finger eating kingsnake

bubba · 05-22-04, 12:39 PM

My albino cal king that I've had since a hatchling is always trying to eat my fingers. When I pick him up he immediately starts "probing" my my hand and as soon as he hits a finger he starts swallowing it then I have to hold him under the water faucet until he lets go. This is not a major problem, I just need to wear gloves when I pick him up. Anyone else had this problem?

sapphire_moon · 05-22-04, 01:00 PM

well if you KNOW he is going to do this, why do you sit there and watch him "probe" your hand and then "start" to swallow your finger?

Cruciform · 05-22-04, 01:04 PM

How often do you feed him?

Tried using a scented soap on your hands before handling, so you can be positive there's no food scent left over from handling other things?

marisa · 05-22-04, 01:07 PM

Sapphire moon as you own no kingsnakes do you really think its your place to tell him he should not let the snake do this? No offense but if you do not own them, you do not understand their appetites and sometimes aggresive behaviour which is normal.

Kingsnakes are known for their aggresive appetites. I have one here that will almost ALYWAYS bite. Fed, hungry, not hungry it doesn't matter. To clean his cage, you have to take a bite. And gloves can actually be harmful to the snake. We do bag him often though before he can bite us. This snake will not only eat fingers, but also himself.

So its not as simple as "why do you let him do it"

Bubba Kingsnakes are real characters. I would just keep up persistant handling each week and as your king gets older most grow out of this behaviour. And like Cruciform mentioned, make sure NOTHING is on your hands. Although even when we use hand sanitizer our king still bites us. LOL.

Marisa

bubba · 05-22-04, 01:41 PM

I've had other normal cal kings but only the albino has shown this behaviour. I was wondering if bad eyesight plays a part in this. (I'm assuming albinos have poor eyesight.) I don't "let him" do this. There isn't much time between the probing and the biting and I do have to pick him up to clean the cage. The snake is going on five years so now the biting is getting a little more painful but it is not a real problem. It could be worse. He might not want to eat at all. Thanks for the replys.

marisa · 05-22-04, 01:59 PM

Some people think Albinos tend to be more aggresive. This has not proven to be 100% true or have any reason for it, but many keepers have above average fiesty albinos.

I didn't realize your king was 5 so the grow out of it comment doesn't work. LOL.

My crazy aggresive biting king is 7 years old going on 8 so many just have a nuts appetite and like to bite. LOL :P It's more annoying than painful like you mentioned.

Marisa

gonesnakee · 05-22-04, 04:15 PM

I'll have to object. It is as easy as "Why do you let him do it" There is no reason to allow it to happen & it can end up being very stressful on the snake having to "remove it" continually & the risk of a mouth/jaw injury is there for no reason & therefore you also risk secondary infection. This is a cute thing to some keepers when snakes are small that turns into a behavioural pattern if you allow it to continue. Wash your hands prior handling this specimen & watch its behaviour while handling. When it starts doing its "food instinct" thing don't let it bite you. If it is bitey all the time use a HOOK for handling. I keep/have kept literally 100's of Cal-Kings (they were my first snakes ever & I breed them also for years now) & have(had) lots of such specimens. I think other than "baby snakes" people who let their snakes bite them (other than maybe just to show someone for educational purposes) shouldn't & put their snakes at an unnessicary risk. Just my 2 cents, but if you really like having CKs chew on ya go hard I guess LOL Mark
P.S. 2 words "Controlled & Contained"

bubba · 05-22-04, 04:34 PM

I agree. I don't really enjoy this interaction. There are times he doesn't bite if I move him fast enough. Probably contributing to this problem is that I don't handle my snakes often enough, mostly this happens while cage cleaning. I think I will use a snake stick for awhile and start handling the snake more often. Thanks for the input.

