Hey everyone

I am very new to this and havent even handled a reptile let alone a python before , i am purchasing one either this week or next week and was wondering if anyone's first experience was 'scary' i am a little worried that i am going to fork out all this money and not even be able to hold my python. Does it get easier once you have it??

Thanks

Michael

hi there we have had our pythons about 4 weeks now, first time i held the male he made a meal out of my hands and admit i dont have much contact with him but when he goes to the kids he is great. The female i have is a sweet lilttle thing and in fact gets handled a lot more i in fact had her out about 20 mins ago and first time ever been bitten by her but admit it didnt hurt the male well he is another story no wonder i call him a shoelace with attitude.

Good luck and remember fear is only fear of the unknown, once you get bitten then you know what its like, its going to happen often

cheers

Karen

Its a bit like being bitten bya very small kitten, theteeth are sharp and numerous, but fragile and easily broken. There are two primary bites, those being (a)Food bite ~The python , for whatever reason, mistakes you for warm food, it latches on and may sometimes constrict your finger or arm pathetically, until its tiny brain tells it, "not food" and it lets go, they dont "chew" when they bite, fragile teeth.
( defence bite ~The tiny python has only one means of defence (well any python) its mouth! most python hatchlings and juveniles will instinctively defend themselves from anything it perceives as a threat,
weather thats you or something else. Afterall, it dosent want to be eaten, good sense of self preservation is needed to acheive adult size whereitslessthreatened and generally, more docile.
The snake will bite then carefully disengage its precious teeth, its very fast and fright/reflexes are the boogiman here. You become more casual at handling and reassure the snakeand they settle down.
Its once they get adult that bites can really hurt.

Welcome to Reptile Planet Shortie!

Thanks for the heads up as soon as i get some pics i will post them!

Looking Forward to Em Shortie! What species are you planning on?

It's funny, you get bitten so many times over the years keeping snakes but you still get little surprises now and then. When I started keeping I had an intergrade that to this day has never bitten me (6 years). About a month after buying that one I bought a little hatchie coastal which was aggressive from the day I got it! In the 3 years I owned that coastal I reckon I was bitten a few hundred times....atleast a dozen times every handling session! The first time it happened, it scared the out of me! lol Didn't hurt though because she was only about 2ft and didn't even draw blood. When she was getting to 3 years old however, the bites started hurting mainly because she was a gripper and would bite in places like between the fingers and just wouldn't let go!

A year later I got a pair of adult water pythons which were even worse than the coastal LOL The big female would strike at the glass every time there was movement in the room and I received a few nasty bites from both of them. If you are continually bitten, you will get used to it...(well I did)

Shane

Lol Shane! Yeah you do get used to it, not flinching or pulling away is important because python teeth break easy and can lead to mouth canker and serious health probs. Best to let them disengage themselves while you grin and bare it!

I am getting a coastal carpet so Shanes post hant made me feel too confident!!! Hopefully will get it at the end of next week

You got your coastal yet Shortie? whats happening?

Not yet

blow on their faces. every time one of them bite, blow on their face. none of my snakes bite now - ever, even the jungles, even when I feed them.

It's just the speed of it that rattles you, that & the inbuilt genetic memory that screams at you "I just got bitten by a snake!" It's no biggy until they hit a decent size & weight. Mind you, a food bite from an animal 10'+ is no picnic at all, but you'll be pretty used to it by the time you're at risk of that happening. Welcome to the world of herps, there's nothing like it

I'll agree with raptor it's the fact that the bite can be so quick you don't get time to react, and respectively a bite from anything under 3ft is nothin more then a splinter in the finger.

Hey WB doggie!

cheers mate yeah been a while but I'm back