Are full grown BPs strong enough to strangle a skinny 5ft person

[rabernet]

There is no recorded death by ball python.

I'm a girl too - I have no worries about my ball pythons - they're not going to be able to cause her any harm. She can stay.

[H H Honey]

You are talking at most about a 6lb snake vs at least an 85lb person? I seriously doubt a 6lb snake could take down an 85lb person.

Mine is 10.5 lbs....she 'could' strangle no doubt. I have had her around my neck and she has nearly cut off my air supply twice. But this is almost instinctual, and not a defense mechinism. I would NEVER leaver her around my neck and doze off...I think using common sense is the most important factor when dealing with ANY animal.

[H H Honey]

There is no recorded death by ball python.

I'm a girl too - I have no worries about my ball pythons - they're not going to be able to cause her any harm. She can stay.

Hi Robin, while I agree with some of your comments...I would firmly disagree that a large enough ball python could not cause harm. For the most part most specimens don't get big enough and they are very, very docile...but I know first hand that they CAN cause unintentional harm under the correct circumstances and I always caution people who ask me whether snakes are dangerous. My girl is unsusally large, and often mistaken for a diffrent animal entirely. She's 100% normal, and well over 6500 grams. Maybe not quite 11lbs but close. She's a chunky little monster and she is all muscle.

Size, tempermant and safe handling are paramount I think





HHH

[2kdime]

Now I've heard it all

[theartofsolitude]

What's the average weight for a full grown BP?


PS: She's not totally skinny, she's 100 lbs. she should be okay right??

[theartofsolitude]

Hi Robin, while I agree with some of your comments...I would firmly disagree that a large enough ball python could not cause harm............
HHH

H H Honey how did that strangling on the neck happened? was that intentional or the snake might have felt that its falling off that's why she held tight on your neck?

[stevepoppers]

Maybe if you fell down the stairs with it around your neck and were knocked unconscious and the panicking ball just squeezed you carotid.

I mean, it can happen, but the odds are crazy, you're taking a bigger risk driving...well, anywhere or petting...well, anything. More people have been struck by lightning than have been killed by constrictors; I have no real data to back that up, but I bet someone here does.

Fwiw, I immediately lol'd when I saw this thread. Because, lol, these threads. :facepalm:

[MGOBLUE]

no way a bp could hurt her, now my 8 ft, 20lb red tail boa...that on the other hand she might have something to worry about =].

[H H Honey]

She really likes to 'ride' around on my neck. I was sitting at my computer and she was looking around and flickering her tounge and was happy and a clam. I didn't do any jerky moovements that I remember, but I remember that her tail was pointed downward in the middle of my chest. She slowly moved it up slowly, and the next think I know she was sqeezing my neck. The more my veins in my neck pulsated, I felt like the more she constricted. She wasn't agry, or agitated, infact, I think she was just making her self comfortable.

Anyway, I tried to gently pull her away from my neck and she resisted. When I tried to stand up, I became lightheaded and realized I was intouble. I called for my wife. She ran over and petted her gently while locating her head, and gentling pulling the front of her body away from the rest of her body. It probably took a good 3 - 4 minutes to remove the animal, and I felt naseated from the restriction of air.

I don't think she every knew why she had to be removed my body so quickly, and it has never changed the way I felt about her or having her. She is an incredibly beautiful animal, and we love her dearly. At almost 21 years old, she probably one of the oldest BP that I seen around.

It made me have a ton of respect for their strenghth, their magestic beauty and their inate instincts.

[angllady2]

Under certain RARE circumstances a very large ball MIGHT accidentally cause you to black out, but I strongly doubt it would go from there to death.

Especially if the snake is a pet, if you suddenly collapsed with the snake on you, I tend to think they'd loosen up in shock or even from hitting the floor.

I have a good sized male, at 1200 grams, and he's allowed around my neck on rare occasions. He has tightened on me enough to cause my face to flush once, but he was easily unwound like a scarf long before he had time to do anything else.

Bottom line is this: No snake, no matter what the size, can choke you if you don't put it around your neck. I suppose a 200 pound retic might be able to suffocate you by wrapping your ribcage, but you have no business handling a snake that big by yourself anyway.

Ball pythons can't do much more than make your fingers go a little numb if they squeeze your arm hard enough for long enough. So I'd say she's safe.

I'll put it another way, by 13 year old daughter handles every single one of my Bp's, no matter how big. If I thought they could hurt her, I wouldn't allow her to.

Gale