Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Tell me about the bite of an adult and/or young adult mexican black king (or kingsnake in general if they are all similar). I have a pair of 9mos old Mex Blacks and the male bites everytime(feeding response). Knowing this I use thin gloves for him to grab onto while I go about my cage maintenance. I'm curious as to whether it would break the skin, but I just can't seem to allow any snake to bite me on purpose. For one thing, he doesn't let go until I douse him with cold water and then it's onto the next finger.

Any pics of being bitten would be a bonus!

Jeff

One thing to always keep in mind with a snake that small is that you can harm it much worse than it can harm you. I tell people that going through the brier patch to catch the snake is far more painful than catching the snake. One that small will barely break skin and will bleed very little. Nothing a little soap and water can't handle.

Just make sure to NEVER jerk away if he does bite you. You risk injuring him and ripping your flesh more so than a clean bite. I know that is hard to do because of natural reflex but with time you can train yourself.

I figured the bite from a young one would be negligible, but what about a full grown adult?

Adult bites can be rather nasty, but in my experience 99% of all kings calm down to the point that if they bite you as adults it is accidental. I wouldn't stress over it because even an adults bite is far less painful than you might imagine. It may bleed considerably, but the pain is minimal. Now if you get a scrub python or retic then it'll be a different story...lol.

Hey Jeff! Perfect timing for a post like this! I just took an awesome shot of my Albino Striped Cal. King biting me today. Oh, and I have a full grown breeding pair of Mexican Black kings, and HAVE been bitten. As with all kingsnakes, it's not REALLY painfull (compaired to the pythons and boas I've been bitten by) but unlike boids, they're a real pain in the neck to get off! The reason is because they are not mistaking your hand for a predator, but instead, for a food item.

When I clean my kingsnake cages I always put the lid of the cage (the top of the large shoe box) in front of their heads so that they can't bite me. Than I pick up the back half of the snake and put them in a tub before they get a chance to bite me.

Check out the Post from "Nay" that I'm about to post. You're gonna like it!

Nathan

Also make sure that you don't have a routine of everytime the cage opens, he's being fed. With me, I hold mine just about every day, so their not geared up to think I'm only feeding them as I enter the enclosure. Sometimes, I also have my daughter hold them as I place a mouse in the cage, then place the snake back. These Kings are smart. I have to keep them off balance, LOL

Steve

Like already said, this post could not have come at a better time!lol... I was about to post about my Cal king biting me and not letting go, but it appears you beat me to it!

Is that the right thing to do (douse the snake with cold water) if the snake won't let go?

...I'm worried about being bitten, only curious. I've been tagged by a few boas (2-3ft) in the past and they didn't hurt. I guess I have some type of morbid curiosity about the subject. What really impressed me about the mexican black was the strength for it's size. It feels as though their muscle is stronger pound for pound then say a boa or ball python. Just an observation.

Check out this post from the blood forum. Now this is something I would certainly like to avoid! These snakes are aptly named.

http://forums.kingsnake.com/view.php?id=769252,770156

take care
jeff

Well, I have an otherwise lovely 4 ft long Cal king who believes that warm moving thing = mouse. Needless to say I've been chomped. She breaks through the skin, but because her teeth are so sharp and her strike so leisurely, the only damage done is from her tiny little teeth. I've heard that with some boas and pythons there's also the impact of the strike that bruises, but not with her.
To make her let go, I tried cold water once, (she did all she could to drag my finger out of the water which wasn't pleasant and she sure didn't like it) so now I just have a labeled spritz bottle full of white vinegar. I feel it's safer than alcohol and doesn't upset her like the water did.
Odd part is, when I put her back in her cage, she crawls around agitated that the mean human took away that nice pink mouse!
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0.1 chickens (Condor)
0.2 dog mutts (half ownership, only mine when they misbehave, Lucy & Amy)
0.1 Halflinger horse (Crissy)
0.1 Normal phase California Kingsnake (Sophia)
1.1 parents
Still searching for 1.0 WC human