What Does a Python Bite Feel Like?

Thank you for this, one of my newest adult ball python almost bitten me two days ago, when I feed him. Now I know what to do if it does happen.

Dude. My parakeet frickin’ HURTS.

Why the fuck does a quick question takes 19min to answer.

The last bite I took was from my adult female ball python who shot past the food on the tongs and got my entire thumb. Because it was completely in her mouth so got super excited and it took a long time to get her to let go. I dont tend to spray liquids into thier mouths because Ive heard they can aspirate it, so I generally just unwind them and wait until they let go. My big retic has got me a couple of times though and its always on my hands because I'm not paying enough attention, or last time it was because it was 3am and she was trapped between the glass and her flipped water dish so I had to go in and release her - but it was 3am and dark and she was in full food mode so she came rushing up and took my hand. That bruised but it still stopped bleeding immediately. Even a large retic bite isnt too bad usually.

Kudos for not flipping us of when showing us the battle wounds on your middle finger

Wait, teeth on the roof of their mouths too?! I've never heard that before. I actually learn things from this channel! Lol

Way to take one for the team!

When I first got my ball python, a lot of my friends and family were concerned about her biting me. It helped to explain to them that even if she were to bite, the damage would be far less than my dog or cat. Pythons don’t kill by biting, and they don’t chew or rip into their prey, so their jaws are comparatively pretty weak and fragile. Their teeth and mouth exist to hold prey still during constriction, and to walk it back into their throat.
Luckily I’ve only been bitten by my girl once, and to be honest, the worst part was just the shock of it happening. Kind of like a jumpscare. It barely broke skin— I actually compared it to a scratch on my other hand my cat had accidentally given me while playing, and the cat scratch was deeper.
I showed this video to my family and it really helped them understand and be a little less scared of my snake. Honestly, your whole channel has been an invaluable resource not only for me, but for my snake-fearing family that is slowly but surely coming around to these awesome critters!

Ive never been bit by a ball python. Ive been bit by wild gopher snake adults and hatchlings, wild garter snake adults, (I have to relocate them from a place on my property they cant get out of and will die in) and captive hatchling corn snakes.
In my experience a medium size snake feels like a strong pinch, and a baby is a tiny pinch. Its not that painful. Its not even that damaging - youll get a hickey looking thing sometimes from the teeth marks. It hurts mildly if the snake is decent size while they are biting. But its not a big deal in my experience

Thank you for this video. I have a 6yo and I'm putting my hand in the enclosure everyday. Moving stuff around to see her reaction and she moves around a lot. She's gotten used to sticking her head out of her hide and kinda look around. If I put my hand in the enclosure or on the outside she comes up to me. Because she's an adult I've been a lil scared of her bite. My husband handles her just fine. I have yet to actually pick her up myself. Even tho she is used to being handled.

Chewing on their tail sounds a awful lot like the people who say to stick your finger in a dog's ass when they bite. lol

I have a pie balled python and even though I have already been bitten and KNOW it doesn’t hurt IM still trying to desensitize MYSELF 🤦🏻‍♀️😩
I don’t feed him in his enclosure and I skipped a meal by mistake.. would being hungry with no rodent scent cause a feeding bite?

Got a baby hypo Mojave and she is the biteyiest thing I’ve ever seen. My daughter won’t touch her. I get her out every day or two for 10-45 min. She eats every 5-7 days, but anything moves in front of her and she attacks. I try to mimick branches with my hands while I’m holding her and it’s impossible. I know it’s defensive, but zero improvement, maybe even worse by the week so far. It’s only been 3 weeks though. Any advice?

Wait Wait Wait 🙉
Is that you pretending to be your brother or is that really your brother??? 🤨 🧐😝

This was brilliant! I’ve seen people showing defensive bites but never on food response, you stayed so calm very well put togther bob and Kent 🤟

Very important thing you said here:

“A food bite is very different from a defense bite. “

Food bites YES. Pythons hold on and wrap which makes it infinitely worse. But stay calm.

Defense bites are usually pretty quick and just startling. But the pain level is next to none. Felt more like a paper cut than anything in my opinion

Hi All! I've owned my snake for four years and had it since it could ball into the palm of my hand. I stopped interacting with it regularly or taming it as you would say out of fear of getting bitten. I've started interacting with it again with welding gloves but don't feel confident opening his enclosure (large glass sliding doors) and letting him come out as he's associated the sound and vibration with being fed. He has been a bit of a shy snake who would pull his head back when exploring around but I have handled him and sat with him for extended periods. But now the only time I take him out is for cleaning and I normally use a gloved hand to cause him to ball to stop defensive mode then pick him up from behind and put him in a separate container. Long story short, how do I get over the fear do I just have to put my arm in his enclosure in front of his hide and brave my first bite? Should I ask locally if a more experienced owner would be with me while one of their ball pythons bit me? Once the fear has gone our relationship will improve dramatically. Again a pleasure to finally be watching your content and to be showing more interest in my snake. I understand you're really busy but thank you for your time. Any suggestions from yourself or your viewers would be greatly appreciated!

❤ you f'ing awesome doing this bite video 😮 I just got a black head lavender albino female 6 months old so I'm new had all kinds of reptiles but not snaked❤I love this snake I went to per store the other day and I'm going back to get her a roommate bc this other female snake is so friendly I can't help but rescue it from petco ❤jk it looks healthy and happy but I seems so interested in ppl it seems like it needs us. Me my wife our snake and kids😂

It's videos like this that actually helped me overcome my fear of snakes. I then started to pick up rat snakes out of my yard by the tail. It was a good step forward in my overcoming my fear. Then the next time I picked it up mid body secretly hoping it would bite me and it did twice. It hurts but not really. Feels like a puppy or kitten biting you. After that I've completely overcome my fear of snakes and now researching and possibly getting a ball python as a pet! I've taken a huge interest in snakes the last couple years

chewing a snake tail - yik!

