Do you let your BP come near your face?

[AquaristGuy]

I let the BPs go close to my face. But not the other snakes. Here's my reason. I work with snakes 3-4 times a week. I volunteer at a local pet store and we have lots of snakes. We have 6 BPs, 2 red tails, 2 burms, and 4 corns. I've NEVER been bit by a BP. I've been bit by on of the burms, which seems to nip a lot... And one of the corns. The corns are always pretty energetic, and overly-excited...

[Bplove90210]

I don't care. When I have any snake out they have free range ( limited to my bed ). And whenever I get up they usually wrap around my neck and come along for the ride.


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[mlperryman]

Yes, we let all of ours go near our faces if THEY choose to. We never force them to get in our face. However, there have been times that our 2 year old decided to "kiss" one of them right on the head but they didn't seem to mind. We also let them wrap around our neck and chill out there. I know some people think that's a bad idea to let a snake wrap around your neck, but our snakes seem to like it and we don't mind. Our 8 year old almost always has his pinstripe around his neck. He started her out at a month old getting her used to being around his neck and his face and she is the most docile snake I have ever seen. She actually LIKES to have her head petted like a dog lol. We do supervise the children when they are holding the snakes and especially if they have them around their necks or in their faces, but we haven't had any problems at all with getting bit or struck at.

[loonunit]

Yeah, I let them near my face. I have had nippy ball python babies. One of these days I'm going to forget that a particular hatchling is a nibbler, and I'm going to get nabbed in the nose. And my husband will cheer, because he's been waiting for this day ever since I brought home my first snake.

But most of my snakes won't even bite my finger at feeding time, and my finger looks a lot more like a likely meal when it's wiggling right in front of them. So I trust them pretty unconditionally around my face.

[Lolo76]

Depends on the snake, I suppose. James the Stimson's Python, Toby the BP, or Izzy the Spotted? Sure, no problemo. Betty the evil corn snake? Not a chance!

I'd never force myself on a snake, though, and only give "kisses" (nose-touches) when they initiate the movement towards my face... those specific pythons I mentioned will often do that, whereas some of my snakes avoid getting too close. I let the snakes decide how friendly they want to be, as each has a different level of comfort with me.

As for letting other people get in their faces, I'd only let ADULTS do that - and always at their own risk & with my warning. My 4yo niece has tried to give them kisses, and I just told her "never touch the face or head, only the back." My 2yo nephew hasn't gotten that close to my snakes yet, but I'll tell him the same if/when he ever does.

[HypoPita]

My bps climb all over my shoulders, ears, nose, on-top of my head, and tongue my face on a regular basis. I am in no way worried of getting nipped in the face. It's such a large object to be confused with food.. I'd be more worried about my hands while picking them up, honestly.

I have been bitten twice, once by an adult that was obviously mad, and once by a hatchling while I was holding it, out of nowhere. Both resulted in a laugh.

[Jaxx]

I let my Bp go wherever he wants, face, neck, arms, shoulders... He really likes going up and moving in and out of my goatee. Sometimes I have to move him out of the way because he will wrap himsself around my neck then head over my face so he can rest his chin on the top of my head and his body is covering my oeyes so I have to push him aside so I can see what I am doing. At night he will spend most of his time wrapped around the inside of my heaphones while we watch a movie together, constantly reaching his head over to lick my nose or eye. I do not worry about it at all, he has never hissed, coiled or struck at me. I pat him on the top of the head and rub the bottom of his chin and have never so much as had him flinch.
Like a lot of other have said in here, it all depends on the individual snake and how well you now hin and how comfortable they are with you.
And as for the Salmonella, that's a joke.

[Zincubus]

I think it’s worth separating the two different scenarios

Letting a snake slither around your shoulders then across your face as that’s relatively safe apart from germs / bacteria as the snake is very unlikely to strike .

Whereas If I’ve got a snake out I’d never let it approach my face and I’d never put my face up to the snake’s face /head .

[Bogertophis]

I think it’s worth separating the two different scenarios

Letting a snake slither around your shoulders then across your face as that’s relatively safe apart from germs / bacteria as the snake is very unlikely to strike .

Whereas If I’ve got a snake out I’d never let it approach my face and I’d never put my face up to the snake’s face /head .

Well before someone teases you about it, I'm sure you know you're replying to a 10-year old post...BUT, this is a really relevant subject, & I do agree with you on this.

I like to get [nearly] all my snakes to be calm near my face so that I'm never bitten in a panic during times that I've shared them in programs, and it's never by "directly" going face to face- always it's a slow & calm progression of taking advantage of round-about, indirect contacts while they learn that my face is harmless. If it's cold, I also go out of my way to breathe warm air on them too, so they associate my face as being someplace comfortable, like their warm hide.

So far, my "feel" for when a snake is completely relaxed being near my face has never failed me, & they do seem to retain this. It's always better to start when snakes are young & small, & many of my snakes have grown up with me, so there's that too. I do let some snakes approach my face, but it depends on the body language- let's face it, I know them well. If you have ANY uncertainty about doing this, just don't- your snake isn't likely to care anyway.

It's not that different from the way you feed a snake also- it's never done by having a f/t rodent (supported by tongs) dance directly at a snake's face. It's all about them appearing to nonchalantly pass by the snake, making the proximity seem incidental. Most snakes are just shy & cautious- they live longer that way. The basic idea is not to appear threatening to a snake, whether it's you or their food.

[CALM Pythons]

You’ll get all different answers from all different people.. but the bottom line is they are not a thinking, domesticated animal, and even a domestic animal can bite so why would anyone risk their eyeball period? I love the videos were stupid people do dumb things to snakes and get them stuck to their face. I just hope the animals are ok after.


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