He's trying to eat me!!!!!

[Critta]

hi, just a quick query.......i have a 4 month old spotted python and today the only thing he was interested in was eating me.....he wasnt striking just nudging me with his nose and opening his mouth and bitting down. he got fed only 3 days ago....1 pinky mouse. why is he doing this? is he still hungry should i start feeding more or larger. he gets fed every 7 days.
thanks in advance

[Pythonking]

can't tell you why myself but i've seen a spotted do that to john from just reptiles

[Mangles]

Quite a common thing with spotteds. Mine have done this before, but generally grow out of it.

Might be time to increase their food to 2 pinkies or a fuzzy.

[Bonustokin]

Yep, what Mangles said...
Also, maybe you smelt like food? If you had handled seafood, just cleaned the rat/mice cages or anything similar to that, its possible your hatchy got a wiff of it and wanted some

[herpsrule]

awww love bites

yesh, they do this sometimes.. so many variables as to why.
as previously mentioned, it could be a specific scent on your hands, it could be wanting an upgrade of food size..
what you can do if it is a scent thing, is get a specific type of soap or some anti-bacterial hand stuff like 'aquim' and use it before and after every single time you go to handle him/her.
but before feeding dont, this will get the snake into the idea its about to get handled rather then its about to get fed.
hope that makes sense haha


Nat

[Critta]

i do hope he grows out of it, it doesnt bother me now but when he gets older i imagine it may hurt a little .
he gets fed 1 pinky mouse every 7 days. it doesnt really leave a buldge anymore though....am i feeding him enough?

[Critta]

thanks herpsrule, big help, i never actually thought of that. and yes it does make sense. haha

[Bonustokin]

I'd say you are feeding it enough, but i'd try getting him onto fuzzies if he will take them.

[mrsshep77]

Hey Critta,
I had a spotted do that when he was younger and it's all to do with food. He went to the vets for tests etc and he was given a clean bill of health EXCEPT he needed more food. His matabolism was a lot faster than my other girl so we were advised to bring his feeding time back to every 5days and if possible give him something with fur on it ie fuzzy mouse. It worked a treat and after a while we got to know when he was getting hungry and avoided handling him then until he was fed. It's a bit distressing but it's ok you're spotted is just a normal snakie!!!
I hope this helps but for your enjoyment here is a photo of him at around 5mths trying to eat me

Cheers,
Mell

[Jewly]

Do they try and dig their teeth in when they do that? I've had my little one for about 2 weeks now and she hasn't once tried to strike me, but I'm curious as to how it will feel when she does.

[Jewly]

Originally Posted by Critta

He gets fed 1 pinky mouse every 7 days. it doesnt really leave a buldge anymore though....am i feeding him enough?

I'd say you need to increase the size of the mouse because you should see a definite bulge. I was told that the width of the mouse should roughly be the same width as the widest part of the snake.

[RedEyeGirl]

now i know not to get a spotted!!!

[pythonmum]

Originally Posted by herpsrule

what you can do if it is a scent thing, is get a specific type of soap or some anti-bacterial hand stuff like 'aquim' and use it before and after every single time you go to handle him/her.
but before feeding dont, this will get the snake into the idea its about to get handled rather then its about to get fed.

We do that - works a treat. The hatchlings caught on pretty quickly because the anti-bacterial wash tastes awful.

[mrsshep77]

Nope it does not hurt at all when they are that young! Even as they get older it doesn't hurt as it's not an agression thing.

Maccies are awesome little snakes so dont let the photo put you off

[GARTHNFAY]

Get him onto a fuzzy...there is not much nutrition in a pinky.