Reptile & Amphibian Forums

as you can see below, we only have one king snake in the family at the moment. a little high white female we just got in jan. its technically my bf's snake- his first snake- and i usually let him do all the care of it...but this evening i noticed that it didnt have much if any water and needed a bit of cage cleaning...so i set about tending to her and well...she chewed me. lol.
it was not a stupid feeding error, but a low light error on my part. which i totally know better than to put my hands in a tank at night during low light, but i did it anyways. shes being fed regularly, of 1-2 pinkies every few days, but clearly she needs to eat bigger meals now as she tried to eat me...
first, she tried the palm of my hand. and i tried to put her in her tank, but she just wouldnt go. she came back up on my hand, and well, she got ahold of the side of my pinky which is just small enough for her little mouth to latch onto. and she chewed on me. she didnt strike. she latched on. once i got her uncoiled from my other fingers she let go. it didnt hurt but it was just enough to bring a tiny bit of blood and make my finger swell just a little bit...
so after posting this windy little story...do yall have any suggestions for the best snake bite care.
i think the bf is scared of her now- lol but i told him as long as we feed her and dont handle her in low light she should be ok.
the first time i get bit by a snake and i gotta be CHEWED on by a baby king snake...lol...
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~Snake Charmer~
0.1 russian tortoise (natasha)
3.1 dogs (church, bandit, willy and tonka)
1.2 cats (taz, squeaky, cami)
0.1 king snake (q aka curly q or queenie)
2.1 'normal' ball pythons (zenith, butters, zahara)and i want more snakes. guess you can say im developing a "reptile addiction"- lol

Just wash it with soap and water and feed that girl! She could probably be bumped to fuzzies right now. Pics please!

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Todd Hughes

lol...here are a couple of pics...
he named her queenie. but i call her curly q or we just call her q.

I took these with my cell phone cam..so thats why they are sooo bad. but you can see what she generally look like.
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~Snake Charmer~
0.1 russian tortoise (natasha)
3.1 dogs (church, bandit, willy and tonka)
1.2 cats (taz, squeaky, cami)
0.1 king snake (q aka curly q or queenie)
2.1 'normal' ball pythons (zenith, butters, zahara)and i want more snakes. guess you can say im developing a "reptile addiction"- lol

"and i want more snakes. guess you can say im developing a reptile addiction"
There is no known cure for it.
Take your time.Read as much as you can and ask a lot of questions.You also have to learn who you can trust before you spend money.

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"Wake me when its April"

Doug L

That's a pretty cal king, I like the high whites a lot!
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Todd Hughes

Your now initiated.Welcome to the club

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"Wake me when its April"

Doug L

Sorry to hear you got bit - I too have been bit a few times; depending on how big the snake is it can be quite unpleasant and it can make you a bit hesitant to handle the snake again. However, I do have one question for the forum though relative to snake bites - once a snake bites and hangs on, how do you get them to disengage? I had an awful time once trying to get an adult brooksi to let go!

Thanks,
Jim

lol i dont know jim. i was beginning to worry that she wasnt going to turn me loose. thats what got me all upset about the entire situation- i had this image of her trying to eat my finger. lol but like i said, once i got her uncoiled from my other fingers then she let me go. thats probably something i need to learn too- how to get them to let go once i have them...er, a method that wont hurt her anyways....and will the same methods work if my ball pythons get me too?
i have heard pouring alcohol into their mouth will do it. but i didnt know if a little bit of beer would hurt her or not.
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~Snake Charmer~
0.1 russian tortoise (natasha)
3.1 dogs (church, bandit, willy and tonka)
1.2 cats (taz, squeaky, cami)
0.1 king snake (q aka curly q or queenie)
2.1 'normal' ball pythons (zenith, butters, zahara)and i want more snakes. guess you can say im developing a "reptile addiction"- lol

I had a cal king grab my thumb and work his way down to the end just like they do with a food item.Cold water got him off.
Don't handle mice before you reach into a tank w/o first washing your hands.
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"Wake me when its April"

Doug L

i knew that. i hasnt handled any mice or any rodents before handling her. i had petted the dogs and cats...but i had washed my hands. she tried the palm of my hand first and then she got my pinky. but ill remember cold water. this isnt my first and only snake. but im usually pretty careful with the reptiles- it just happened to be low light and she just happened to be hungry...but shes workin on a fuzzy right this moment. lol
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~Snake Charmer~
0.1 russian tortoise (natasha)
3.1 dogs (church, bandit, willy and tonka)
1.2 cats (taz, squeaky, cami)
0.1 king snake (q aka curly q or queenie)
2.1 'normal' ball pythons (zenith, butters, zahara)and i want more snakes. guess you can say im developing a "reptile addiction"- lol

cool running water usually does the trick, take him to the sink and hose him down, gently, lol!
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Todd Hughes

Yup- it can be a pain to get them off if/when you get bit because they're HUNGRY! (Especially the kings!)

//Todd

LOL, Todd just likes unusual jewelry!
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Todd Hughes

I love those pics! They remind me why I take my Cal king out with gloves after feeding.

She's only bitten me once - I was stupid enough to handle her two hours after feeding her. She released me immediately, so I didn't get any cool pics. Just a little king gnawing on me...-_-
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0.1 Banded California kingsnake - Zorro
1.0 Betta fish - Billy
0.0.3 White Cloud Fish
1.0 RES - Chopstick
0.1 Australian Shepherd - Jet
0.1 Domestic Shorthair Mix Cat - Pirate