Reptile & Amphibian Forums

My kingsnake has recently picked up the naughty habit of trying to make snacks out of my fingers. For three months I've had him he has been one of the most calm/tame snakes I've ever experienced, never laying a fang on me. So this recent habit seems rather unusual.

Last week he is slithering around my hand as usual, and all of a sudden he chomps down on my middle finger and refuses to release until I run cold water from the sink on him. Then again today he tries to make a meal out of one of my fingers, first tasting it with his tongue, then pushing his nose against it before biting down as if it were one of his fuzzies.

Like I said, for three months I'd never received a bite from this snake, and the fact that he is all of a sudden trying to make meals out of my fingers is disturbing. Though the bites are pretty much painless, it has psychologically made me nervous about handling him.

Anyone know why a snake would all of a sudden start trying to eat fingers? Is there any way to prevent bites of this sort? I'd really like to nip this behavior in the bud

-Jabbano

i have a amel corn snake that did the same thing. only she wouldn't hang on. someone told me there could be a scent on my hands that she liked so though she would try to eat me. i washed my hands real well befor handling her. it's been a few months now and she is bigger so she hasn't tried to 'taste' me lately.
another thought is how often are you feeding yours? i think i fed my corn like every 5-6 days and that seemed to curb her appatite for human fingers.

I've only been feeding every 8-10 days, maybe more mice would stem his appatite for fingers

yes, i would try to feed more often.

i use hand sanitizer before and after handleing and my king knows the sent so she dosnt try to bite