My 2 year old ball bit the back of my hand the other day when i was feeding her. My first bite. I thought it was going to be way worse. Thanks for this amazing video!

The danger with animal bites is bacteria...so if you are younger and healthy it is usually no issue, but if you are immunocompromised including a more heavy drinker of alcohol then there could be an issue....you are introducing bacteria to your bloodstream.

How is it ok to keep snakes in tubs without a natural day night cycle? i dont get it.

Well last night I got my first bite, and I'm here to tell you it was ALL MY FAULT. I was working on a new enclosure, thawing rats, and failed to wash my hands. I try to be diligent Bob, but my brain was on the off switch obviously. He's my best feeder, and it was a food response indeed and I just didn't move the other hand he struck as I do on s good day. It stopped bleeding fast enough and Oliver and I are both over it lol I was more worried about him being ok this morning and that he ate. I appreciate all you do, just wanted to tell ppl you were absolutely right once again ❤ take good care, much respect Bob.

I totally didn't expect the ball python bite to be the worst. My money was on the retic. I've been bit by a bunch of baby snakes over the years but never an adult. Thankfully my carpet python is pretty chill and he has never bit me. Every once in a while if I do something that scares him or annoys him he'll bluff strike at me with his mouth closed. The last time he was in shed I was spraying down his cage with water and got him a little bit by accident. He got annoyed with me and he nailed me in the thumb with his mouth closed.

So he chews the side of the tail from where the snake shits through 💩 💩💩😱😱😱🥴🤢

😂 you are fantastic, i keep fahaka puffer and my son used to keep pirhanas (actually one made a dash for my finger when i held my hand on the rim on the aquarium, just got it away in time- that was a superfast attack (the fish was new and guessing it was stressed) they don't do anything when i cleaned the tank.
Fahakas get quite large (giant puffer) and can easily cut a finger off.
I don't have a snake though 😊

(Sorry didn't mean to write so much, just had a laugh. I keep normal fish too)

Cool vid..thanks.
I love sharing my living space with a genuinely wild creature

Dudeeeeee, for the love of all things holy, please dont do this again, especially on the inside of your arm where you have multiple nerves, veins and arteries. And just dabbing the area of the bite isn't going to do anything to clean it. Nevermind what chemicals are on the wipe. Needs to be under running water and a good scrub. (Im a Nurse i know what im talking about)😂

I believe a snake bit of this proportion is probably comparable to being scratched by your cat. It opens the skin a tiny bit, it draws a little blood but it doesn't really do anything.

fish would be ok to be bit by… a real missed opportunity for kent to mention piranhas

My chihuahuas scare me way more than my ball pythons. I was bit once by one when feeding and it was totally my fault 🐍 😆 My husband has a credit card trick. You use it to push the teeth back with it and forces the teeth out without harming them. As a Florida python contractor, he’s had to use that technique several times throughout the years and it works like a charm

My axolotl bites me basically daily, then he remembers he can't eat me and he swims into my hand to hang out there. Goofy little guy.
Meanwhile, I'm deeply grateful my leachie gecko has never bit me. The day he does, I hope he's polite about it and doesn't lock his jaw like a tokay.
Last time I was bit by a mammal was a feral cat. I ended up going into shock and had to do rabies treatment. I'll happily take a snake bite over a cat bite any day...and apparently an axolotl bite everyday.

My 2 year old female ball python is an agresive eater. Last month for some reason she bit my pinky finger instead of the rat when I was feeding her. I had the rat on tongs but she still went for my finger. It hurt a little and left marks but no blood.

I was at my friend's place last night, she brought out her ball Python, I'm from Canada, I had never seen or interacted with a Python in my life.

The python was absolutely beautiful and chill, I was doing my best to keep calm but all I could think about was what a bite would feel like, so now I'm here haha, thanks for the field research!

I've seen people use vinegar to spray at a snake that has bitten and is holding on. Is there a reason why that might be a bad idea?

Guess my cat hurts me much more

hamster bites hurt surprisingly really very bad, makes sense given that they can chew through wood

This video helped me be less afraid of a food bite from one of my ball pythons. Thank you so much!

I’ve been bit 3 times by dogs, (which was super weird because I love dogs) but my dog bites have been really painful every single time.

I’ve been bit by my old snake a couple of times and the pain has been basically nonexistent.

As I’m about to get my first snake, who is also a black headed python, this video has been terribly comforting and helpful. Thank you very much 🙏🏽

Very interesting! How do these bites compare to a sting from a yellow jacket? I have a bit of phobia of stings from wasps, bees etc after having been stung many times as a child. Also, can you get lockjaw from a snake bite?

Nibbling on the tail works, but from experience, you have to bite hard.

Take that back depends on the fish lol, I got electric blue acaras that are defensive but they don’t hurt. But there are some big fish you wouldnt want lol

I believe the teeth are small because they need them short so they can fit the prey animal inside their mouth

I've got two snakes a sand boa and a male ball python which I've only had almost 4 weeks. I've handled him twice so far. I think my hand scared him tonight he jerked his head away really fast but so far no bites. Still trying to learn his body language. The sand boa does good with handling so far almost 3 months with him.

hey i need some help with my corn snake ruby is there anyway i can get in contact with you and me and my family love love your videos

What if it hits the vien

Just got bit by my 5foot boa bcc, like she is my most sweetest snake but their still animals❤, it just felt like an hard pinch, nothing like sharpness or someting,