My Mac tried to EAT me!!!!

[Gruni]

So there I am trying to give Skittles some fresh water and he's sticking his face close to my hand a sniffing about like he does and refused to pull back out of the way. I just ignored him and tried to get the bowl out and next thing I know BANG! he tags me on the first knuckle of my middle finger... I just realised it was the same finger he tagged last time. Anyway this time he refused to let go and hung on for a full photo shoot in the middle of which he decided to chuck some coil action into the exercise. I knew this could mean he would head for my finger tip if it wasn't stopped and the idea of fishing my finger out of his throat did not appeal to me. So I am trying to keep the coils off and work out how to make him let go?!?!? Kathy dabbed some mouth wash on his nose and he didn't care less. In the end I had to grab the back of his head and basically prize him off my finger and I can assure you as small as they are those backward facing teeth do a great job of holding on!

So not that it scares me or anything but if he latches on like that again how do I get him to let go?

'Oh no you don't!' and finally one grumpy Mac sitting on my hand in the tell tale 'S' pose... so scary!

 

[grannieannie]

Great photos... LOL ... I've been told you run cold tap water over their heads...!!

 

[Lizzy90]

Iv heard of putting some of the body under some warm water, as well as using some methylated spirits just infront of the nose works

 

[Gibblore]

Dunk them in a bucket of water

 

[swan91]

one of my hatchies did this... i just waited it out... and then he sorta thought he had killed my thumb enough so he decidede to let go... then i just grabbed him with my other hand and got the pinkie rat and stuck it in his mouth... he was quite happy with himself lol

View attachment 244197here is the little fella.... you can see the healthy purple colour of my thumb...lol

dunno if u can see the water all over my hand.... but the water trick didnt seem to work...lol... so i just waited till he let go...

 

[Gruni]

AMS05... the image attach didn't work.

All the metho was in the shed but I'll keep that in mind in future.

 

[SYNeR]

I've heard/read that some diluted methylated spirits works well as noted above.. I can't personally vouch for the success or safety of this, though..
Apparently they really really hate it.

Here: Untitled Document

How often and much do you feed him?

 

[JAS101]

i just leave mine , after a while they figure out they cant eat u and let go .

 

[Gruni]

He gets a hopper mouse every week to ten days, which gives him a good belly buldge, he had his last one Sat morning but has yet to poop so I'm reluctant to feed him again at the moment.

 

[MR_MRS_Monroe]

Metho a mate remove pythons from peoples places all the time and get tagged at least once a weekend . He uses metho / salt water in a spray bottle gets them off as soon as it hits there head/mouth and no more bites

 

[CaptainRatbag]

Gruni, feed him anyway..... you dont wait to poop before you eat? More food coming will probably inspire the perfect poop patern :lol:

I dont like using metho as it can burn thier osofogus, eyes, lips and toung..... also, I dont want to have my snakes associate me with pain/fear at all if I can help it. Some remedies I have heard work are to fiddle with thier tail (they dont like thier tail touched evidently, blow air on thier nose (not too close unless they release your finger and re-attach on YOUR nose), Putting them in cold water (under tap or in bucket/basin)
More direct methods are to use a toothpick or credit card to unhitch the teeth, to offer them a food item (so they choose that over you), Put your hand in thier enclosure so they can climb off.

As well as not liking ther metho trick, ripping them off you can do alot of damage to thier teeth, your skin, thier jaw and importantly, thier toung. If you damage thier jaw or toung, they are history.

If you really have to use metho, dont spray/touch them with it, just wave a tissue with some on it NEAR them. I believe metho is like dettol to a cane toad! Please only do at very last resort. :cry:

Try using repti-hand or F10 gel on your hands and fore-arms before going in thier enclosure to start with, so they dont associate your body parts as food

 

[Gruni]

Thanks Captain, I'll bear that in mind. I don't like the idea of using the metho particularly. When I say I prised him off I was as gentle as I could be and it didn't really seem to put him off, he didn't grab on tight to my wrist etc he just stayed in strike pose.

I just fed him and it took him 15mins to find the head and stop trying to munch its tail and hind leg. I think when the next two hoppers are used up I will try him on full grown mice instead. I might even make the effort to weigh him and compare it to his food size.

 

[FAY]

Gruni, it is becoming cool.They are now looking for food to fatten themselves up. I would feed him every 7 days..not ten and with maybe a larger mouse. I go by the width of their body NOT their head.

 

[a9x_hatch]

DONT USE METHO! know a guy here who cleaned a few stubborn stains in his tank with metho, he put his 2 spotted pythons back in and within 10 mins they both died. the fumes get to them really bad not worth the risk

 

[Gruni]

I don't go by the head size either I go by the width of the fattest part of their body but he has grown quite a bit in the last month, so I think he is ready to up size. He sure as hell needed more than the weeners he was on when I picked him up.

 

[cwebb]

a dab of listerine around the bite also works.

 

[CaptainRatbag]

Gruni, try him on a rat pinkie, or even a fuzzy rat. IMO, mice are prolly a bit small for him and you will be wanting to change to rats eventually anyway. Best to do it sooner rather than later. Prolly with a full tummy he will leave you alone (for a while) hehehehe

I agree with Fay, feed every 7 days, I would go as far as saying every 5-7 days. He will be in grow mode so feed him up, heat pad or something for warmth (for metabilism and digestion) on rats, you wont believe how fast he will grow :shock:

 

[Gruni]

I am not one of those who want the snake to grow as quickly as possible I would rather a more natural development for him. He is 80cm and a bit thicker than my thumb so mice are well in his size range. The hopper mouse I gave him put a decent buldge in his tummy so a full grown should be a good feed. I can get mice more easily than rats of different stages of growth so I haven't really looked at changing him over. I also figure a full grown mouse has more substance than a pinky rat which is all cartlidge.

 

[congo_python]

Next hold on bite.... just run the tap and hold his mouth under it and he'll soon let go - it works everytime.

 

[Fantazmic]

id be inroducing rats into his diet if I were you.....they can go on the mice horrors and as they get older one mouse will not be enough. You will be feeding maybe 6 mine in a row !!!!!!!!! and the longer the snake has mice the harder it will be o swap over......I have snakes here that refused to take rats and Ive had a really struggle to swap them over....now I wouldnt dare give them a mouse ever or Id be back to where I started.

also there are a lot of rat breeders in sydney you should be able to source a good breeder somewhere