Reptile & Amphibian Forums

What steps should i take in the event that my snake ever bites me? Is there a certain soap to use? What kind of ointment is best? Is a trip to the doctors needed? Any advice would be greatly appreciated. thank you.

All snakes can bite and if you work with them often enough, you will be bitten. A bite from a ball python is nothing to worry about. No doctor visit or special ointment is needed. Clean it up with soapy water and bandage if necessary. A bite from a large snake is another story. Large retics can cause serious wounds. Don't worry about the snake bite from a ball. You should be able to tell from the snakes posture if it is going to bite. Hope that this helps

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Take Care
David
My Email
www.prehistoricpets.com

I took one awesome hit from a pretty big female ball that coiled around my hand and would not let go. Warm water does get them off very well by the way...pulling does not and they will bite down hard afterwards. Anyway. It was late and I was bored so I decided since I my insurance would fully cover this I would take a trip to the hospital with my friend after my hand was very bruised and swollen and get an x-ray to or something where i could see all the dmage done to my hand. I thought this would be neat to show people and be interesting field research and kind of fun. I just needed to sound like I was worried about something..so I said I was afraid of infection and I thought maybe a tooth was stuck in my hand. The doc said he didn't think there was anything and I did not need any x-rays. He gave me a handout on what to do when bitten by a non-venomous snake and he sent me away with a HUGE bill and some antibiotics to take to fight bacteria that the snake could have had. I threw away the pills and it was a huge pain to deal with insurance. I also have a dumb snake bite on record and my dumb small talk about snakes with the nurse was all written down and on my file. STUPID STUPID idea on my part and nothing was gained. If you get bitten by a ball python..wipe off the blood and go to bed...don't tell anyone.

Thanks for the advice. The question was more for my dad. hes going to be taking over the care of my snake while i go to college and he is a little worried about getting bit. my snake is real calm so i had never even thought about what to do incase of a bite. my dad thinks otherwise though. thanks again.