Quote Originally Posted by Bogertophis View Post
Snakes don't exactly "defend their territory", though they might personally feel cornered & threatened*. But no, that wasn't what yours was doing. He was hoping your warm & wiggling hand was his incoming dinner. Fortunately he realized pretty fast that he didn't want the "special of the day". Hey, don't forget these little guys have heat sensing pits, & they USE them. When a snake looks a "little too interested", believe them. And if you've been wearing hand sanitizer, but not this time, that might have been just enough for him to think "Hey, maybe this IS it?" I trust you'll survive?

(*Might be some exceptions as far as "territory defense"- like maybe king cobras? But I don't think most snakes have a sense of "territory".)

BAD Wiggles! NO soup for you!
It's the bite and release that confuses me. I've been taught that a bite and release is a defensive move. Bite and wrap is a food bite. His behavior prior to the bite wasn't defensive at all. He was coming toward me. Enough so, that I decided to back off and properly introduce myself. It was only when I thought it was clear to him that I wasn't food that I decided to reenter his enclosure. My mistake may have been leaving to fill the water bowl after I had introduced myself. When I returned with the water bowl, maybe, he thought I was something new. But if it was a food bite, why release? Seems counterintuitive.