Woman "attacked" by burmese

Another 911 call for a snake bite. One of the reasons the "feed outside the cage" philosophy can be a bad idea.
I've attached the photo from the article. No way that snake is 13 feet and 100 pounds.

Attack 'scarier than childbirth'
BY WILLIAM A. WEATHERS | ENQUIRER STAFF WRITER

HAMILTON - Forget "Snakes on a Plane," a movie about deadly snakes being let loose on a passenger jet.

A Hamilton woman has her own story about scary snakes. She was attacked by her 13-foot python.

After the harrowing encounter Tuesday, Dana Puska and her husband, Tarek, have decided to give the snake to someone with more experience handling large reptiles.
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The couple doesn't blame Lacey - a more than 100-pound albino Burmese python - for biting and swallowing Dana Puska's left hand then coiling itself around her arm, refusing to let go.

Four Hamilton firefighters freed Dana Puska from the snake's grasp after her husband called 911.

"It was scarier than childbirth," said Dana Puska, 33, on Wednesday afternoon at the couple's Coralie Avenue home. "I didn't know what it was going to do next."

"She (the snake) was coiled around her arm almost to the elbow," Tarek Puska said. "She (Dana)was trying to remain calm, but at the same time she was screaming. At one point she said, 'She's trying to eat my hand!' "

The snake attacked shortly after the couple fed Lacey three large rats, Tarek Puska said. They had given Lacey time to cool down in the bath tub and were preparing to put her back in her glass pen.

Tarek Puska said he left the bathroom for a minute to wash his hands and heard his wife scream. He ran back and found his wife in the snake's grasp.

The couple submerged Lacey in the cold bath water, hoping it would cause her to loosen her grip, but that didn't work, Tarek Puska said. "Her hand went completely numb and her arm was starting to go numb. I realized we were out-manned and I called 911. Firefighters were here in four or five minutes."

The firefighters were able to pry open the snake's mouth and free the woman's hand. The snake reacted - loosening its grip a bit - and the firefighters were able to free her arm.

"One (of the firefighters) was an experienced snake owner. What are the chances of that?" Tarek Puska said.

Dana Puska was treated at Fort Hamilton Hospital for two deep puncture wounds and several small ones and released. Her bandaged hand was still swollen Wednesday.

It's difficult to know why the snake attacked his wife, Tarek Puska said, but he thinks Lacey was thinking it was still dinnertime. "By coiling around her (Dana), she was definitely in the impression she had food," he said. Pythons kill their prey by coiling around it and squeezing it to death.

Tarek Puska said he did a lot of research before agreeing Sunday to take the snake from a friend who was not able to care for it. "She's not venomous. She's considered a dangerous snake because of her size. It's my favorite type of snake. I think they're beautiful."

Now, he said, he realizes he's not up to the task. "I studied up on handling this snake. I took every precaution we probably could. I don't have the experience," he said. "She deserves more experienced care than I can give."

A Northern Kentucky police officer, who has experience with large snakes, will take the snake , Tarek Puska said.

But the Puskas plan to keep their two other snakes, each of which are 5 feet long.

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If that snake is 13 feet long and 100 pounds, then my 6 week old green burmese *must* be at least 7 feet and 50 pounds.

maybe the "total package" was 13 ft long and 100 lbs (Dana with the attached snake).
and

Dana Puska was treated at Fort Hamilton Hospital for two deep puncture wounds and several small ones and released. Her bandaged hand was still swollen Wednesday

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the two deep puncture wounds must have been from the burms "fangs".

Firefighter must not have been TOO Experienced or he wouldn't have had to "pry open the jaws" he could have used alcahol? I'm not even experienced and I know that lol.

And if that snakes 13 Feet that guy standing next to it is at least 15 feet tall.

Ok, my 14 foot burm got my hand over the weekend and coiled my arm just like this woman. The difference is, I knew how the heck to get her off. If you don't 100% know what you're doing, dont have the damn animal in the first place. I have many snakes, just like alot of the people on this site. There is one thing you always have to remember, if you have snakes, no matter how tame you think they are, they eventually are gonna bite you. It's going to happen. I'm sooooo tired of hearing stories like this!

But the Puskas plan to keep their two other snakes, each of which are 5 feet long.

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Possibly the pic was one of the snakes they are keeping.

No way the 1 in the pic is 100lbs.

INSANE CANES LLC said:

Possibly the pic was one of the snakes they are keeping.

