A snake will bite for one of two reasons: It's hungry, or it's frightened and wants to defend itself.

A hungry snake will reach forward with its neck curved, head and upper body elevated, and flick its tongue rapidly while focusing on the point of interest.

A frightened snake will pull its head back into an S shape, elevated, and it will be very tense--you can actually see their jaw muscles clench.

A bite from a baby ball python is much less serious than a bite or scratch from a kitten.

Bites will happen sometimes--they are always the fault of the keeper, not the snake. A keeper may misread a snake's body language, or forget to wash their hands after handling a rodent (the most common cause of accidental feeding bites).

If your snake does bite you, do NOT pull away--remain still, even if it coils your hand. You absolutely do not want to try to forcibly remove the snake. Doing so will not only cause damage to you, but can break the snake's fragile teeth, which may result in a life-threatening infection. Let it release you on its own. A snake that accidentally bites you looking for food will let go of you as soon as you are still, and it realizes that it made a mistake. It doesn't want to eat YOU, after all...it just saw something warm and moving, and thought it was food.

Defensive bites are released immediately--again, don't pull away, and don't panic. The bite barely hurts at all. It will bleed, but the bleeding flushes the bite wound and stops very quickly. These bites usually heal so fast, you won't even know it happened after just 2 or 3 days. It's no worse than some tiny needle pokes.

A curious snake will reach forward with its neck fairly straight, and flick its tongue to gather information about its surroundings. It will often touch surfaces with its chin as it explores. Remember, ball pythons have poor eyesight, and poor hearing. Their primary means of learning about their world is through scent and heat.