BHP wont stop eating me

[Spickyb]

Hi,

Not sure if anyone else has the experience of their BHP always... always trying to eat them.

I take my new yearling BHP and about 5 min later she will start eating my forearm each time.
Not sure if anyone else has the same thing and if it can be stopped.

Cheers.

 

[glassless_mind]

I don't know how well this would work with snakes, but could you rub lemonjuice over the area she bites, or something else that tastes bad, to discourage her from doing it?

 

[Spickyb]

Could give it a try...

 

[Poggle]

feeding habit? what do you smell of ?

 

[Spickyb]

Lol... Happens anytime after shower.. I work in a office so i generally hope im clean.

Happens 2 days after she has been feed or before, just chills on my arm then starts to eat me not that she will get far starting with my forearm.

 

[longqi]

Do you remember the photos of a BHP chomping down on a Goanna and the sensation they caused

When your gets big enough let it start on you
Just make sure someone is there with a video camera

UTube sensation as your feet disappear....

On a more serious note
Does she strike or simply open her mouth a start to chew?
Second one is very uncommon with carpets etc
But does happen with snakes that eat other reptiles such as waters, womas and bhps
Often scent related
Particularly if you have touched another reptile soon before

 

[maddog-1979]

i have a 3 yr old male woma that tries to do that, have to be extra careful just changing his water dish. last time he was just chillin in the middle of the enclosure, next thing i know the water dish goes flying as he tries to get a mouthful of it. and every time i'm near him he just does the little head flick side to side as he is sizing me up.....bloody bugger is just big enough to hurt too

 

[Spickyb]

Youtube it will be lol..

Nope she does not strike at all, just starts eating me but I do handle my Jungles before which might be it.
If not what else could it be?

Yea lucky my BHP is small enough not to hurt.... YET,though my male would but he is cool as.

Not always fun when they try to eat you.

 

[longqi]

Youtube it will be lol..

Nope she does not strike at all, just starts eating me but I do handle my Jungles before which might be it.
If not what else could it be?

Yea lucky my BHP is small enough not to hurt.... YET,though my male would but he is cool as.

Not always fun when they try to eat you.

You can be nearly 100% sure that it is a questioning bite because it smells another snake=food
But also can smell you so its just doing a taste test

Try handling your jungles afterwards
10quid to nothing that the bites will stop

Very rare type of bite and in every case I have seen or heard of another reptile had just been handled

i have a 3 yr old male woma that tries to do that, have to be extra careful just changing his water dish. last time he was just chillin in the middle of the enclosure, next thing i know the water dish goes flying as he tries to get a mouthful of it. and every time i'm near him he just does the little head flick side to side as he is sizing me up.....bloody bugger is just big enough to hurt too

Maddog
Yours sounds more like a striking type bite
This other one is very different
They just sniff around a bit
Then open their mouths and start chewing
Totally different to a food response or a 'go away tag'

 

[Spickyb]

Yea... sounds right.

Thanks for that ill give it a go and let you know... Weird how my other BHP (almost 2 years) ignores the smell yet the female tries to eat lol.

 

[longqi]

As I said its a pretty rare type of bite
99% of keepers will have never seen it or even heard of it

So count yourself as privileged
It happened to me 5 times in 17 years of demonstrating and I have heard of another few bites like that

 

[maddog-1979]

my ''go away type of tag'' wraps me up when he hits me, last time he got 2 knuckles on the back of my hand in his gob before the running tap water made him let go, it's the same food response, he is just an aggressive feeder, and strikes hard. he even coiled onto and held the water dish for a few seconds before he realised it was metal.

 

[longqi]

my ''go away type of tag'' wraps me up when he hits me, last time he got 2 knuckles on the back of my hand in his gob before the running tap water made him let go, it's the same food response, he is just an aggressive feeder, and strikes hard. he even coiled onto and held the water dish for a few seconds before he realised it was metal.

Thats definitely a feeding response type bite
If you didnt stink of rat he must be hungrier than you thought
Maybe up his food intake a fair bit
Better to get them out of that habit before they are big enough to really hurt

 

[Bandit05]

Does she strike or simply open her mouth a start to chew?
Second one is very uncommon with carpets etc
But does happen with snakes that eat other reptiles such as waters, womas and bhps
Often scent related
Particularly if you have touched another reptile soon before

My Water Python got me the other day, not a strike, just opened his mouth and bit. He has on a couple of occassions slowly opened his mouth and twisted his head to bite but as it was so slow I just pushed him away. When he is hungry he will bunt my neck and wrist at the pulse points and gets a weird fascination with my arm pits. I try to remove all traces of smells before handling him but even the smell on my clothes can get him fired up. Ive lost my trust in him and will find him a new owner to taste test. I had a BHP years ago and never had a problem, she would occassionally bunt a spot she smelt a snake on but that was it.

 

[maddog-1979]

Thats definitely a feeding response type bite
If you didnt stink of rat he must be hungrier than you thought
Maybe up his food intake a fair bit
Better to get them out of that habit before they are big enough to really hurt

nope no rat smell, i clean my hands and arms with detol sanitiser before going near him,lol. previous owners got him as a hatchling and only really fed him, no handling. he is 3yrs old now and just big enough to be a pain when he hits, cut my knuckles up nicely as he was grinding his mouth forward,lol. i have been trying to get him out of it and used to handling. it's kinda hard him being an adult tho.

tip for the OP, get your bhp out of the habbit before he grows,lol

 

[longqi]

First time for me was with a water python
Exactly the same
Nothing like any other bite

With waters it seems to be the scent of juvenile snakes that turns them on

 

[Bandit05]

you may be right, I used to handle my Water every day first but couldnt handle him for a week after ETSA decided to push 390 volts through our lines and his eyes swoll up like peas for a week. Now I have been handling my 11 month old Darwin first but with over 200 birds and other animals here its a bit hard not to smell like something he would want to eat, they are pigs after all lol

 

[Spickyb]

I generally know now when she will try to eat me.. she usually holds me tighter that usual, but will give it a try hope to god it works bec i can get tired of her eating me.

This is what happens when your mate forgets about his snake under his bed...
View attachment 226318

See attachment

 

[DerekRoddy]

Black Headed Pythons are not rodent/mammal eaters in the wild.

AS keepers....we basically "train" them to eat mammals in captivity..........WE'RE mammals....so, it makes total sense that a hungry BHP would do what you're describing.
I have over 100 BHPS and most all of them have done this at one point in their lives. Perfectly normal.

Cheers,
D