My first snake bite

It was Saturday night, a weekly interval I had chosen to feed all 3 of my snakes on. I am the owner of an Irian Jaya carpet python (Morelia Spilota Variegata), Columbian rainbow boa (Epicrates Cendria Maurus), and a subspecies of gopher snake known as the bullsnake (Pitouphis Catenifer Sayi).

I had just fed Sora, my carpet python, and Raiden, my rainbow boa, when it became time to feed Doku, my bullsnake. His feeding response is unlike any snake I have ever seen before. Keeping this in mind, I took all necessary precautions when moving him from his enclosure to the center of my room, making sure to use a snake hook because my hands still smelled of adult mice, which was what all my snakes had been feeding on at the time since I got them all as juveniles. When it came time to present the food item to my snakes, I was a bit sloppy in that, at the time, I would hold the mouse by it's tail and dangle it in front of the snakes head until it bit on and began to eat. This was never a problem for me, and never have I received a bite from any of my snakes as a direct result of this practice.

As expected, Doku struck at the thawed mouse and swallowed it quickly while jerking his head left and right as his fangs walked it down his 'pointy end'. After waiting a few seconds, I (regrettably) presented my hand to him in an attempt to see if he was still in "feeding mode", and consequently if it was safe to move him back to his enclosure to digest. I did this with great stupidity because It had completely slipped my mind that my fingers still had the scent of mice on them.

He tagged me. Several fangs pierced my right ring finger and several others sunk into another. Now, this bite was completely my fault and unfortunately I knew that it was a feeding response. Luckily though, he quickly realized that my finger was not a food item and released his grip only a moment later. The initial pain felt like several thumbtacks jabbing into the extremities of my body. I could feel my face turn pale as I scattered to the bathroom. My heart was beating rather quickly, as this was the first (and hopefully last) time I was bitten by a snake. I allowed the wound to bleed out for about 30 seconds since I was aware of snake saliva containing a protein which encourages bleeding. I did this because I knew it could help prevent infection. Moments later I washed it off and allowed the wound to dry, no medical treatment needed. My decision was to simply sleep It off and be better by morning. I used my snake hook to carefully return Doku to his enclosure making sure to avoid hurting him in any way, as this was always my top priority. Afterwards, I got into bed. A couple minutes later, the pain subsided and I was able to get some rest.

I awoke in the morning to the wound almost completely healed and Doku being back to his old, docile self. From this experience I learned to be a lot more careful while feeding my snakes and promptly bought myself a sturdy pair of feeding tongs, just Incase. Always remember to wash your hands after handling food items! Thanks for listening to my story, and stay safe. (:


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