Do you let your BP come near your face?

[Bogertophis]

How bizarre.. this has just appeared on Instagram ..

https://www.instagram.com/p/CL2hd_4C...d=6cggyxobv3ml


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

Gee, that was too close for comfort. This guy doesn't seem to have much empathy with his snake, & that's what gets you bit in the first place...dangling them with one hand is not helping snakes to feel safe & sheltered in your hands; they feel exposed, & it makes them nervous, just like it did in this case. That's clearly why this guy got bit.

And it's just like bcr229 posted earlier- it's not just about handling snakes near your face, because when a snake is long enough, your face becomes a target they can easily reach.

Remember that snakes don't identify things much by vision alone, so if your face is too far away for them to "know it's you" by scent & touch, then you can end up with a panic bite when they're feeling as stressed as this one clearly was. That's the reason I feel safer when handling snakes close to my face & being "chummy" with them: they KNOW it's just me, they don't misunderstand, & they've previously learned that I'm "safe". It's not a big assumption either: snakes learn their way around in the wild, where to hide for safety & survival- they do somehow learn & retain things, whether or not we can fully explain how.

Remember that snakes aren't logical- don't assume they "know" that the hand holding them is part of the same creature that's staring at them with a potential predator face, because they don't.

And just as my experience passing a mirror while holding a snake, or bcr229's experience getting bit after going through an awkward doorway indicates, snakes may bite us simply out of panic & confusion. The safer they feel with us, the less that happens.