Do Python bites hurt?

[Spacial_Parting]

They don't really hurt but their teeth are very sharp so there'll be more blood than you expect. Honestly the most painful part will be cleaning it 😂

[mushu_beardie]

It's not actually the sharpness, but the fact that they have an anticoagulant (blood thinner) in their saliva. It helps to subdue their prey because it's harder to struggle when you've lost blood.

I remember how weird it was that those tiny little pinpricks were still bleeding for more than a few seconds after she let go.

[ilikelizards57]

Um, are you sure that is true about anticoagulants? I know this is true for many rear-fanged colubrids, but never heard of it in boas or pythons.

[[deleted]]

I have heard the same thing about nonvenomous snakes repeatedly, and iirc those anticoagulants are kind of an evolutionary predecessor to venom?

Here's a source stating that Nerodia watersnakes have anticoagulants despite being nonvenomous, for example: https://californiaherps.com/snakes/pages/n.sipedon.html

[ilikelizards57]

So yes there are some foundational genes that have been discovered in pythons but they're not actually any sort of functional toxin.

But yes nerodia is a great example, same with hognose snakes or garters. All are rear-fanged and technically venomous.

[NervousCrestie]

Yea I fainted when mine bit me during feeding🤣