Originally Posted by ckuhn003
Well I just joined the club and there’s nobody to blame but myself. My baby boa tagged me at least two times tonight. I’ve been handling him for short periods of time every night this week and tonight I thought it would be a good idea to get the wife and kids involved. Well I guess it was just too much and he tagged me multiple times while I was wrapping up the handling sessions. This is the 1st time I’ve been bitten by a snake and the ‘unknown’ turned out to be not that big of deal. In fact, I barely even flinched and actually was surprised to see blood. Hopefully I didn’t do any damage to the bonding process.
Gruesome picture below:
First, welcome to the bite club. The anticipation or fear of a bite is almost always worse than the bite itself.
Secondly, I agree, it was just too much too soon for him. He's tiny and not used to handling. That means he will get scared very easily. Slow down. Shorter, less hectic handling sessions for a while. Build trust.
Also, in your response (above), you nailed it. He was "getting pretty squirmy." He warned you and told you, ENOUGH! You didn't listen.
I've never been bitten by my BP Shayna, but I know when she's done with handling. Usually 10-15 minutes in (tops) she starts getting really active. If I don't listen and put her back, she gets stressed; a little more darty and can even breath heavier.
As you learn to get to know Phantom, and vice versa, you will learn to read him better.
He sounds pretty chill otherwise, especially for not being handled much, and will 99% grow out of this stage with continued gentle handling and with size.
I wouldn't worry about ruining the bonding. It's an isolated incident. He won't hold it against you. Learn and move on.
Were your kids and/or wife freaked out?
Also, good you didn't immediately throw him back in his tank. You don't want to reinforce that he gets what he wants if he bites. It was probably a minute later, which is plenty of time for him to not make a connection.
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