicious attacks"! Do you keep notes & pics of all this trauma?

As someone that's lived with (WAY) more snakes for 3.5 decades, I haven't a clue how many nips I've thus far survived, but what matters is that NOT ONE was ever of any significance- no infection, no scars, not significantly painful, no actual damage, & certainly it goes without saying, none with venom. Most can be chalked up to raising hatchlings- "What was that? Was that a bite? Are you kidding me?"

I've had way bigger ouches from friendly playful dogs & cranky parakeets. Snake bites from typical pets just don't amount to much on the "pain & injury" scale- I wish more people realized that. Well that, & the fact that by paying attention & using good "snake manners", most bites are preventable & avoidable.

So few "viscous attacks" that I am able to keep track. .

Agreed on the pain level from playing with dogs and definitely bird bites - ugh. My cousins had a parrot who liked to nip and that wasn't fun.

"Not usually bad or painful and no reason to be angry etc. I wasn't even mad at this guy."

For sure. None of mine have done anything more than some tiny holes. They are usually over before you know it happens and though they tend to bleed a quick rinse under the faucet and it's usually over. The teeth are just so sharp like little needles.

That BRB bite I believe was caused by my body hair. I'm a guy so I'm hairy like some of us are. I swear it has caused several bites. My GTP is a good boy but on several occasions after I first got him he would be crawling down my arm and feel my arm hair. He would stop and look at it and then bite me. This was usually done pretty slow as if he's just investigating. After a bit of time he learned it's alright and stopped biting me. If I trim my arm hair through you can see him thinking about it again because it feels different.

I think that's what the BRB was too. He felt my chest hair and got tickled. To which he thought he should spin around and bite me. Silly guy he is.

The worst bite I've had was from my Dum. I was fooling water bowls and he hit me like a train on my hand outside his cage. He didn't latch thankfully. It bled like usual but he actually bruised me he hit me so hard. Still nothing bad and didn't cause and issues. More surprise than anything.


For those that haven't seen some bites and would like to I have some pictures in my profile. Caution as there is some blood.

I too am a hairy guy. Noted. Thank you KMG.

[Bogertophis]

I'll bet you're right (KMG) that your snakes got confused feeling what they thought (hoped) was the fur of their prey- snakes do recognize things by feel & I think their skin, even with scales, is sensitive enough to feel the difference.

(But that begs the question, why don't I get bit- with my long hair that my snakes are always tangling with? Maybe because there's a lot more "human scent" in my case, so they know it's not prey? But I'm just guessing...)

As you said, most snake bites are just quick little pin-pricks- over so fast, & a bit of bleeding that's of no real consequence. More startling to us than anything- not like the damage that bites from dogs & birds, or scratches from cats, can do- & happily snake bites don't tend to get infected either.