Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I'd say I'm a pretty experienced snake hobbiest, I've owned and handled a wide variety of non-venomous reptiles... I have a male MBK that I've had for a few months now. Since I've gotten him, he's been really mouthy, even though I wash my hand before I handle him and make sure I haven't handling anything that would smell like food. He eats about once a week (an excellent eater at that) so it's not like he's starving... but here's the thing, he bites... EVERYTHING. My hands, the snake stick, and now himself. It's to the point where he'll look around and start to bite his own body. It's so bizarre and I've never seen/experienced this type of behavior before.
If anyone has any insight on this, I'd really appreciate any advice.

>> he bites... EVERYTHING. My hands, the snake stick, and now himself. It's to the point where he'll look around and start to bite his own body. It's so bizarre and I've never seen/experienced this type of behavior before.
>>If anyone has any insight on this, I'd really appreciate any advice.

It sounds like some of the females I've had when they were coming out of brumation or in gestation, you might want to re-check the sex.LOL
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R.Bichlers Colubrids
http://www.webspawner.com/users/rbichler/index.html

Snakes are individuals, just as dogs, or even people are. Sometimes there are a few individuals that are just real "live-wires".

From what you've stated, you are doing some things correctly, as with not letting him catch any overwhelming scents from you or prey items. You didn't mention how big the snake is, but kings do have a much better appetite and metabolism than many other types. Have you tried feeding him/her more often?. Kings, especially when young, have a voracious appetite, and can sometimes eat until they almost resemble a sausage given the conditions for proper digestion, and will seem to grow at the rate of "sea kelp" off the coast of California..LOL!

Try feeding it more often, and/or slightly bigger meals to see if this curbs the biting, often this is the cause. If it DOESN'T help,......then you will have a WELL-FED biter!..LOL!,........I couldn't help myself from saying that..LOL!

Hope this helps, ~Doug

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"Better to be silent and thought a fool, than to open mouth and remove any doubt!"

When I get one like that I usually put him down on the floor as soon as it starts biting and stomp it on the head one good time. That usually curbs it's urge to bite at least for a while. JUST KIDDING!!!
Doug covered it well above. I've had a couple snakes that do that at times no matter how well I fed them. Randy W.

Thank you everyone for your advice. I do keep my little guy (or maybe girl?) well fed, so maybe this one is just a loose cannon!