Snakes around the neck?

[Pareeeee]

Originally Posted by RandyRhoads

Some people can be asymptomatic with one completely occluded internal carotid artery. There's the vertebral arteries to perfuse the brain. I realy don't see anything like balls or corns causing enough pressure to occlude both arteries enough to cause you to hit the deck. Maybe lightheadedness and dizziness at worst? In the rare chance that one decided to constrict i'd say you have a good amount of time to unwrap it before you hit the ground. The "pressure points" like cross collar/ rear chokes are just that, points, not even circumfrential pressure.

^^^ This ^^^

[miya]

i personally do not let my corn snakes near my face which also means the neck area as i have seen first hand how quickly a snake can become upset or tense it has nothing to do with pressure points or any of that its the fact that well i really have no urge to risk getting bit in the face it doesnt matter how long you have had your snake all it takes is one dumb move and i rather it be my hand then my face lol


but i dont think its up to us to give "unwanted critism" to people, if someone asks hey should i do this then by all means give your opinion but otherwise leave people be

[KORBIN5895]

Originally Posted by Kaetlinv

just took this and am currently at my laptop with her roaming freely around my neck / shoulders. she's more concerned with getting off of me than staying around my neck lol

Since you are so vociferous and unabashed about your opinion I am going to use your photo as a case in point.

This photo can easily lead to blatant stupidity. Let's be real. Most people are a very stupid and don't do proper research ( if you don't believe me look at some of the thread people start here). Someone will see this picture and say a snake around the neck is fine so let's put my two year old bci or retic around my neck or around a cholds neck. You can say no that won't happen but we all know it will just do a Google search.

Gabby my 16 month old bci is over forty inches. She wrapped around my banister last night and I couldn't not get her off u til she wanted off.

Some people may feel it is fine and they are I'm control but I think we stand to forget that snakes are not a dog on a leash. So like Jerry said use common sense please!

[red ink]

Anybody ever tried un-coiling a BP from it's prey or a corn and how hard that is to do?

I have no idea on this as I don't have any so I'll leave it up to you guys to find out.

[Wildside]

Originally Posted by CDN_Blood

They tighten when they have the opportunity, such as when prey exhales and fights. It's only when the prey has stopped moving that they relax their grip. I don't really think they're sensitive enough to feel a pulse, and if they are, I think they're entirely too focused on the attack to think about that, lol.

I'm gonna start another thread on this because it's a genuinely interesting subject.

[Terranaut]

Great thread now people instead of discussing this subject in picture threads or any other thread for that matter can we just pm a link to this thread as a friendly reminder instead of discussing it at length in 20 different threads. Again I understand and applaud the fact that people want to warn others of potential dangers and maybe even save someone from injury or death. My beef is the amount of bandwidth I waste scrolling past yet another discussion about it.
And Kaetlinv at 29 posts and a week on here you have no clue how much this comes up. Marvelfreak had his photo thread locked over this just a few weeks ago. This topic has cluttered the site in the past and I hope we can move on to better stuff soon.
Fill peoples inbox not the thread... except this one

[shaunyboy]

a snake as small as a corn COULD stop the blood supply to your brain

your carotid arterys run vertically up your neck behind your ears

i taught judo and a carotid artery chock can have you blacking out and unconcious,in 3 to 10 seconds...

it takes VERY LITTLE pressure to close down a vein

the carotid supplies oxygen to the brain,this means the moment the vein is closed,the oxygen to your brain is INSTANTLY stopped...!!!

you can test this by closing the both carotid arteries down at the SAME time,by applying,pressure with your thumbs,if done properly,you will feel woozy with 3 or 4 seconds

if for any reason a snake decides to apply its full power and constrict.....

then it would have more than enough power,to kill you

DON'T confuse closing of the carotid artery with,strangulation.....

which is closing down your wind pipe...

this STILL allows your brain,to USE oxygen,that REMAINS accessible from,the lungs and bloodstream,allowing the brain to function a LOT longer than the,5 to 10 seconds stopping the air supply inches away from the brain,at your neck

^^^^^
the above is the reason some of us go on about NOT putting snakes round your neck...

there HAVE been cases in the USA,of keepers KILLED by a snake round their necks

if you think about it...

the more you try and pull a snake off someones neck,the more the snake will constrict,due to being stressed/freaked out,with you grabbing at it

imo its better to be SAFE than SORRY

cheers shaun

[RandyRhoads]

Definitely better safe than sorry. But Shaun as I said before those techniques in martial arts are a specific point you push in on, and if i'm correct by the time your carotid is to the point of your ear it turns into a cerebral artery that is not accesible to occlude.

Have you ever been choked by an open hand? It's a lot of pressure on the trachea and not as much on the carotids, unless proper technique is used to dig into them such as a cross collar choke. I'm still convinced a snake which contracts pretty consistently all around wouldn't close off the carotids unless it was strong enough to first colapse the trachea.

[Skumbo]

if, for some weird *** reason, your snake WANTED to constrict as hard as it could around your neck, it probably could kill your in a few seconds (well youd pass out then it'd choke your brain dry.)

I have a big ***, strong neck. Ive trained in MMA for years, and now, retiring from MMA have gotten more into power lifting. Even my 4"' 10 month old milksnake could probably choke me to death before i could get it off if it really wanted. Would it though? No. Probably not.

I think the general rule should be that neck is fine, but don't like it coil around you. Once around is fine (though im sure a little risky) but anything more youre asking for it.

resting a snake on your shoulders isn't going to put you at any risk, especially if its used to being held, you're so big that it'd strike at you before trying to constrict you (it doesn't understand that your neck is where to choke, think of how it kills rats, they crush their preys entire body, they don't have that option with you, do they?)

