I am now a part of the bite club

[Darrell_Winfield]

You likely know where this story is going, but it's a good read nonetheless!

It's Thursday; feeding day for my girl Angui! She's young yet, September 2014, so she's still a little uncomfortable with me picking her up from her habitat. On this auspicious day, I have everything prepared from her feeding box to her rat sitting on the counter. I open her habitat to pick her up and she clings tightly to her branch. I gently hold her, let her crawl along my hand, and unwrap her tail from the branch when I can. She snakes around my hand as she is wont to do, and I bring her to her feeding box and place my hand inside. Usually, she'll get the hint and slip right off to be ready for her feeding, but not this time. She tightens around my hand, so I start rubbing her with my thumb to get her to loosen. She looks at my thumb and pauses. I realize a bit too late what she's doing, and she strikes my thumb. It didn't really hurt, it was just shocking. Especially when she adjusted her fangs.

So I quickly move to get a pencil to remove her mouth, but as soon as she tasted my blood she released. I put her back in her feeding box and gave her the actual meal. As I go to wash off the blood, I pause to smell my hands. They smell like the raw pheasant I had just been handling. You know that saying "if it walks like a duck and quacks like a duck, it's a duck"? Well, if it smells like food, moves like food, and is warm like food, it's food. When I realized my mistake, I couldn't help but laugh at my foolishness! I was able to take a few pictures, but due to adrenaline, they are very shaky:

The bottom of her jaw:


The top of her jaw:


The top of her jaw, the next morning. It's hard to see in the picture (bad camera) but the red dots outline her jaw and fangs perfectly:

[WarriorPrincess90]

Very nice! Welcome to the bite club! What kind of snake is she?

[bcr229]

Feed her in her enclosure and don't give her the opportunity to bite you. She won't get "cage aggressive" if she eats in her home.

There's a reason that people who keep giant snakes and hots don't have a separate feeding box.

[Darrell_Winfield]

She's a standard ball python. I'm just a college kid, so $50 was about all I could spring for a snake (the morphs were $150 or more). I have no regrets about getting her, though!

[Darrell_Winfield]

bcr229,

I have come across many conflicting viewpoints on this. Ironically, I chose a feeding box so she wouldn't bite me when my hand! Wouldn't there be a concern with her mistaking my hand for food when I reach in to pick her up?

[bcr229]

bcr229,

I have come across many conflicting viewpoints on this. Ironically, I chose a feeding box so she wouldn't bite me when my hand! Wouldn't there be a concern with her mistaking my hand for food when I reach in to pick her up?

Not if you wash your hands first so they don't smell like mouse/rat/fowl.

Also having a feeding box teaches the snake that being removed from the enclosure means food time. Feeding in the enclosure teaches the snake that being removed means handling time.

[rlditmars]

You're very lucky you didn't lose the thumb. Usually of wound like that requires amputation.

Welcome to the club.

[Darrell_Winfield]

bcr229,

You provide a very convincing argument. Are there possible issues that would arise from any of the substrate getting caught in her mouth whilst eating, or harming herself on items in her habitat? She does miss her strikes on occasion; much more frequently when she is in shed. At the moment, she is only hitting cardboard. Wouldn't hitting the glass or her branch be harmful to her?

[KMG]

bcr229,

You provide a very convincing argument. Are there possible issues that would arise from any of the substrate getting caught in her mouth whilst eating, or harming herself on items in her habitat? She does miss her strikes on occasion; much more frequently when she is in shed. At the moment, she is only hitting cardboard. Wouldn't hitting the glass or her branch be harmful to her?

No. Snakes feed in the wild just fine and your snake will do just fine feeding in its enclosure. I keep many naturalistic tanks with substrate, real and fake plants, and other fun items. I have never had an issue with feeding in my tanks and like many other experienced keepers here I suggest it.

Plenty of people do things like feeding on paper plates, paper towels, etc but I see it as completely unneeded and just a waste. Just make sure the feeder is not completely soaked and you will be fine. I thaw in water so my feeders are always wet. A east squeeze with a towel takes enough water off to prevent the substrate from sticking to them and the snake gets some good hydration with its meal.

Like mentioned above think about feeding using your method with a large snake. It would be a mess. I have a 30 pound female blood that is almost 6 feet long. Saying she is strong is a major understatement and I could not imagine trying to deal with her when she knows rats are near by. I have no issues feeding her in her cage and I can take her out anytime I want. The only issue she every gives me is when I want her to go back home and she is not ready. We have had some wrestling matches and I would never want to pair that with her wanting to feed.

I think you will find feeding in your cage much more enjoyable for the both of you. In most cases only people that feed live have a valid reason to feed outside there cage. The main reason or most common reason is to keep the rodent from urinating and having movements inside the snakes cage.

[Darrell_Winfield]

bcr229,

I will try this method next time, thank you!