OMG OMG - My snake bit himself!!!

[Alldone]

I was feeding my five foot coastal carpet tonight & he missed striking the rat & struck himself instead! I thought he would let go immediately (as I imagine it was painful!) but he stayed there for ages & tried to constrict & looked like he was trying to eat himself before he eventuall let go - what the hell?????

I freaked out & started yelling - now I'm really worried that he has damaged himself. Has anyone experienced anything like this before???

 

[Snakelove]

haha did you yell your coastal to tell it to let go? did it listen?

I don't think it'll be that bad.. Nothing like a couple of sheds can't fix. But maybe I'm wrong.

Good luck!

 

[Alldone]

haha did you yell your coastal to tell it to let go? did it listen?

Yep - I was yelling "Noooooo mate!!! Let go - you're gonna hurt yourself" at the top of my voice! :lol: :lol:

 

[shane14]

my male sw carpet did that as a hatchy, i pulled him off himself, hasnt done it since

 

[The-Freak]

Mine ended up in a position with the rat where once he finished it his mouth was on belly, he knew tho had to wriggle his head off his belly haha.

 

[Darlyn]

Somewhere in the bowels of this site is a pic of
a snake devouring himself.
Very entertaining, but perhaps not helpful. : }

 

[giglamesh]

 

[cris]

:lol: havnt seen this although its not really suprising. I have seen a few snakes bite themselves defensively, they certainly arnt the brightest critters around.

I would keep an eye on where it bit itself, a feeding bite from a snake that size may be a health risk depending on where it was and how violent it was. I would imagine it wouldnt cause much if any harm though.

 

[Darlyn]

Hooray for Giglamesh, love that pic!.
Note the bulge in midsection, so he wasn't even hungry

 

[cement]

That will do no harm at all.
At worst my leave a barely noticeable scar after a shed or two, but will be no problem.

 

[pythrulz]

Hi Martens mum few dramas at your place this week sure your silly coastal will be ok what sort of wound is there if any

 

[Wookie]

Did it break the flesh? Was there any blood? I find their skin is tough as nails, usually pretty hard to injure. If it broke the skin the thing I'd worry about is infection. If your snake is tame, take it out and look where it bit itself. It will heal in time on its own. Any signs of infection though definitely visit a vet. Some will disagree but i find betadine works well to prevent infection so long as the snake doesn't try to eat that too

 

[Alldone]

deleted

Seriously?? Grow a brain??? How rude are you??? This happened late last night & I came straight on here to get some advice as to the seriousness of it - hardly an irresponsible course of action!! Why comment on a thread with such a rude response??

 

[snakeluvver]

My snake hasnt bitten himself, but sometimes his tail/belly/body wraps round his head and he freakes out, as if its another animal.

 

[snakeluvver]

bahahahahaha

 

[ShaunMorelia]

Hey dont worry too much, our intergrade did the same thing when he was a hatcho.
It usually happens when they are using their body to help push the food item down and they just seem to "follow through" with the eating.
He'll work it out and let go after a it, just have a look over him and check to see if there is any sign of breaking the skin or blood.
If you are still worried, take him to a vet for a quick check over.