I wont do it myself, but I wont tell anyone else not to either.

editorial note:
the snake also would probably constrict where it is, low on your neck, due to it "resting" there before deciding to go at you, therefore it would have to fight a lot of muscle in your neck before actually cutting off any blood supply, nor would it hit any "sweet spots" so to speak.

A choke from a human is like a vice, ive had someone who didnt knwo where to choke squeeze and squeeze at my neck for ~45 seconds while i got out of the position, it was horribly uncomfortable, but nothing that even got me close to passing out. other times, ive had someone who knows how get around my neck and i was asleep before I knew what happened. A snake would be more like the untrained guy, give it time and youd lose but depending on you and the snake, wouldnt be too terrible to get off if I was fighting it.

[alessia55]

Whether or not you put your small snake (corn, ball python, rosy boa, etc) around your neck is none of my concern. HOWEVER, posting photos of it anywhere (on the news, a forum, Facebook, whatever) can lead people to think that if it's OK to put a ball python on your neck, it's OK to put a red tail boa on your neck, so it's OK to put a retic on your neck, etc. I know that seems illogical to us, but to most people out there, they have no idea. When I tell someone I have ball pythons, their first reaction is to shriek and ask "OMG HOW BIG ARE THEY!? 16 FEET?!" because they have no concept that some pythons are smaller than others, etc. Most people are shocked to hear that mine won't get much bigger than they already are... I often get asked if they're babies (meaning baby burmese pythons or something) because they know no better. So most people wouldn't come to the conclusion that it's OK to put a ball python around your neck, but not a carpet python. IMO, no matter how small the snake is, it gives the hobby a bad rep.

Case and point: there's a new show that started this week called Animal Practice. The trailer for the show includes a clip with a man being strangled by an anaconda. Yup.



In my humble opinion, we shouldn't have photos of anyone of any age with any snake of any size around their neck. It's better to just represent proper handling that can be generalized for all snakes, than to have to explain why it's OK to put a corn around your neck but not a red tail boa.

Photos like the one posted by Kaetlinv might or might not worry those of us who are familiar with the snake. If I were to post that on Facebook right now, most of my friends would ask if that girl is about to be chocked by her own snake, why she's doing that, that it looks dangerous, etc.

I'm not worried about what you do at home in your own time with your own snakes. But I do worry about what we teach those who are less knowledgable than us. People may see you wrap your ball python around your neck and think it's acceptable, then later do it with someone else's snake and have a more frightening experience. To me, it's not worth the risk of adding more bad rep to the hobby.

[Hillsberry]

I don't think putting a snake around your neck is the best idea. Maybe a corn snake or another small snake like that would be okay, but even a ball python can have some strong power. I personally don't allow any of my snakes around my neck. My 6 foot, 12lb columbian RTB is super nervous when being handled. She spooks over everything and I have felt how strong she really is and she could easily put me in a bad place if around my neck. I just don't think people should risk it. People make mistakes all the time but it only takes 10 seconds for you to be knocked out on the floor unable to receive oxygen to your brain. If your not getting enough oxygen to your brian it can lead to brain damage. Like everyone else said, better safe then sorry.

[limey]

What we're discussing here is infact merely a mixture of opinions.

The fact is; people will be people. And people do whatever they want. I'm not saying it's right or not, but you'll still see people with snakes around their necks regardless.

[iBaman]

See, I have always put oliver around my neck, from the first time I ever held him up until now. However, Pajamas will NEVER go around my neck, merely over my shoulder. I wish people had common sense...but alas, that's too much to ask for >.>

[Kaetlinv]

I posted the picture to prove a point. Specific snakes can be handled and left alone to sit around someone's neck - not all snakes. I've said before, I would never do this with a snake that is any bigger than this that I do not know and haven't handled regularly over a long period of time. I also said earlier that I've been doing this with this particular python her entire life - if she were ever stressed out I wouldn't put her anywhere near my neck. I hardly ever put my smaller python around my neck, she is smaller and I've only had her a few months.

Both of these snakes however are more interested in roaming down my arms than going around my neck in circles. The only time they're ever coiled a much as that picture? Is when I first put them around my neck, and they're just making sure they won't fall.

I wouldn't tell someone it's okay to put every snake around their neck, honestly I think it would be a horrible idea to put certain snakes around your neck. It's up to the specific snake, and the specific handler combination.

Valentine here, if she grows much bigger, will not be allowed around my neck. As it stands, she is close to losing that privilege because of her current size. She's a big girl, and when she's around my neck I can feel the pressure she's using just to move around, and it sometimes makes me uneasy because I know she is strong enough to hurt me.

Long story short; Whether a snake should be put around depends on the size, temperament and species of the snake and how long the handler has known that snake.




as a side note; I only ever hold them like this at home... if I'm walking about they're on my shoulders or my arms / hands. The jostling of walking would disturb them too much for me to trust them around my neck.

[DOBERMAN]

As has been stated by others here in this thread it doesn't only take a closing off of the windpipe to render someone unconscious. The blood flow through the neck to the head can be constricted, and I have a case in point that happens with my BCI where she doesn't even have to have a complete circular hold around my neck to start cutting off circulation. She is a strong girl, and if she is on my shoulders, she only has to form around my neck - imagine a lululemon symbol, or the ohm symbol for electrical resistance to apply pressure on both sides of my neck. She has not even completed a one full 360 wrap - which I never intend to do by the way. I am not an MMA fighter but I have trained in Judo - and we can apply arm bar holds to the neck that do not require a full wrap to constrict blood flow - people talk of these pressure "points" like you are safe if one is not hit - no, you only need to apply pressure to the general vicinity to get results.