Best Bite Release Technique?

[Mr.Lizard]

For years I've heard dunking was a good way to get a monitor
to release his grip on you but they can hold their breath for about
half an hour.
Most recently I've tried alcohol on a swab in the corner of the mouth,that works pretty good.
I have recently read that grapefruit peel works well too.

Does anyone out there have a preferred method that won't
cause injury or illness to the animal?

Any feedback would be appreciated:)

[V.hb]

Peroxide works well.. Just let them smell it off a Q-tip. Grape fruit peels is probably the safest and best.. I think markb said it best on a below post regarding bites. Stay still!! they usually release grip quite fast as long as there is no struggle.

[Linds]

Vinegar works well. I've heard many people say that throwing cold water on a large monitor or snake will cause it to release its hold...makes me wonder why so many people are saying this... it isn't at all an effective method.

[stretch]

I also heard if you poor hard liquor on their face that works. Thats if you want to waste your hard liquor. lol

[Mr.Lizard]

Thanks for the input everyone,I never even thought about vinegar
but it sounds like a good idea to me.
In addition to the advice about keeping still I'd like to add that
pushing the bitten finger further into the mouth will sometimes
trigger the animal to release.
Perhaps this goes against the lizard's natural reaction of having prey trying to get out of it's mouth rather than into it?
Similar to the instinct of the animal being programmed to subdue
struggling prey rather than motionless prey.

[V.hb]

I dont agree to much with that. any struggling will just make the animal hold harder and possibly shake. I would think that would just make the vice grip even tighter. although ive never tried it. I don't get bit to often anymore.. heheh

[Mr.Lizard]

I agree with the not struggling V.,keep as still as you can.
What I'm saying is when he's got your finger in his mouth,push it a little further in.
I know this seems like you're doing the opposite of getting your finger out,but what you're doing is forcing him to take your finger.
Either he doesn't know how to react to something in his mouth
that's trying to GO in rather than GET out or you're just giving him more than he can chew.
Works with dogs too,which is how I heard about it.

[The_Omen]

The best ways to get reptiles, lizards and snakes, to let go is with citric acid.
Grapefruit peel is full of citric acid, but are you going to try peeling one with one hand stuck in a monitor or a snakes mouth?
Especially a larger boid that has a feed wrap locked onto you?

No.

The easiest way to keep citric acid close and useable is to keep a few of the lemon juice squirt bottles close by.
Even if you can't get it open, some one else can.
That is if you are using common sense rules with large boids (having more than one person nearby while handling large reptiles).

I keep the squirters close while handling the larger snakes AND I have had the pleasure of a wrap by a retic (arm & hand) which was quickly stopped by dripping a few drops in its' mouth.

An easy way to keep a squirter handy, is to make a 'necklace' with a syringe full of lemon juice.
Keep several 'loaded' and one on your person and with each of the helpers during handling.

Rubbing alcohol is a no-no as it can cause damage to a snakes jacobsons organ.
Drinking alcohol is not as damaging, but I still reccommend not using it.

The dunking method.. not always a reliable method.

The hot water method... not reliable either, besides, do you really want to ad a scald to the injury list for either you or the animal?

Human life does take presedence, but, if it is not a bite or a wrap that can be seen as life threatening, then no need to do extra damage to either party.