No way the 1 in the pic is 100lbs.

Click to expand...

I suppose it is possible, but the caption underneath the picture in the article said it was the man posing beside Lacey, the snake that bit her. The exact quote of the caption was:

Tarek Puska of Hamilton with Lacey, the 4-year-old 13-foot-long python that coiled itself around his wife, Dana's, arm and wouldn't let go. They are going to give up taking care of the snake.

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It's still a burmese in the photo either way, so if it is not Lacey then they're still going to have to deal with a big burm again one day soon and if they cant' handle one now what are they going to do then?

Thats a cute little snake

Oh yeah... why didnt they put warm water on the snake if it coiled on her?

We can hope although unlikely that they will be a bit wiser in the future. I always just thought it was smart to carry a spray bottle with vinegar anytime you handle a large snake.

They had given Lacey time to cool down in the bath tub and were preparing to put her back in her glass pen.

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Why didnt they just turn on the hot water?? She probably would've gone ahead and let go hrrrmmm.

INSANE CANES LLC said:

Possibly the pic was one of the snakes they are keeping.

No way the 1 in the pic is 100lbs.

Click to expand...

Or 13 ft for that matter hahaha. Heck I wanna know who's measuring. see if they could quickly make my 4 ft boa 28 ft

Hey copy cat!!! >.<

Copy cat??

Warm water usually works to make them release...

Did anyone see the show on Animal Planet a few weeks ago, about large snakes? I think it was called "The Big Squeeze"? At the end of the show, they went over 3 ways to get a large snake to release:
1) pour water on it (I can't remember if they mentioned a temp?)
2) pour alcohol down its mouth
3) take the tip of its tail and bend it backwards
It has been many years since I've worked with large snakes, and I've never been in a situation like that (thank God!), so I've never had to try any of these things. The first two sound logical to me, but the last one (bending the tail) - does that work?
-Ron

my guess is that the basic idea is something along the lines of 'cause it enough pain, and it will let go'. Not a theory I would want to bet my life on, lol

I did see that show. I believe at the end of it they even demonstrated the tail bending thing. one of the guys who had Worked with large snake for a number of years was bitten and had read in a book that bending their tail back would cause them to let go. When he was attacked that was what he tried and he said it worked and that was what saved him. I think it was a rock python that grabbed him.

I've only been constricted once in a feeding bite and it was from a ball python. Being in no immediate danger, I wasn't in a real hurry to remove it and that allowed me to try a few things. I put him under both warm and cold water, submerged him under water for several minutes, and poured alcohol (grain, not rubbing) into his mouth. None of that had any effect whatsoever. I had been told grain alcohol would do it and was surprised when he ignored it completely.
After around 30 minutes of being constricted my fingers were losing feeling so I unwound him from my arm and worked his teeth loose without hurting him.
The lesson I got from that experience was don't believe everything you hear about getting a snake off you.

I was an observer once to a conversation where the keeper of a large burm was asked what he would do if he were constricted. His answer was "break its tail". I was appalled by the suggestion, but I will admit if it looks like that's what it will take to survive, I'd do it in a second. Even so I'd still have a backup plan and not depend on that as my only means of dealing with the situation.

I don't personally keep anything larger than boa constrictors, but knowing the strength of an 8 foot boa and the difficulty of controlling it when it wants to move somewhere else, I could imagine how hard it would be to fight a 15-20 foot burm or retic, not something I want to do.
Even though virtually all of such situations can be traced to keeper error, I wouldn't hesitate to kill the snake if that was the only option to save myself or someone else, and when you're wrapped up like that options run out quickly.

Ya know, when I heard the "water thing" I thought that in theory it wouldn't work; most snakes don't mind the water, and can hold their breath for quite some time. But I did think that the "tail thing" might be valid. I'm remember when I had snakes, I found that they moved forward at a faster pace if I just gently put pressure on the end of their tails. So I thought the tail bending might be along the same lines. Maybe manipulating their tail sends a signal to the brain telling the animal to move forward? Maybe it would "over-ride" the instinct to hold onto prey?
I don't know - that's just my 2 cents......
-Ron

That seems to make sense but I still wouldnt want to hurt my pet...
(If it came between me and him though... )

I love my snakes but if it is between them and me love is NOT and option. It's a done deal. All in all anything over 9 ft you should really have another person present anytime handling is required feeding/cleaning/enjoying your snake wrapping around your neck to choke the life out of you j/k whatever.