gonesnakee · 05-22-04, 05:11 PM

I'll second your above post too. Part of the problem is the lack of interaction & as Marisa states with some it just don't matter what, but we gotta try in the beginning to see on those ones. The Albino thing IMHO is true also. Its been my experience that they seem to be the most crazy ones, certain specimens that is. Eyesight is probably a factor here as well as genetics IMO I think the way the orginal post is worded Bubba sounded like he was allowing this too happen (Marisa saw thru that though : ) I had to reread it all lol) & we can see this isn't the case. As stated be prepared & a hook maybe an option (they are usually too squirmy to bother). I find better success sometimes to just "tail handle" them. If they are all bitey I will just "bait" them with one hand & grab their tail for a quick move out so I can clean. This is not the best procedure either & still results in the odd tag. They are quick LOL My last tag (I was overdue for a while) was just the other day. Female Ivory was being offered her first meal after her first clutch. Despite knowing (BTW she was acting) she was going to just nail it & using long feeder tweezers & more or less making it hard to miss, YEP she overshoots by more than a foot & just NAILS me LOL. She knew it wasn't a mouse right away & let go & grabbed it, but it left me bleeding for the next hour. Good thing she isn't aggressive, but obviously quite ravenous after egglaying. The thing was I had to "feed" for the next hour & my finger kept starting to bleed. Snakes like the smell of blood LOL I almost got it from my big female Woma as a result too LOL but thats a Python story. Mark

jwsporty · 05-22-04, 05:22 PM

I agree that a snake that is "probing" you as "food", and the keeper does not take action, is just reinforcing the behaviour. The trick is to avoid these types of situations. The secret is learning how to deal with the initial "knee jerk" reaction to pull back when they strike. At one time or another a king owner is gonna get tagged. Heck I got tagged last night by my adult female Black Mexi, while cleaning her cage. I touched her tail and she swung around and hammered my finger. No the snake did not go flying across the room..

, and no I did not so much as even pull back to avoid it. Once you learn what it feels like and what to expect, it really is a simple process of patience. When you start to try all the different measures for a quick release, I fully agree with Mark that it will stress the snake out and these measures will put it at risk. This just makes a bad situation worse. Personally I am not overly concerned now, if I get tagged by any one of my kings, I simply relax, take a deep breath, take it in stride, and wait it out. In most cases they will release in a few minutes. To stop him from trying to consume your finger once he is on, simply put your thumb in front of his mouth and press firmly into the "prey" finger. This will stop the further consumption, and when he realizes that he can't go any further, he will let go..

If you are not comfortable with this approach, then stick to the hook method as prescribed by Mark.

Good luck

Jim

gonesnakee · 05-22-04, 05:23 PM

Hey Marisa "This snake will not only eat fingers, but himself" heres a funny pic for ya as I can totally relate LOL White Widow in action (look famililar Ryan & Sheila?)
<img src="http://members.shaw.ca/gonesnakee/DUH.JPG"width="600">
Heres one for Katt LOL if shes ends up reading this. Probably will as she has to "know it all" LOL & here's one she'll enjoy of me & Schizo (he was my very first snake & apparrently still can't be trusted) This is what happens when you have a non snake person over & pull a nice one out for them to handle. "It won't bite" is something one should never say LOL Mark
<img src="http://members.shaw.ca/gonesnakee/LEGGO OF ME.JPG"width="600">
P.S. the first pic she & me had it out for around 20 minutes before she would quit grabbing herself & I nearly got tagged lots. Thats what caused it in the beginning. She figured can't eat you I'll eat me, DUH! 2nd pic took 20 minutes or so & a big tub of cold water, prying etc. & wasn't much fun in the long run. He too tried to tag me multiple times after letting go o>

jwsporty · 05-22-04, 05:27 PM

Great pics Mark..oh so familiar

I don't normally get a chance to get a pic when this happens as I usually have a mouth wrapped around one hand and a tail wrapped aorund the other..

gonesnakee · 05-22-04, 05:31 PM

Ya Kyle & I figured seeings how his buddy would not handle a snake for sure at my house now that a photo session was in order prior "bathtime". Mark
P.S. darn thread hijackers heh heh
EDIT I just saw the other post too the "flying across the room" statement remind me of a Boa story LOL

marisa · 05-22-04, 07:36 PM

Nice pics! That's exactly how Jose my Mexican Black is.

For us it's really not about avoiding it. He is so fast and unpredictable its almost impossible unless we never handled him! Sometimes I'll have him out for a good 15 minutes, he is calm as a baby, then BAM bite, chew, finger swallow. LOL Mostly though he bites within seconds of being out or moved. We do like the pillow case for him though. Saves us time letting him get bored of our skin. :P

Marisa

Ace · 05-23-04, 12:23 AM

I agree with Marisa.....sometimes it's just unavoidable. If I notice one of mine "probing", I'll just turn my hand over or move their head. This usually throws them off a bit. But, I don't always catch them in time or they just latch on without warning

. Here's my last bite pic........