Bite me.

Two weeks ago I first assisted the snake in eating its first pinkie mouse since it started living with me. Youtube turned out to be a great source of information, there are videos out there that show exactly how the assist feeding is done and what you should look out for. So I gave it a try. The snake tried to withdraw, but as soon as the head of the mouse was in its mouth it didn't take long before it first started to relax, and then coiled around my wrist. At that point I put it down in its box where it curled all around its food. Turned off the light, closed the door and waited for a good 15 minutes before checking. Mouse gone. I put the plastic box into a large brown paer bag so the snake wouldn't get distracted. It all worked very well, a few days later the snake came out of its hiding box and I put it back into its normal cage.

One week later I tried to feed it another mouse. Still no strike reflex, so I assisted again. That was on Tuesday, it is now Friday and the snake came out of hiding again.

When I opened the box (still inside the paper bag) the snake came out and tried to climb out of the bag. This is too high though, so I put my arm in to give it something to climb on, with the intention of then putting it back into its cage. When i did this before the snake first hesitated a bit but after a few moments got onto my arm. This time was different. It slowly circles around my hand for a few seconds, moved toward it as to slide onto my hand... and then it bit my finger and started to coil up around my hand. I sort of expected it as its behaviour was a bit different, but I'm wondering what set it off. I washed my hands right before handling the snake but used the same (slightly scented) soap as before I fed it. Wonder if it is now associating the scent of that soap with food. I'll try a different soap next time, see if that has any effect.

The bite itself was not really painful - bit like when you get stung by the thorn of a rose. I gently uncoiled the snake from around my hand, tail first, and then gently took turned by hand upside down. The snake loosened its grip straight away. Washed my hands and disinfected the two little skin punctures just to make sure. I'm actually pleased that it developed a reflex to strike, hopefully it reserves it for food though.