Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hi all. Back before easter, we bought a baby desert phase cal king. Its a real beauty and an awesome little snake. The thing is, he is a little monster. He bites and contricts our hands all of the time. He's very well fed, but still wants to eat us. Its not a defensive thing at all. I've had baby carpet pythons that strike at anything that moves...but this is not like that. My wife got him out last night, he crawled around for a minute or so, the out of the blue latched on to her thumb and didn't let go for 10 minutes. When he finally let go, he did the same to me. I took it, and 30 seconds later he latched on for a good 5 minutes or so, coiling aounr my hand and constricting me. The snake ate 2 large pinkies just the day before so I know he's not hungry (he's just a little fellow).

I've been keeping and breeding all kinds of snakes for the last 10 years or so, and I've been bitten many times. I've been bitten during feeding "accidents", I've been bitten when I startled a nervous carpet, I've been bitten by all kinds of babies who were defending themselves from me, but I've never had one do this. I keep reassuring my wife that he will grow out of it, but I'm beginning to wonder

This snake eats 2 to 3 times a week, and is handled breifly just about every day (and bites us just about every day). What gives? Is this typical baby Cal King behavior? Will he out grow it before hes big enough to break the skin? Is there something we should do? Again, its not a defensive thing, he seems quite comfortable being handled, and its not a hunger thing. Help????

Thanks, Joe

Although this may seem bizarre behavior to you, many of us that have kept many Cal kings will tell you otherwise: it is not all that uncommon in the young. Be glad - you have a great snake. It will likely lose that behavior in another year or so, but keep in mind that if your hands give off a scent that this snake seems to associate with food, well..
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Mark

you could try washing your hands with soap before handling him (make sure to rinse well) but the smell of dial or ivory may turn him off the biting.

Well, we always wash our hands, and it doesn't seem to matter. In fact, right now we're using "irish spring". LOL Anbout how long does it take for them to get the biting "out of their system"? Thanks!

So it's not just me! I have an Eastern Chain King that has done the exact same thing from day one. It almost seems like a game to her. The bad news is she's now over 3 feet and hasn't stopped. Most of the time I'm a little quicker than her but Sunday she won.:> Right palm, left index, right pinkie. A dab of Neosporin and 1 bandaid. She's worth it though