Reptile & Amphibian Forums

It was the first time I have ever been bitten. It was after I fed him.. I went and washed my hands to get any mouse smell off and when I went to pick him up to put him back in the cage I got bit.

I have nieces and a nephew that like to come see him and hold him. I am a little concerned he may bite again.

Is it possible his biting is going to be a one time occurance? What would cause him to bite?

Most likely he was still in feeding mode. I wouldn't worry too much about it. It happens.
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Tosha

"Nihil facimus sed id bene facimus"

11.42.0 Ball Python (Harry and Fluffy and gang)
1.0.0 Angolan Python (Anakin Skywalker)
0.0.1 Green Tree Python (Verdi - yeah I know but my kids love the book)
0.1.0 Bredls Python (Smurfette)
0.2.0 Feline (Pippen and Pandora)
0.0.1 Desert Tortoise (Pope John Paul aka JP )
2.2.1 Fish (1,2,3,4)
0.0.0 frogs rescued from pool skimmer

Ive been bit once with the same situation, I learned to let my bps be in peace after feeding for awhile and hasnt happened since.

Nate
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1.2 Normal Bps (Ka, Khayli, Monster)
1.1 100% Het Albino (Mr Stash, Bahari)
.1 Lemon Pastel (Penenlope)
.1 Red Blood Python (Qermez)

This is why I stopped feeding outside of their enclosures. I didn't like having to handle them again right after eating and I had several who stayed in feeding mode for at least an hour (lil' pigs). I agree with Tosha that he probably only bit because he was still in that feeding mode. I wouldn't worry about your nieces and nephews handeling him at all. Most likely, you are never going to have any of them go to pick him up right after he has eaten anyways (I hope ). And if he's never done this before, it probably isn't some new sign of aggression.

BTW - What size is your boy? I just got tagged the other night by one of my girls (only 300g) and was surprised that it didn't hurt in the least (it was my fault because she was still in feeding mode having just swallowed and I reached in to get her water bowl - dumb move - I wouldn't hesitate though to let any of my nieces or nephews hold her. She's a sweetie normally). Haven't been bit by any of my adults though.

>>It was the first time I have ever been bitten. It was after I fed him.. I went and washed my hands to get any mouse smell off and when I went to pick him up to put him back in the cage I got bit.
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>>I have nieces and a nephew that like to come see him and hold him. I am a little concerned he may bite again.
>>
>>Is it possible his biting is going to be a one time occurance? What would cause him to bite?
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Amber

Boas
1.1.0 Colombian (Austin & Ava)
1.0.0 Suriname (Aloysius)
1.1.0 Albino (Bo & Daisy)
Balls:
1.27.0 Normal (Tucker, Taylor,and lil' girls - RIP Eva)
1.1.0 Pastel
1.2.0 100% Het Pied
1.0.0 100% Het Albino (Bubba)
0.1.0 66% Poss. Het Albino
Corns:
1.1.0 Amber
1.1.0 Butter Motley
1.1.0 Crimson
1.1.0 Ghost
1.1.0 Hypo
0.0.1 Normal
1.1.0 Okeetee
1.0.1 Snow (Aiden)
1.1.0 Sunglow Motley
Milks:
1.1.0 Hypo Honduran (Damien & Lucy)
0.1.0 Pueblan (Marishka)
1.1.0 Sinaloan
Other:
2.1.0 Dachshunds - Dakota, Montana, & Cheyenne
2.0.0 Ferrets - Bailey & Keyta

I don't have a scale, but he is a little more then two feet long. So he's still a baby. I wish I knew his weight.

well that's good then... it was a little less painful than getting bit by a full grown one, huh? I don't feed mine in his cage. I weighed the options and decided that feeding in the cage just makes more sense. Of course you have to worry that if you don't get to handle him enough in between feedings, he will associate something coming into his cage as being food, but I don't really worry about that. My ball python is a feisty eater, and I wouldn't dare mess with him after he's eaten. As a general rule, I wouldn't handle him the day of, before, or after eating.

I've personally done a lot of research on whether to feed in the cage or outside of the cage, and it seems like the only time it makes sense to feed outside of the cage is if you are housing more than one snake in an enclosure, and other than for breeding purposes, I would never do that anyways. I think it's way less stressful on my reptiles to just leave them alone while they eat.

