I Freeze When I Get Tagged With A Feeding Bite And That Seems To Be The Correct Response - Tumblr Posts

My leucistic Texas rat snake, Dilbert, was so excited for dinner that he came flying out at it when I opened his enclosure and missed by about a mile. I tried to move his food to intercept his path and he ended up grazing me and catching two teeth in my thumb. Thankfully it was the side of my thumb, not the pad.

It didn't phase him at all, and he most likely didn't even notice.

I tried to be stoic but I did utter some choice words. I managed to get his meal into his mouth and him back into his cage before extracting these two snake thorns. Thankfully they're very smooth and came out easily.

Then not even ten minutes later Dextro the corn snake, who it turns out is starting a shed cycle and has reduced vision, jumped past the meal held by my feeding tongs and grabbed my finger and thumb together in a huge bite. He wrapped my entire hand and my tongs, so I couldn't reach his head to tap him or help him disconnect. My middle finger and thumb were pinched together and pierced by two rows of tiny, very sharp needles. He realized his mistake and voluntarily let go after an excruciating 15-20 seconds of me trying to hold very still. At least he had the decency to look embarrassed. He then went back in his enclosure and poked his actual dinner with his nose very thoroughly all over to make sure it was really food and not still my hand before eating it.

My point is that it doesn't matter how much we trust these animals or how well socialized they are. Accidents happen. It's not their fault and I can't be mad at them or even at myself. Anyone who keeps a snake shouldn't ask whether they'll be bitten, but when.

It's just a part of snake keeping!