Ball Python bit without striking first

[dakski]

Sounds a little odd, but there could have been a food like smell on the person as well. Who knows?

Look, no one wants to get bitten, by anything, especially larger snakes! That kind of bite sounds pretty harmless, almost exploratory, as KMG said. I wrestle with my dogs and play bites from them hurt more than a BP bite. However, I am not afraid of them. I think sometimes we are afraid of what we don't understand, or can't read. Snake bites seem to scare people more than much more painful things. Frankly, I am probably more worried about getting bitten my one of my snakes (during feeding for example) than I am about many other things that are far worse. I don't let it get to me, but in thinking about it I am more cautious about feeding my snakes than many other things. It's the quickness/unpredictability that potentially bothers me. However, as you will see below, I have had many worse things happen to me (and painful things - I had a kidney transplant and follow up surgery 6 years ago) than getting bitten!

The reality of owning snakes is you can get bitten. Knowing you snake, handling you snake, etc. helps cut down the risk, but mistakes happen during feeding, or they can get confused, or are having a bad day. I race cars and they say if you race long enough, you will crash. I had a transmission failure at 100 mph and went into the wall. That hurt! A BP bite does not, comparably. If you own snakes long enough, you may get bit, it happens.

Having said that, I have had BP's, corn snakes, and now Boa's for much of my life. I have suffered one bite from a baby BP - and it was totally my fault. I slipped and slammed my hand down in front of his hide and he struck quick and then coiled up. I scared him more than he scared or hurt me.

First, try to learn your snake and not be afraid. A bite can be scary if they strike, especially if you are used to chill snake, but it won't be the end of the world. It also sounds like your BP is not aggressive, but rather, scared or had a food response. I wouldn't worry about that as much as a snake that strikes when you walk by or put your hand in his/her enclosure.

Secondly, learn snake language. Sudden and sharp movements can mean scared or defensive. In these instances, be cautious. I would balance that with letting the snake know you are in charge and not afraid of it. My albino spider BP used to hiss when she was little. I called her bluff the first few times and picked her up. She realized I was not afraid of her and hasn't done that since (she is 5 now).

Happy snake or curious snake equals slow and wide/long tongue movements. Tasting the air, taking things in. Short fast tongue movements can mean hungry, scared, defensive, etc.

I am not trying to be difficult and trivialize your fear. I understand, as I said above, and don't want to get bitten either. However, as Alford Hitchcock said, "the anticipation of the bang is worse than the bang itself." He made a living on fear/anxiety over actual event.

In this case the fear of a snake bite is probably doing more harm than the snake bite could. Additionally, although snakes DO NOT "sense fear," if you are nervous, he could become nervous and defensive too. Be chill and he probably will be as well.

I used to tell myself when I started racing cars that I would freak out and quit racing if I got in an accident. I didn't. I got back on the horse and set faster lap times.

If you get bit, you'll keep enjoying your BP, but I doubt it will be a common occurrence, if it happens again.

Enjoy your BP! Don't let the fear of getting bit take away from how awesome your BP is and how much enjoyment you get from him/her.