Nergal bited my sister :( :( :(

[shelliebear]

My sister Alex usually never holds the snakes--I don't think she's really afraid of them...maybe a little. But today she held Nergal, who was being extra cuddly and sweet with me.
Well, she held him and was talking to my dad. She held him perfectly and was making a joke about Dumbledore from Harry Potter. I looked over and Nergal, without s-shaping or giving any warning, jumped his head forward and nipped her pointer finger. He drew some blood too.
I feel so bad! Alex started crying and was very upset. Now I fear she won't hold snakes again, since she didn't have a huge interest in them to begin with. I just don't want her walking away from snakes with that memory fresh in her mind. Nergal never, ever bites anyone--and what confuses me is she didn't do anything. She didn't touch him or hold him wrong, didn't wiggle her hand like food, didn't smell like food or look like it. And I held him right after her and he didn't bite me! I don't get it. What happened?
So, I promised my sister I'd post a thread for her on here so she could gain some rep for getting bitten and handling it so well.
Please tell her something nice so she smiles, I'm going to show her this thread as new replies are posted (she needs 'em!).
Poor Alex!
Will post a pic of the bite later, she requested I do so.
One more thing--Nergal hasn't eaten in about 5 days, could it be he is hungry and that's why he bit her? :/
We are speculating that he bit her because she made the joke about Dumbledore being awesome for keeping Voldemort in line, since he (Nergal) is in Slytherin hahaha.
Shellie

[bsash]

That's a shame! Tell your sister it's neither one of their faults, she should try to get back into liking to hold him. Good luck to her in the future with reptiles.

[eracer]

I would tell Alex not to be afraid. Many animals we keep as pets will bite or claw us for reasons that aren't immediately apparent.

I've known the sweetest, gentlest dogs, who were startled and nipped someone. They didn't mean to hurt them; it's just the dog's way of saying, "something scared me."

I've had cats who were very loving, but every once in a great while they just suddenly got mad at something, and scratched me. Not bad, mind you - just enough to get my attention.

Snakes are the same. Even the calmest snake will sometimes get scared by something and nip at us. It doesn't mean they want to hurt us, and I'm sure Nergal didn't want to hurt you.

I hope Alex and Nergal are both OK, and can make up and be friends.

[Boanerges]

If she was able to joke about it then she definitely handled it well

[MordreTheBP]

hope she gets into reptiles. the worst part is over... the fear of being bit

[Kysenia]

Too bad that occurred. But unfortunately it happens. I always put it in perspective. For as much as i have handled snakes the last two years i have been bit twice. I held my neighbors cat last night and got bit 3 times in 5 minutes. I still go with bp's are more gentle then cats and some dogs by far lol Get back in the saddle!!!!

[Animals As Leaders]

Don't sweat it!!

I'm sure the shock of getting bit was what scared her the most. All animals bite, and sometimes they do it when you least expect it. It was a defensive bite. She might have felt a little scared. Personally I don't know about Alex(which is my name as well), but I would take getting bit by a snake over my cat or dog any day lol.

[BEasy119]

Hope Alex is doing well,

I haven't got bitten yet. Not really looking forward to it. But the bite wasn't that bad so just shake it off. Don't give up on BP's alex

[dr del]

Mad props to Alex for joining bite club!

The first rule of bite club is - you must share pictures of your battle scars so we can all share war stories.

It wasn't anything personal - Nergal probably just got scared and tried to frighten everything away.

They have an amazing sense of smell and get used to peoples individual scent during all the handling by the main keeper and they know that that particular central heated tree is safe to be picked up by.

So add him being nervous because this isn't his usual tree and you being nervous at holding a snake (which makes your muscles tense a little and lets the snake feel that yet another thing is slightly different ) then little misunderstandings like this are bound to happen eventually.

The good news is the more you handle him the less likely it gets as he will ( really quite quickly ) get used to the idea that you aren't hurting him either and both of you can relax.

It's worth sticking with it to have these little snakes exploring and happy while you are holding them. Mine are now so used to me that they seem to have developed a facination with my nose and glasses and tend to reach out and bonk our noses together.

Just take it slow with short handling sessions and you will soon be friends.


dr del

[angllady2]

What Dr. Dell said is true.

Our snakes get used to our smells and our particular feeling and they don't always like when a strange smelling or feeling person handles them at first. They need time to get used to the other as well.

For example, my daughter and I always handle my snakes, we play with them, clean tubs together and such. My husband only rarely messes with my snakes. As such, although my daughter and I can handle any snake at any time without a reaction, all my husband has to do is lightly touch one and he is instantly hissed at and warned away.

It's actually quite funny, he always grumps about how the snakes hate him, but it simply because he doesn't handle them enough for them to know he's "safe".

Don't let the nip get you down, now you know it's not as bad as you thought it would be, and you can take the next step to being a snake owner, brag about your scars!

Gale