Ive been nipped (my fault) by my sub adult bp and I know what its like. The bite doesnt hurt and its more of shock they struck than anything else But has anyone been bit by a large bp? I just acquired a nice female 2000g whos really strong woundering what a bite from her would do? Not something I am in any hurry to find out and thank God for tongs! I dont have any other experince with snakes besides bps, so I cant relate to you tic and burm people out there.

Nate
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1.2 Normal Bps (Ka, Khayli, Monster)
1.1 100% Het Albino (Mr Stash, Bahari)
.1 Lemon Pastel (Penenlope)
.1 Red Blood Python (Qermez)

Exactly what I am wondering! I've come really close to getting it from my 1800g girl. She has such a strong feeding response that sometimes she strikes at the glass if she sees something move. She's fine when I let her know it's me not a rat, then she's a puppy dog, but if you just open her door fast - watch out! I'm sure (unfortunately) that we will find out eventually what it is like! And I have a few boas who are going to be ready to "educate" me about it in a few years.

>>Ive been nipped (my fault) by my sub adult bp and I know what its like. The bite doesnt hurt and its more of shock they struck than anything else But has anyone been bit by a large bp? I just acquired a nice female 2000g whos really strong woundering what a bite from her would do? Not something I am in any hurry to find out and thank God for tongs! I dont have any other experince with snakes besides bps, so I cant relate to you tic and burm people out there.
>>
>>Nate
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>>1.2 Normal Bps (Ka, Khayli, Monster)
>>1.1 100% Het Albino (Mr Stash, Bahari)
>>.1 Lemon Pastel (Penenlope)
>>.1 Red Blood Python (Qermez)

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Amber

Boas
1.1.0 Colombian (Austin & Ava)
1.0.0 Suriname (Aloysius)
1.1.0 Albino (Bo & Daisy)
Balls:
1.27.0 Normal (Tucker, Taylor,and lil' girls - RIP Eva)
1.1.0 Pastel
1.2.0 100% Het Pied
1.0.0 100% Het Albino (Bubba)
0.1.0 66% Poss. Het Albino
Corns:
1.1.0 Amber
1.1.0 Butter Motley
1.1.0 Crimson
1.1.0 Ghost
1.1.0 Hypo
0.0.1 Normal
1.1.0 Okeetee
1.0.1 Snow (Aiden)
1.1.0 Sunglow Motley
Milks:
1.1.0 Hypo Honduran (Damien & Lucy)
0.1.0 Pueblan (Marishka)
1.1.0 Sinaloan
Other:
2.1.0 Dachshunds - Dakota, Montana, & Cheyenne
2.0.0 Ferrets - Bailey & Keyta

I got bit by one of my big girls a couple of months ago - my fault - I put her into her feeding tub then decided I wanted to weigh her before I fed her - she tagged me reaching in to remove her - I've got them all programmed to eat upon entering their tubs - it's happened more than once that I reach in there for some stupid reason - once they are fed they are fine, but between putting them in the tub and eating is not the time to be reaching in - LOL.

Adults don't necessarily hurt any more than the smaller ones unless they get a real good chunk of you - but those only come from the really ornery ones.

What hurts the most is if they (big or small) get you on a joint that you end up bending like 4000 times a day - nothing like a harsh reminder of your stupidity everytime you have to move your finger.
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Tosha

"Nihil facimus sed id bene facimus"

11.42.0 Ball Python (Harry and Fluffy and gang)
1.0.0 Angolan Python (Anakin Skywalker)
0.0.1 Green Tree Python (Verdi - yeah I know but my kids love the book)
0.1.0 Bredls Python (Smurfette)
0.2.0 Feline (Pippen and Pandora)
0.0.1 Desert Tortoise (Pope John Paul aka JP )
2.2.1 Fish (1,2,3,4)
0.0.0 frogs rescued from pool skimmer

Only time I've been tagged is when I've bothered them in shed.

and it was nothing compared to the bite of my Juv. Borneo... that was one major OUCH!
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"There is a fine line between a hobby and mental illness"
COLD BLOOD.........WARM HEART

I got tagged by a 2000g girl when she mistook my heat gun strap for a rat tail. She clamped onto my thumb and wrapped around my forearm. She was stuck on there for a couple of minutes, but she finally let go. It bled a bit, and the joint was little sore for a week, but overall it was MUCH less painful than I would have thought.

