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Why won't he stop trying eat me?

questionableintent

questionableintent

New member
I handle my baby snake about 3-4 days a week, and the rest of the time I'm letting him digest his meals. He's usually awesome, not one bit aggressive, and just likes to cruise around all over me. But sometimes (I think four times so far), he will try to take a bite out of me, only on the palm or between my fingers. I know he's not striking because he will rub his nose around for a few seconds beforehand and then slowly open his mouth and slowly clamp down. So my first question is, why is he doing this? I always always wash my hands before handling him, and this happens even on the first day of handling after I've let him digest. Secondly, should I just let him? I usually watch him very closely, and as soon as I notice him opening his mouth, I try to reposition him, but he'll just do it again in a different spot, so I end up putting him away. Is this teaching him that "try to eat Sam time" means "I get to go back in the viv time"?

Not sure what to do about this one! :shrugs:
 
I wouldnt put him away immediately, as that might condition your snake to try and eat you in order to be put away. You are right about that.

I dont know what to tell you about the behavior. I will leave that to the more experienced members.
 
Ooo. Thats a hard one. I really dont know what to tell you. Maby he is doing that to get back in his tank. I have heard that a snake bites its owner because it doesnt want to be held, and so the owner leaves it be. Then when the owner tries to hold the snake again, the snake bites the owner because it thinks that biting will get the owner away. Probably is just stressed and wants to get back in its tank? Not so sure about this one. Hope soemone else can give you better info. Sorry.
 
I've had him for a month now, and like I said, I handle him about 3-4 times a week, and so he's not doing this ALL the time, and the incidences have been spread out .. most other times he lets me handle him without a care. I just don't understand why the random acts of rebellion :p
 
maybe you taste good?? lol

But really maybe it's something in the soap you use to wash your hands that the snake finds appealing? So maybe switching soap type/sent could help? I'm not too sure.......:shrugs:
 
Could be the soap smell. Also, he could be scaring himself when he smells your hand, and biting the obstacle in front of him, which is you.

Point is, don't put him away when he does it. Corn bites don't hurt until they're around a year old.
 
It doesn't sound like it's a behavior caused by fear or stress or simply trying to get back in the viv. Snakes aren't that smart. It is a definite feeding response where your snake literally thinks that you smell like food. Snakes are opportunistic feeders, eating when they find food, no matter if they are truly hungry or not. There is some scent on your hands that the soap isn't removing (after I clean my rodent colony, it takes several washings and a soaking in bleach, then the addition of a scented hand lotion for my hands to not smell like mouse) and your snake is picking it up which is triggering the feeding response. You need to determine what you have been doing prior to those times to stop the behavior.
 
Does your baby snake think you are a dentist?
Or is your baby snake teething?
Maybe your baby snake is pretending to be an anaconda?
 
Susan said:
It doesn't sound like it's a behavior caused by fear or stress or simply trying to get back in the viv. Snakes aren't that smart. It is a definite feeding response where your snake literally thinks that you smell like food. Snakes are opportunistic feeders, eating when they find food, no matter if they are truly hungry or not. There is some scent on your hands that the soap isn't removing (after I clean my rodent colony, it takes several washings and a soaking in bleach, then the addition of a scented hand lotion for my hands to not smell like mouse) and your snake is picking it up which is triggering the feeding response. You need to determine what you have been doing prior to those times to stop the behavior.
Click to expand...

I agree with what Susan is saying. When KT had her Crested Gecko and I'd handle him before handling snakes, I'd wash, but somehow they'd find the one spot and get me. Try washing your hands, then liberally apply some antibiotic hand sanitizer, let it dry, then try handling your snake...
 
What you're describing in the biting senario sounds like what my Motley
does. He's the youngest of the snakes I have, he exhibits the strangest
of the three's feeding habits. With the Wild Caught, and the Anery, I put
them in separate containers from their cages, and use a pair of extra long
Tweezers to feed them, making sure my hand is well outside the container
so they don't smell me before they smell the food. I let them strike at it,
and then if they don't grab it with the strike, I lay it in front of them and
let them take it. . . . the wild caught doesn't usually miss, and still
coils and constricts the F/T mouse.
With the Motley though, he will not strike at the pinky at all. Hasn't since
the day I brought him home. He backs away from it when I hold it in front
of him, and tries to get away. I basically have to lay it in the container, and
move away. Within a few minutes, he'll crawl over, rub his nose against it,
and then keep moving around it, pressing his nose against it, until he finds
just the right spot. He opens his mouth wide and bites it, then works it
around until he's at one end or the other, and then swallows it.

I agree with the ones here who say it has to be some kind of feeding
response, and either the soap or you're using smells very similar to some
kind of food he likes (lizard, frog, mouse, even eggs etc. . . ) or he has
somehow associated your hand with feeding (unsure).
 
Funny Story to share along these lines:

Last summer, my 6 year old Grandson came to visit us for the weekend
and he loves holding my snakes now that he's gotten used to them. He
was down this particular weekend, and wanted to hold my large Wild
Caught Corn, so I took her out, and told him I needed to take her outside
anyway. . . . I sat her on the ground and let her crawl around for a while
and after 30-45 minutes, I told Brandon to go pick her up and then I was
going to put her back in the Viv. . . .He's held her before with no problems
at all, and he walked over and bent down to get her, but as soon as he
put his hand on her, she turned around and struck at him ! . . . I walked
over and picked her up with no incident. I sat her back on the ground and
told my Grandson not to be slow in picking her up, just reach down and
get her off the ground. He bent down to pick her up, but like the first
attempt, she snapped at him again. I finally got her up and back in the
cage myself, and was puzzled at her behavior until I noticed that my
Grandson was coming from the living room with my wife's Bearded Dragon.
I asked my wife if Brandon had asked for permission to get it out of the
cage, and she told me he had been walking around with it all morning long
anyway, so she didn't really mind !! . . . that's when it dawned on me that
my Corn had probably smelled the Bearded on him and caused the reaction
when he tried to pick it up. That night after Brandon had taken a bath
and changed for bed, I got the snake out and let him hold her and there was
not further biting incidents.
 
I have a snake, Cherry. She is my trustworthy ambassador snake. Every non-snake-loving person gets to meet and hold her. If someone loves snakes, she is all over them! She's excellent with children. She _loves_ to come out! So I had a couple friends over to see the snakes. Not snake people, but not snake haters, either. I proudly get Cherry out, who proceeds to strike my hand (hard enough to bruise it!) and throw several coils around me and squeeze with all her might! I don't know what set her off. She's been very hungry this spring. They just aren't the smartest creatures in the world...
 
Isn't there a song about biting the hand that feeds you? You all weren't playing that song for them before handling them were you?
 
Thanks for all the stories guys!

Nanci, that is very funny, it's amazing how hard they can squeeze you when they think you're a meal!! The first time it happened, I was so surprised that this tiny thing the width of my pinky finger could be wrapped around me so tight, haha.

Thanks for all the suggestions as well. This morning I washed my hands (twice!) with a different soap, used hand sanitizer, AND used some hand lotion before handling him. So far so good!
.. Although just now I was trying to hold him again, and I just come back from a campfire, and he seemed rather agitated and not his mellow self, so I put him back .. maybe I still smelled like hot dogs? :p
 
Wash your hands with a different soap before you feed him... use that soap ONLY when you feed him. All other times use a soap with a completely different scent. I bet he associates the soap smell with being fed.
 
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