• Hello!

    Either you have not registered on this site yet, or you are registered but have not logged in. In either case, you will not be able to use the full functionality of this site until you have registered, and then logged in after your registration has been approved.

    Registration is FREE, so please register so you can participate instead of remaining a lurker....

    Please be certain that the location field is correctly filled out when you register. All registrations that appear to be bogus will be rejected. Which means that if your location field does NOT match the actual location of your registration IP address, then your registration will be rejected.

    Sorry about the strictness of this requirement, but it is necessary to block spammers and scammers at the door as much as possible.

Snake bites

A

anadyne

New member
Little J is my first snake & I'm usually really comfortable holding him, letting him play in my hair and crawl up my sleeve sometimes, but I have to admit I've been super nervous about being bitten. I know nothing terrible will happen if he bites and it won't hurt much, his mouth is teeny, but... I startle very easily and I think the surprise of being bitten would be the thing that freaks me out. I almost wish he'd bite me already so I could just get it over with and see how it feels and stop worrying.

So. Do some corn snakes bite out of the blue, or do you know early on if your snake is bitey?

Does it hurt much?

Do they latch on, like pythons, or do they strike and release? (I saw my friend bitten by her python and it took 30 minutes to release the teeth without damage)

I know this is probably a ridiculous question, but information always makes me calmer.
 
Your snake could bite for two reasons.

Scared. This bite would feel like Velcro touching you. _Maybe_ you'd see tiny teethmarks. You're right- it's very startling. Be careful not to pull your hand away and accidentally fling the baby. If it happens at all, it would be when you first pick the snake up. If he hasn't done it yet, he probably isn't going to.

Hungry. If it's close to feeding day, or if it's feeding day and you're getting your snake out after you've handled mice, you might get a hunger bite. The snake will nose around on your hand and may even, in a very deliberate manner, start to try to eat you. Gently try to get him to let go, or run him under cold water (don't drown him!) or distract him with his thawed meal. He will eventually realize he can't swallow you and let go. If you think fast, you can get a picture of him trying to eat you. It's pretty funny.
 
I don't think that's a silly concern at all. I've never been bitten myself, but have read that the most damage from a bite, to you & the snake, is from jerking back when you are bitten. So I always have to steel myself not to jerk if it does happen anytime I'm handling one of my snakes in a situation where there is a fair chance of them biting. I've also read that if a corn bites, it almost always lets go pretty fast, but if it doesn't you should go to a sink & run cold water over it's head. Maybe someone who has been bitten before will have something more to add.
 
My one corn Jaxson will bite every now and then just because and yes it scares me more than hurts me though he does this pretty infrequently and none of my other corns have ever bit me. He strike bites sometimes actually just head butting my finger and not actually biting me and has never done any real damage so I wouldn't worry too much about it. My geckos have done far more damage:)
 
So true! I'd much rather be bitten by one of my corns or even my BP(which I have been) before I'd EVER want to be bitten by my big beardie.
 
My jones armadillo lizard was a vicious biter, but she only caught me once. My cornsnake hasn't bitten me at all so far. I don't handle his food directly and I use chopsticks to feed him. He does headbutt me sometimes which is just as startling. Usually when I wake him...not a morning snake at all. He'll go in a defensive strike position looking more annoyed than scared and bop my finger with his head.
 
I have to agree, thinking of all the other things that have bitten me really helps calm my nerves when I think of that little snake biting me. Being bitten by a box turtle was probably the worst, but my Cockatiel likes to try really hard to pierce your ears when he sits on your shoulder & he's not even being mean when he does that, he's just playing.
 
I found some great pictures here of a baby trying to eat a finger - it really was cute! If it weren't for the surprise factor I don't think I'd be as nervous...
 
One of my baby corn bited me once, I haven't felt anything. I was looking him and was thinking: what are you trying to do?! It was funny. I have to admit I'm a bit scared by my adult corn but she haven't bited me yet so..haha
 
My baby has bitten me only once. I picked her out, brought her home, and while trying to take her out of the carrier to put her in her new tank, she struck at me. I jumped in shock, but had to laugh too. Such a tiny little thing attacking me! I didn't feel a thing. She has not offered to even try to bite me again.

My ball python on the other hand. I know where you are coming from wishing it would just happen and get it over with. She is super sweet and loves to be held (she likes to be a bracelet, staying coiled around my wrist while I'm typing), but every now and then she gets jumpy after eating and she acts like she is going to bite. I really wish she would just do it so I could stop being nervous about it!

Of course, nothing could be worse then the bite I got from a cat once. I like cats, don't get me wrong, but this one was horrid! It bit me on the hand between my thumb and index finger and chomped almost clean through! Good thing I had just had my shots updated a few weeks before.

Kachine Kolgon
 
I used to work in a reptile shop so I took a few bites there. The little guys don't really hurt, it's just a little prickly feeling. My 5'6" rainbow boa....that hurt a bit, though it scared me more than it hurt and she wasn't very serious about it.

The most painful bite I ever got was from a big.....frog. -_- An enormous Pac Man who went for me and got me while I was being an idiot. It wouldn't have been so bad except the darn thing would. not. let. go! So I dribbled some vinegar in his mouth and he dropped me, getting vinegar into all the tooth marks in my fingers.
 
Well, I went to a pet shop to look at their corns yesterday, and every one of the babies was bitey! Every single one rattled, tensed and coiled like a cobra and struck repeatedly. Even though they were TEENY things, I still jerked my hand out. I'm not even afraid, I'm just so easily startled, it's ridiculous. Grrr.
 
anadyne said:
Even though they were TEENY things, I still jerked my hand out. I'm not even afraid, I'm just so easily startled, it's ridiculous. Grrr.
Click to expand...

Its human nature to get startled even if your not scared :p no matter how brave you are, the body says danger and you run away without controlling it.

That's why most people you come across are scared of snakes. It isn't because they are chicken. It's because they are listening to there instincts. Snake = Danger. People that keep snakes and other reptiles, choose to ignore those instincts. Just some random thoughts...
 
I'm assuming our snake is a small one? Just a baby. I've been bit by one of my smaller ones and it feels almost like nothing. I seriously didn't even know she was biting me, just felt and itch and then looked at my hand. 'Oh, you're biting me, silly little thing'

When you actually do get bit from a larger one, more than likely you will have an immediate adrenaline release which will help to dull the pain...it will be more of a shock.
 
I intentionally let my hatchling bite my finger just to see what it would be like. I was handling him and noticed that he was taking a keen interest in my fingertips. So I put my index finger right in front of him and he latched on. It did not hurt by any stretch of the imagination. I'm sure if it bit a baby and the baby didn't freak out, they wouldn't bat an eye. (Not that I recommend letting your snake bite babies.....). It's hard to describe, it's just a very gentle squeeze.
 
My anery gave me a nose bump last night while I scraped the poop out of her tank. She's never been anything but sweet and I thought she was just coming for a coil. It surprised me, so I tried to pick her up; but that freaked her out even more. She shot out of my hand like a snake missle and went airborn. I cought her, then she zipped up my arm like she was making a lung for my face. After that I decided she won and put her back.
 
I have been bitten once, by a baby, but in his defense, I was popping him, and if someone was pushing on me down there, then I might bite them too. it didn't hurt at all, it was more like a mosquito.
 
None of mine have ever Bitten me. I have 4 now. But even as a child with 7 or the 5th one i had a while back that passed away along with two of my mice... He never bit me either though he was fiesty. Loved to play with his food.

Mine tend to get curious on feeding days, but they figured out im not the food, its in their boxes and just wait impatiently to get picked up and put in them so they can eat lol.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top