n/p
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Amber

Boas
1.1.0 Colombian (Austin & Ava)
1.0.0 Suriname (Aloysius)
1.1.0 Albino (Bo & Daisy)
Balls:
1.27.0 Normal (Tucker, Taylor,and lil' girls - RIP Eva)
1.1.0 Pastel
1.2.0 100% Het Pied
1.0.0 100% Het Albino (Bubba)
0.1.0 66% Poss. Het Albino
Corns:
1.1.0 Amber
1.1.0 Butter Motley
1.1.0 Crimson
1.1.0 Ghost
1.1.0 Hypo
0.0.1 Normal
1.1.0 Okeetee
1.0.1 Snow (Aiden)
1.1.0 Sunglow Motley
Milks:
1.1.0 Hypo Honduran (Damien & Lucy)
0.1.0 Pueblan (Marishka)
1.1.0 Sinaloan
Other:
2.1.0 Dachshunds - Dakota, Montana, & Cheyenne
2.0.0 Ferrets - Bailey & Keyta

balls are fast and mean and wild...all snakes bite.....

yea........they really do......faster than cobras....and more often at times........

welcome ........it's just blood.........

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are they really?.....wow

Ball Python Bites..LOL it's like a warm sweetish message.....

>>It was the first time I have ever been bitten. It was after I fed him.. I went and washed my hands to get any mouse smell off and when I went to pick him up to put him back in the cage I got bit.
>>
>>I have nieces and a nephew that like to come see him and hold him. I am a little concerned he may bite again.
>>
>>Is it possible his biting is going to be a one time occurance? What would cause him to bite?

That has happened to me on several occasions and it was always my fault! Try getting bit by a 7' Argentine Boa. They have a vicious feeding response. I had teeth stuck in my fingers for a while after that!
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"I'll tell you the problem with the scientific power that you're using here: it didn't require any discipline to attain it. You read what others had done and you took the next step. You didn't earn the knowledge for yourselves, so you don't take any responsibility for it. You stood on the shoulders of geniuses to accomplish something as fast as you could and before you even knew what you had you patented it and packaged it and slapped it on a plastic lunchbox, and now you're selling it, you want to sell it!" Dr. Ian Malcolm - Jurassic Park

people were asking about getting bit by big snakes. I use to work at a reptile zoo for 2 years, ive been bit by everything there is to get bit by. I think the two worst are GTP because they breack off teeth in you and big bloods, everytime i have been bit by a blood you bruise and swell b/c they are so powerful. Burms arent that bad i have been wrapped by a 12 footer, and i personally dont like boa bite b/c i always have reactions to them, and swell up for days. Now i just get bit by my balls. I feed in cages but have too many to handle constantly so i get bit on average 10 times every feeding or cleaning day. They are quick all right, and im just too lazy and use to it to react quick enough. The biggest ball i have been bit by was about a 2500 grams girl. It truthfully dosent hurt its more of the scare. When i was at the zoo though i knew a kid that got tagged in the face by a 15 foot burm that wasnt real pretty, and years ago before Kevin from NERDS built the new store an employee of his was sent to the Hospital from being almost dragged into the cage by a retic the day before i went to see him. thats why i dont play with tics...
Kim.

Look at it on the bright side. I'm having troubles with the other end of my kingsnake when I hold him. Everyone says to be careful not to startle them. With my guy, the problem is when he gets too relaxed. He'll be sitting there very calmly and get this contented look on his face. The next thing that happens isn't pretty.

Bill
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It's not how many snakes you have. It's how happy and healthy you can keep them.

I think we all ahve been bitten because of feeding response at least once. but we have a rat snake that has an attitude and will strike defensively almost every time. well this one time I was holding him (not a feeding day) I got closer to him to look at his nose. Well if you can geuss he got me right on my nose that hurt I had a tooth stuck in the rim of my nose for a month. I learnd a valuable leson there never get too close lol.
I still hold him alot and the strikes are les and les. He was a rescue as well. Now chrissy forgot to clean her hands one time and she grabed aragorn 200 gram bp. He hit the tip of her finger and held on for a couple of minutes. She wont make that mistake again lol
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2.1.0 ball python (aragorn, frodo, arwen)
1.0.0 columbian boa (squiggles)
1.0.0 rat snake (alabastered)
0.1.0 corn snake (baby)
0.0.1 whites tree frog (trevor)
3.2.0 cats (rockie, bs, brownie, lerrado, kole)
1.3.0 kids (dilyen, dakota, chyanne, sierra)
Brian n Chrissy
"snakes are kind of like potato chips, you cant have just one"