Bite Club

More notable bites....

Once (and never again) I bought ten "bush baby" ball pythons. When they arrived I pulled them tick/mite ridden and everything out of the bag one at a time to put them in their separate enclosures. I got to snake #9, pulled her out, she took one look around the room and WHAM.... Bit me right on the nose... i had a perfect snakey dental impression on both sides of my nose.... bled like anything too!

Another time I was feeding the classroom pets (I'm a school teacher) and I pulled out one of my pair of corns to feed in a separate enclosure. I guess she was hungry, she opened her mouth and proceeded to try to eat my thumb in front of a class full of students. Now the students won't hold the snakes if they are "hungry".

Most the bites I get are from little hatchlings.. I can't help but think: "You're a little worm!" but they are so cute when they are that little and trying to scare you and impress you with how tough they are. I used to have one Apalachicola Kingsnake who would bite every time I opened the cage. He was convinced I was a mouse, no telling him different. For him I kept a bottle of rubbing alcohol near his cage. If he nabbed me I would soak a cotton ball in the alcohol and put that right near his mouth so the fumes would waft into his mouth... he always let go. When in doubt about the meanness of a snake, I keep alcohol around... gets them to let go.

Funny thing about the Apalachicola bites (I get this from the daughter of the one mean guy... who passed on)... they always cause a skin reaction... gets all red and itchy for about two hours. Must be something in their saliva I'm allergic to!

For about 2 years I have been caring for my own snakes and I have been bitten by 4 species. I would have to say that the worst was a sub-adult Blood Python. When they bight, they bight. I have a baby anery honduran milk that loves to bight. He will bight my hand 2-3 times and be done. Once in High School I was incharge of a sub-adult red tail Boa. This guy was probably about 4 to 5 feet and had a bad attitude. I had to pull him out of his cage to clean it. We where out of hooks at the time so I used my hands. He showed no interest in me so I didnt hold his head. There was a girl talking to me at the time. All the sudden her eyes opened really wide, my first instenct was to look down. Right as my eyes caught him, he was in the middle of coiling his neck to strike. Next thing I know I have this snake attached to my arm that looked kinda like a huge bracelet. I finally got him off and put him back in the cage. For several weeks I had teeth marks on boths sides of my arm. After I got him in his cage I walked up to my teacher with blood dripping down my arm and declaired him a waste of time. Now I know that it is just in their nature and I have to watch them and read them. Just cause i am bigger dosnt meen they cant hurt me. I never messed with that snake again, but that dosnt stop me from getting bitten. No its no big deal, ill heal and it usually dosnt hurt.

Bight Club, count me in!

Been bit by plated lizards garter snakes green tree python(adult and it hurt quite a bit. ) leopard geckos, prehensile tailed skink and a 5 foot gopher snake. Oh and a Tokay gecko.

Bitten by my mean Biak on a few occasions.

All I have to say is it is a good thing the majority of you do not keep venomous....LOL

Yea, Ive been reading alot latley about some mental midgets in the mid-west who got too close to their Rhino Viper, Cobra, Bushmaster, etc...and wound up dead or with a $20,000.00 medical bill. To each his own.

I actually do keep venomous, as I think you were aware Gregg... Totally different ball game though and completely different set of handling standards.

While I do not encourage bites from nonvenomous species, I by and large don't mind if they occur and have more concern for the health of the herp's teeth than my own skin. The "threat" of a bite is not going to dissuade me from whatever handling I need to do in order to ensure an animal is healthy, clean and well cared for. Thus... bites.

With the hots, one needs to have a respect for the capabilities of the animals (as I know you know, but for the general audience that may be reading) and take steps to ensure that any handling which needs to be done is done in a safe and appropriate manner. Bites from venomous snakes are a potential reality for anyone choosing to keep them but having a proper understanding of the animal and maintaining safe handling practices will help ensure that such envenomations are not frequent and that they are handled appropriately when and if they do happen.

I have been bitten by lots of wild garter snakes and a baby sand boa. At least the baby sand boa I think was trying to bite me. The worst was when I was jumping off a tire swing into a pond as a kid. I climbed out of the pond when my older brother informed me my foot was bleeding. I looked down and all I saw was blood all over. After many stitches on the top of my foot and side of my foot the doctor speculated it was from a snapping turtle. This is because on the top of my foot the cut was like a candy cane shape (or beak looking) and a straight cut on the inside of my foot. He didn't see how glass or a stick could have done that. I don't remember feeling it when it happened I think the nerves were cut right away. So anyway I think in the muddy water the turtle thought it was a fish and took a bite of half my foot then realized it was bigger than it thought and let go. Since it healed I have a lump on the top of my foot which is usefull for kicking footballs barefooted as long as i don't hit it just right, then it just stings bad. Other than that I've been pretty lucky.

I had a bearded dragon try to eat my finger a few days ago. Funny how that did not concern me at all as it was chewing away on my fingertip, because if a snake did that I would just about pee myself. Still cannot firgure out what it is about the snake thing, heck I have kept up to at least 50 of them at once, and handle them fairly frequently, but if one tries to bite me, even a baby, I yank back so fast you can feel the wind in Kansas...

Yeah, I was just Joking and being a smart arse again Seamus.....LOL..... How have you been man???? Dont see you around the forums too much.....