My snake keeps on trying to bite me when i feed him. is it normal?

Question

Please help. I don't want to pay a whole bunch to take it to the vet. And while your at it, how do you tell a garter snake's sex??

Answer 1

The answer to your question is simple. DO NOT FEED IT BY HAND. Your snake smells the prey item, but it see's the movement and heat of your hand. It immediately assumes you are food. Rather feed your snake using tongs. It should not associate your hand with food, it should however get used to it for handling. An easy way to do this is to go through the same ritual everytime. Before you handle him stroke him in the same spot on the body everytime. This will get him used to the idea and as time progresses he will associate this with being handled. I only do this with my more aggressive snake species and large pythons, but it does work. Don't touch it before feeding and in time it will be able to get the difference between handling and feeding.

As for the sexing issue, best and most reliable way is to take it to a rep vet and have him probe the snake. This method may look obtrusive but the snake really doesn't mind. You can do it by eye as well but it is a lot less accurate. The female has a shorter thinner tail the base of the tail flows evenly from the body. The male has a longer tail and it thickens at the base of the tail. Sex is very difficult to determine if you don't know what to compare to. Just get a vet to do it.

Answer 2

The main reason your garter snake is trying to bite you is because he sense's the heat and movement from your hand. He's not used to having a hand moving around while he's trying to eat. This doesn't have to be a long time problem, he just needs to get used to you feeding him or her and he'll learn to distinguish the difference between your hand and it's feed. Just toss the food in the cage and close the door is the answer but you might want to buy a pair of long husbandry forceps and use that to handle the food. It's puts a little distance between you and the snake. ALWAYS try and feed your wild caught snake live food. he;ll eat more and easier for you and make sure it's colored the same as your wild ones.I found that my snakes will eat mice and fish (what ever the type of snake is) a lot easier when it's the same color as wild prey. As far as sexing the snake, I agree with the statement about leaving it to a pro. NOTE. once a year, when all the garter snakes come out to breed, a male will produce female hormones and he does this to lure all the other males away from the female who's ready to breed and hope he gets back to win the prize. it's not uncommon to have 200 to 400 male garter snakes try to breed one female so that little hormone trick is a pretty sneaky trick but it works. Good luck to you and your hands! :)

Answer 3

How are you feeding it?

Are you playing with the food before you feed? Is the food dead or alive? Something you are doing is confusing your snake, hence going for you and not the food.

The question is somewhat vag.

Sexing a snake is best done by a professional, or a experienced handler. Unless of course this is a pet you do not care about hurting seriously by practicing on it. This I do not think is the case.

Your garter snake from the wild? Garter snakes in the wild have very BIG Territory's and usually do not do well in cages...A good vet would look down on you bringing him/her a "pet" you caught and brought in to the office. Probably tell you to let it go.

Answer 4

Garter snakes bite...they are small tenacious creatures that seem to not like being handled. Without poison, camo, or other defenses, they rely on pure tenacity and speed in order to protect themselves. Constant handling can help to allieviate most of this, but he/she is still apt to display this behaviour from time to time. Try to feed him with tongs to try to get him to recognize food, shorten the tongs over time. Constant and persistent handling can have an amazing effect on aggression in reptiles. I used to wear tube socks on my hands to handle small aggresive snakes, rubbre gloves might work, but get him acclimated to handling and it will probably stop. They are always going to exhibit the fight or flight behavior of small reptiles though, and with small garters, it's usually fight, then flight.

Answer 5

use a pair of tongs or placed on gloves whilst feeding otherwise your snake, regardless of if he's attentive to you or no longer (he's no longer a cat) will consistently affiliate your hand with foodstuff. the sole thank you to correctly intercourse a snake is to have it probed. PLEASE do no longer attempt this your self as an unexperienced guy or woman might reason severe injury to the snake. purely a qualified guy or woman alongside with a veterinarian ought to try this.

Answer 6

Sounds like a rat snake. Rat snakes frequently bite when handled. I would have to see a photo to determine for sure though.

Answer 7

Do not feed the snake from your hand, put the food in and withdraw your hand, that way he will not connect the food with your hand, every time you put your hand in, it thinks it is food. Sorry, do not know answer about the sex.

Answer 8

i dont know too much about the eating problem. but, i do know that he does indeed think that you are food. it is nateral though. once he/she realizes that your not, he/she should stop.
i Can help with the gender though. the females tend to be twice as fat, and a little longer. while the males are shorter, about 8-15 inches.
also, if you get one that you know for sure is a male, put it with the one you have,. if the new one begins falowwing the older one, the older one it a girl. (only try that if you can, and are desprate.)

Answer 9

cant help with tellin the gender,but sounds like the snake is not being feed the right amout each feeding,try feeding a lil extra see if it works,if not shoot it,

Answer 10

Sure, it's normal. And don't feed him by hand... give him some live food to chase down and consume.