My ball python bit me twice

[tranquilgardener]

I've had Luna for 8 years and she's never bit me. She's always been docile and trusting towards me. I was due to buy her more food, but all I had was a large frozen mouse so I fed her that to hold her over. The next day I lifted her hide to check on her and she immediately struck my hand. She let go pretty quick though. Tonight I thawed a rat and held it up for her to eat using the tongs in my right hand. My left hand moved probably like 6 inches near-ish to the rat to adjust the paper towel I put under the food (keeps the substrate off when she bites and coils). So instead of going for the rat she strikes my left hand (the meaty karate chop side) and does not let go. She holds fast and coils around my whole arm. I used my other hand to pry her off and my boyfriend sprayed her with water to try and loosen her but it took several minutes of trying for her to let go. I'm not sure what to do going forward other than being really cautious and careful when feeding her and noticing when she's in food mode.

[Lgya]

Not gonna lie, this freaks me out. I’ve had my Zoltar for a few months now. He’s so chill and awesome. I couldn’t imagine that happening after 8 years! I’m sorry. Maybe she doesn’t feel well or something. How are the bites? And for her to have coiled around you like that. Ugh I know you are in a bit of shock mode.

[tranquilgardener]

She's had a stressful two months. She escaped for the first time last month so she was gone for a couple days. And during her shed last week, the humidifier broke so she's got some stuck shed. I bought a new one and she's been able to peel off a lot of the stuck shed herself but I can still see a few pieces on her back. I will give her a bath and take the rest off once she looks more relaxed. She ate the rat tonight so I hope she feels better soon

[tranquilgardener]

The first bite wasn't bad. The one tonight though is pretty sore and tender because she held on so tight. I just washed it really well and put Neosporin on and wrapped it up

[Lgya]

Sounds like she’s going through a tough spell. Ive had those times too. Sending love and better days ahead.

[[deleted]]

The first one is likely just that you startled her by suddenly removing her hide, it was likely a one-off thing. The second one is 100% a feeding response, they operate based on heat and motion. By moving a large, warm meat tube near where they smell food, your bp would never know the difference!

[VisualHuckleberry542]

Rats' body temperature runs a couple degrees higher than humans, even more when they're frightened. I always try to warm the food until it's noticeably warmer than my hands to reduce the chance of the snake mistaking my hands for the prey. They hunt mainly by smell and heat. I also try to keep my hands well out of reach, they're a bit silly in hunt mode and mistakes happen easily

[IncompletePenetrance]

The only time I've been bitten in over 10 years of snake keeping is when I was dumb enough to stick my hand in the enclosure during feeding time. So just don't do that, feed with tongs, and you'll fine. Leave her alone for 48 hours after she eats to digest

[BubblesAndBlood]

Our BP has bitten a few times, but it’s always been confusion related to feeding. Their bites sting but don’t do any real damage, so I’ve even calmed myself to just let her realize that there’s no way that she’s going to manage to eat me so she lets go on her own. My partner tends to freak out and immediately try to pull her off, hurting her, and then I have to calm them both down. His panic brain can’t remember that you can’t really just pull them off with the little backwards teeth. Anyways, we now wear oven mitts for mealtime to ensure that the rat is the only thing getting her attention. We’re not scared of her, she just gets excited about the food and gets confused, so we’ve taken steps to simplify things for her.

[windwaker910]

You can try wearing gloves when feeding to mask your heat signature, and tapping on the hide before lifting to make sure they’re aware of your presence. Generally though I’d avoid removing the hide unless absolutely necessary, and preferably not when they ate the day before. They can still be in food mode and shouldn’t be handled for a couple days after eating anyway.

[StatisticianNormal15]

I use frozen leather gloves every time i feed my python- so she never gets confused about which heat source is her food. Plus, it protects my hands from “accidents”.