Well it had to happen one day but of course it had to be the biggest of the females, Brannagh, whose a good 1100 to 1200 grams. We knew going in she was a bit mean natured but figured maybe stress of being dumped at a pet store and also she was in shed.

Well since she's been here we haven't handled her much (it's just the first week) but since she's so highly aggressive Mike has to put on gloves and remove her from her tub so I can even give her fresh water. She'll charge me from across the tank and rear up to try and bite.....the big brat! So last night I needed to give her fresh water and Mike took her out, forgetting to put on gloves! Just a stupid thoughtless moment but actually she was very calm, best removal yet.

We should have known! As soon as Mike had her out she whipped around and bite...hard! I don't know how Mike didn't drop the witch or toss her at me LOL but he just yelped and put her calmly back in her tub. She left tooth slashes on the back of his hand and a puncture and more tooth slashes on his palm (probably from him instinctively pulling his hand back from her). We did find a very tiny tooth imbedded in the palm puncture.

Mike is fine, in fact went back and removed her later and was very gentle to her. She did fine and he had the gloves on this time. Our concern is for Brannagh the Brat. Will the tooth loss be of any special concern? Anything we should be looking for when we feed her this week as far as her mouth being at all painful? I figure they probably lose teeth in the wild so not a big deal but best to check.

We'll just continue to keep Brannagh in a quiet place and hopefully over time she'll come to accept handling. If not we feel she'll still have a life being a breeder and being cared for here. We knew going into it she might not be the friendliest of our girls so it's fine.

The other female we got from the pet store that day (the one that's 900 grams) Orlagh is a total love and has no objection to my hands in her cage or being taken out for a quick lookover.


~~Jo~~