Well, I've been bitten!!!

[Glaedr]

I was going to get Jazeira, my adult normal BP out yesterday and she wasn't in her hide, so i stroked her as usual to let her know I was there and then I went to pick her up, and she just suddenly turned around and bit me!!! I was so surprised, because she has been the most relaxed snake in the world up till now. There was lots of blood, but it didn't hurt nearly as much as I'd expected. What brought this on and how should I go about handling her next time because I don't want to get bitten again?

[xdeus]

What, no pictures?

Sometimes they're just cranky. Don't worry about it unless it starts to become a pattern. She should calm down once you get her out of her cage and hold her.

[lillyorchid]

Like us, animals have bad days too.

[Spaniard]

Maybe she coiled off the wrong side of the bed that morning

[Nate]

Maybe she coiled off the wrong side of the bed that morning

LOL...yeah some have their bad days.

Did it seem like a strike for food or a strike because she is in a really bad mood? And is there a chance you had the scent of food on you?

[Glaedr]

It seemed like a grumpy strike because it was kinda like a punch, and she didn't coil after of hold on. I was wondering if the rat that I fed her in her viv left any smell there (because it was rubbed all over lol) and that made her do it???

[Nate]

So you fed her, and then attempted to pick her up? That may have some part in it..

[Glaedr]

No, I fed her a couple of nights before, but she dragged te rat across her viv.

[wildlifewarrior]

Well just keep in mind that ball python's aren't demesticated to the point that dogs and cats are, for the most part they are still wild animals (many are wild caught) if you accidentally did something to corner her or threaten her otherwise (that you may not have realized) she may be inclined to defend herself.

Just remember they have teeth and use them from time to time. WHen i got my first snake my dad said, you'll eventually get bit, you still want it? So just remember this may be the first but quite possibly won't be the last!

good luck, take pics next time!

wildifewarrior

[Rhapsody]

Just feel lucky it decided to let go LOL i was holding an adult female at a reptile store and she decided to coil around my arm and refused to let go after fifteen minutes of struggling with her grumpy thing!

neosporin and batman band-aids helped with my bite, and dont be afraid of handling her again, she was probably just having a bad day like mentioned before