Can you feel my pain?
Sorry I did not take a photograph of it before I cleaned it up, but I did have something happen today that has only happened to me once before. I had a Boa bite and wrap. I had one baby Boa do that back in 1989. That was almost 20 years ago. Now, how can I remember that happening that long ago? I remember the Boa. It was a "Jumbo" baby from a litter that was born in 1989. She bit me on the back of the hand and wrapped. A new born baby, albeit about 22" at the time. That was quite painful, but today was a little more interesting experience.
I always feed all my own Boas. In all the years that I have kept snakes, I have only let one other person feed just one time. That time I had another fellow feed about 200 babies. He had fed much too large food items to a bunch of babies. Well, needless to say, about 25 of those babies regurged within the next week. After that, never again has anyone fed any of the Boas beside me. After all, I know what I'm doing right? I have fed hundreds of thousands of rats to Boas of every type and shape. I know which tool is the right one to use all the time right? Well, today I took a tiny little short cut.
I have done it before, but never had this happen before today. I have my small 12" hemostats feeding off weaned sized rats to yearlings or two year olds in sweater boxes. All babies around 3' right? Well I remembered I needed to feed my 4 year old adult male Sharp Albino male. He is less than 4' long but in a large blanket box. He has a whole lot more room to lock and load before making a strike. To make matters worse, I have been feeding for about two hours and he has been anxiously, if not patiently, waiting for his turn at a rat. The blanket box is opaque so he can't really see out. I pick up a rat of an appropriate size for this little fiend, and pull open the drawer, then I raise the hemostat above the top edge of the tub and BAM! He has me! I mean he HAS ME! Me! The fellow who gives him all his nourishment. Me who gives him fresh water. Ok, so I don't water him Mr. Gerholdt does so after he cleans him, but I am the one who placed him in with that girl this year he was so interested in! Is it my fault she was not interested in you Mr. Sharp Albino? Is it? Apparently he thinks so. He has me in the worst way possible.
For some reason, unknown to me, while I was lifting the hemostat, I had my index finger extended and apparently pointing directly at the Sharp Albino. Now, don't ask me why my finger was pointing straight at that Albino, but it was. That little poopy pants homed right in on that extended finger and BAM! My tip of my finger was in this monster's throat! I mean it! In his throat! So I drop my snake hook, which I only use to hook the drawer so I don't get bit (ha ha), and move to grab the little fella before he can toss a quick coil around my hand but! Too late! He's got me! I am wrapped, bit and now he is pulling his head away from my hand as hard as he can while still biting down like he means to kill that index finger! I feel a little bit bad for the rats I feed now. Holy mackerel! Does that hurt! He synchs those teeth deeper into my throbbing flesh while the blood begins to ooze from my now slotted tooth pricks as he goes for the kill. I mean this is really serious pain! I finally get a grip on his neck right behind his head and am talking to him now. You know what I am saying to him don't you? I don't use profanity so I am calling him all the other dirty names in the book, "you stupid animal"! "You filthy stupid animal"!!! He is twisting now that I have him around the neck trying to get away from my grip. It seems like about twenty minutes have gone by, such is the agony, but it's probably more like 5 seconds. Ouch! That really hurts! What anguish! I finally get the grip that is going to save my finger, or so I hoped. I only have one hand now as the right hand is partially eaten and the left is retarded especially given the agony I am suffering. I have hold of his neck and am hoping he just relinquishes his eternal grip on my favorite finger which has been engulfed by this wild beast! I hold firm, he looks at me as if to say, "Who is the idiot now, you dork"! I am, is all I could think at that moment. Just like many of the great submission fighters do, as I have tapped out and am waiting for him to let go, he gives me just one more bite down and one more squeeze to let me know I should never have done that or called him stupid. Then with several twists and pulls, after snapping off numerous hooked teeth that electrified my pain sensing nerves, he allows me to go free. I was finally free of his death grip. I am just so happy that my finger has been saved. Happy I will pick my nose again with that finger. Happy that he seems to be unscathed too after his ordeal. Moments later, he was all too happy to take that same rat I had offered earlier. However, this time that rat was dangling from my 24" long hemostat. I have learned an important lesson and in a strange way feel more attached to that Sharp Albino than I had before.
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