Biting story, illustrated...

A lot of people ask "does it hurt if you get bit?" So I thought I'd throw in this one.

I got out one of my males. This is breeding season for them, but this male's typical reaction to contact with any other cornsnake is to run away, instantly and frantically. I had him in my left hand, and I was petting him, and he started crawling up my left arm.

I'd had a few others out before him so he undoubtedly smelled both male and female corns. Exhibiting what I saw as typical male behavior, as he went up my forearm, he started pushing down on me. Not with the tip of his nose like they do with food, but with the bottom of his chin and his neck, as if he was trying to push my arm toward the ground. I've seen this both as a reaction to females, it's their "seduction" technique, and as a reaction to males... they tend to "wrestle" by trying to push the other's head down. (When one of them realizes he's the weaker, he generally runs like crazy.)

This guy was in the middle of his act, and I was still petting him with my free right hand, when in a flash he was instantly turned around with his jaws firmly latched onto my right ring finger. My instant reaction was to think he thought it was a rival male (I've been bitten that way before, too) so I held my finger firm and carefully moved him around a bit to show him "strength." I figured he'd realize he was "battling a stronger male" and give up. He instead reacted by trying to constrict my finger as if it was struggling food.

Heh, I should have known. This one as a hatchling decided several times that my hand is food, and every time he crawls up my sleeve, he decides my armpit is a big juicy mouse. (He'll hold on for 5 minutes before finally figuring out I'm too big of a meal. It's actually pretty funny.)

So I walked to the bathroom and turned on the cold water in the bathtub, got it nice and freezing, and then stuck my hand (with him firmly attached) under the cold running water. He let go almost as fast as he had latched on. hehehe.

Did it hurt? Not really. It's not even close to the level of pain that gets you making funny faces or anything. My reaction was "that hurts a little" along with laughter at how silly he looked attached to my finger like a dog playing tug of war with a bone. This is the second most "severe" bite I've gotten. The worst was from a nearly adult Ball Python who decided my eyeball matched the heat pattern of a food item, and held onto my upper eyelid and cheek for about 2 minutes. (Even longer story, hehe.)

I'd still rather get bitten several dozen times by any cornsnake, or Ball Python, rather than a dog or cat.

Here are the "extreme closeup" (party time! excellent! whoa!) pics of the "damage" he did:



Dunno what's with the two "fang-looking" dots, but they're only slightly tender.

Ha!
Wait till he gets bigger and pulls that stunt.
My male started off where the bites just shocked me.
The more he grows, the more he bites and the more blood and pain they cause. Of course he never just bites once. He thinks he's an ATB and does multiple strikes and when he gets a good one, he latches on.

Ooooh. I'm not scared of getting bitten- it's the lunging I'm freaked out about. My amel lunged at me at feeding time yesterday and I'm pretty sure my heart stopped

Heh, he's not going to get much bigger. (Especially if he keeps biting, LOL)

I've been bitten by bigger corns than him. Still doesn't hurt, although I'm sure there are spots (like the edge of the fingernail) where it might.

Thats nothing i was bit by an adult hognose (rear fanged) my arm went num for two ours

Hmmmm . . .

I was under the impression that hognose bites (in the rare events that they DO take place) are completely harmless to humans. The description I've been given is that the small amount of irritation that follows is much less than any bee sting.

yeah I took a bite from a hognose when I used to volunteer with the state "scales & tails" program, and it didn't seem any different than any bite I've taken from a corn. In fact, it was several years later before I even found out that they are rear-fanged. I guess an alergic reaction or something could cause problems though...

Earlier this year i found a milksnake near my house (massachusets) and i picked it up thinking it was not going to be that agresive. it bit me about 5 times in the arm and when it bit it realy chewed its teeth in! alot of blood but no pain. I took it home but when it wouldn't eat i realeased it.

I hear alot about people being "Freaked Out" by colubrid bites--I have suffered through many bites over the years and I guess none to date have really phased me. I have be surprised a few times, but none of them could I descibe as truley painful. Now if you want to talk about PAIN Let's talk about some of the large monitors--I would rank them right up there with hitting your thumb with a hammer....or maybe kicking the coffee table with your pinkie toe in a sprint for the bathroom in the middle of the night. Ouch! That was not fun at all!

Serp...

You're pictures aren't showing up!

Darin, never mind that clumsly snaker!

While I've never been on the receiving end of a hognose bite, I've seen one. It was a nasty "toad is in the air" bite, but they can't really reach skin with their rear fangs (unless maybe you stuck a finger down their throat. ) They basically "deflate" toads and frogs with those. This guys' bite was very typical- tiny colubrid teeth punctures, but it hung on for a few seconds. My worry was that the saliva was toxic, evidently not so. Or not too much...