It is completely normal to be jumpy a little after a near miss. We always fear the unknown.

I was a little nervous about getting bitten at first, but once it actually happened, I burst out laughing. Scared the poor snake even worse. I could not believe that's what I was so scared of. There wasn't even any blood, you almost needed a magnifying glass to even see the bite.

Once I got that first life-altering killer bite out of the way, now I couldn't care less about being bitten. I had a 700 gram pastel I was checking out at a show nail me in the palm. She was in blue and really cranky. I knew she had struck at me, but I didn't jump because I knew it was nothing to worry about. Half an hour later, I happened to notice a tiny red spot on my palm, which I wiped at and finally figured out it was blood. I showed it to my husband, and started laughing. He asked what was so funny, I told him apparently that pastel had bitten me and I never even felt it.

So don't beat yourself up about being jumpy, that is normal. Bottom line, if you can't get used to it within a few days of trying, it might be time to find a willing snake to bite you and help you realize there is nothing to be afraid of.

Gale