Bite Club

ive been dealing with snakes for some time now and the only time i ever got bit was by my baby 2ft green anaconda. i was just holding her in my hand like i always do and the very next thing i know i have a hicky on my neck.and i even think i liked it :-) i know im sick but i just can't wait for my verynext bite :-)

Bites from little anacondas are cute... Bites from big anacondas are pretty nasty and no fun at all.

With the little guys, it's been my experience that slightly over half the time if they bite, they hold on and constrict. Maybe five percent of the time, they'll also try and eat you if they nailed you someplace that they can get their mouth around... It's amusing to watch a neonate try to wrestle your finger into submission before consuming you.

I had a yellow anaconda bite me on the elbow once. He was being kept in a rack system, just a little tiny guy and I had his bin open, reached across it while it was open to grab a paper towel and he nailed me on the loose elastic skin on the back of my elbow, wrapped it up (pulled all the skin he could into his coils) and then started trying to finish me off and make a meal out of me, while hanging on, suspended by nothing other than his own teeth.

And... nothing personal here but... I have some hesitation when someone says that the first bite they ever got was from their baby green anaconda. 'condas aren't something which should be taken lightly or purchased hastily. While being bitten isn't an exact marker of how long you've been dealing with herps, I'd tend to think that most people who are really ready for responsible anaconda ownership have had a few things tag them long before they even considered the purchase. The fact that you held it within striking range of your neck says a few things too... I may be way off base here, but I urge you to consider the amount of experience and dedication that particular species needs to be kept healthy and safe... and in a manner which is truly safe for those around it. The phrase "holding her in my hand like I always do" doesn't fill me with confidence either.

Seamus, you are great with words!! I always look forward to you getting in on a new thread!! You make us laugh you make us cry and I have a very close friend of mine that may be your long lost twin brother (except he's 6' 6") but he also "unleashes" an attack mode in everything he gets close to!! It kills me!!! It never fails, he'll come over and see my collection every now & again, and I may have something for 2-3 yrs with not even a strike, he'll pick it up, and before he can even calmly ask me "does it bite??" BAM!! It bites!! The first 30 or 40 times I was unprepared and borderline panicked, but now I fully expect it and even start laughing hysterically to myself when I knowingly had him an animal that is going to rip his face off, nobody how big or small!! He knows it...I know it...the animal knows it!!

Our conversation usually goes something like this:
Me: Hey man!!
Him: Hey!!! Got any new stuff??? Can I check them out??
Me: Sure!! This is a newt.
Him: A what?? Does he...OWWWWWWWWW, S**T!!!!!!! Get this thing off of me!!!!! HELP!!!!
Me: Are you alright??
Him: Yea, man...what else ya got???
Me: Well, here's a thawed pinkie mouse...

I know I probably get bit enough to support about half the registered members of fauna, but c'mon! Some of the rest of you have to have stories which involve bleeding...

Let's hear 'em.

I have been working with snakes for about 4 yrs now and have only been tagged once. It was by a nice big black pine snake that nailed me on the back of the hand and just happened to hit a small vein. I thought the bleeding would never stop. He was in the care room being treated with some anti-biotics. I was cleaning his cage and wham, I didn't even see it coming. Usually I can just about tell when they are going to try a hit, but this one caught me totally by surprise. I count myself very luck that this is the only hit I have taken in the 4 yrs I have been working with snakes. I'm sure there will be more in the future.

All my bites are my own dumb fault. For example, I have a 2/3 grown (6 foot) Taiwan beauty. I sort of assumed his feeding response was along the lines of an NA ratsnake, and I could feed him in the tank. Well, he's either much hungrier or much dumber than the NA ratsnakes I'm used to. He soon associated seeing me with being fed and strikes his tank to try and get to me when I walk by. He's tried to eat my forearm twice, resulting in lots of nasty looking but relatively shallow cuts. But if we can get him out of his tank, he's a sweet little ratsnake.
Most of my other bites result from the fact that sand boas don't like being picked up by the head, which tragically resembles their tails very closely.
I also have a scar on my thumb from a sheltopusik I was handling at a pet store. I think it was trying to nip me, and then the pet store guy pulled him away and it turned into this sort of death roll thing. My husband, who is more careful about this sort of thing, complained that he never gets bitten by anything cool.
Oh yeah, and my Timor monitor got spooked once and punched a hole in my thumbnail. That was my most painful herp experience so far. I thank him for giving me a healthy respect for large lizards.

Erin B.

Originally posted by screamdreams
Our conversation usually goes something like this:
Me: Hey man!!
Him: Hey!!! Got any new stuff??? Can I check them out??
Me: Sure!! This is a newt.
Him: A what?? Does he...OWWWWWWWWW, S**T!!!!!!! Get this thing off of me!!!!! HELP!!!!
Me: Are you alright??
Him: Yea, man...what else ya got???
Me: Well, here's a thawed pinkie mouse...

think that's the funniest thing I've ever read

Not sure which was the most painful. Most don't seem to hurt for long. So far I have been bitten several times by most of my aboreals, a few times by large constrictors(burms and retics), been bitten by several small lizards (beardeds, leos, and velvet geckos) and only once just ticked by my temple viper. Do I qualify to join the club? In thinking about I would have to say the ETB got me the best. Darn they have long teeth.

Bitten by red tegu, bearded dragon, 8ft. red tail boa, tokay gecko, cottonmouth, red ear turtle, iguana, many lizards all expected or my fault except cottonmouth he was in my minnow bucket. The red tegu was a learning experience just because a reptile has never bitten doesn’t mean it wont. Insanity is doing the same thing over and over expecting to get different results.

I was bitten once by a baby JCP that I had brought home only days earlier, it was kind of cute. The only other bites I have received were by a new Savanna Monitor that was still in the taming process. He has since calmed down and even my nine-year-old daughter sticks her hand in the cage to pick him up.

Raff