Are you worried that your ball python might bite you? Are you curious about the teeth of your snake pet?
Ball python owners often worry about getting bitten by their snakes. But there is no reason to worry about ball python bites.
Ball pythons have teeth, but they dont have fangs, and they do not produce venom.
The bite of a ball python, however, can be relatively painless or quite painful, depending on whether it is biting to defend itself or its biting to capture food.
Ball Pythons Have Up To 150 Teeth
A ball python has four rows of teeth in the top of its mouth, and two rows of teeth in the bottom of its mouth. Each row has 30 teeth, making a total of 150 teeth in all.
A ball python’s teeth look a lot like small fish hooks. They measure approximately 1 cm (4/10th of an inch) in length and curve backward.
These teeth are designed to hold prey in place so the snake can swallow it.
Once a snake has started swallowing its meal, it cant let go without breaking its teeth.
The curvature of the ball pythons teeth forces a prey animal into its digestive tract with no chance of escape.
Feeding Bites Versus Defensive Bites
Ball pythons know that they must finish their food once they’ve had a bite.
This may explain why a ball Python’s warning bite to let someone or something know it wants to be left alone has fewer teeth than its bite to hold a prey animal still in place to eat it.
How And Why Ball Pythons Make Defensive Bites?
Ball pythons don’t see well.
They don’t seem to be able recognize other colors than red and blue. However, they do see these colors in animals who want them to eat them.
If you are wearing blue jeans and a red T-shirt, and you put your ball python down on the floor to play with it, it may not be sure who you are.
Ball pythons are extremely nearsighted. They can detect other animals based on their heat signature.
In this scenario, when you stand over your ball python, it may think the equivalent of Oh no! I am being watched by the biggest red and blue predators, who are ready to kill me.
Although the snake will not attack you, it will tell you that you are frightening it.
It will stick its tongue out at your face. It will hiss.
Although it won’t roll into tight balls before, it will at least try to give you some nip to let your business know that it is serious.
It will still try to hiss and rearrange its head like it was going to bite you.
Ball pythons don’t use all their teeth when they make a warning strike. You only see one to five of their teeth when they turn their heads.
Sometimes a ball python bite does not even break the skin. Other times, it causes about as much damage as a pinprick.
It does not release any venom, or any substances that interfere with blood clotting. It almost never causes an allergic reaction, and when it does, it is not part of its defense.
Nipping at you can break off your snakes tooth.
It is obvious that no one should ever be bitten by snakes.
But defensive bites you get when you are trying to handle or play with your ball python are more likely to harm your snake than they are to harm you.
Feeding Bites Are Different
Ball pythons can bite their victims with more severe bites than the defensive bites. This is because the ball python uses all of its teeth when it eats.
A hungry ball Python doesn’t think before it eats.
Different parts of a ball Python’s brain are activated by food than the threat. The ball pythons brain is busy getting its body for extreme changes when it eats.
The heartbeat of a python is faster than normal, and it also grows larger when the snake eats. Its blood circulates four times faster than normal.
The lungs of the ball python take in five times more air than normal. The brain triggers changes to make it ready for new neurons when the prey animal has been eaten.
This means that a ball Python senses food and transforms from a sedentary animal to a predatory one
It is not going to let anything get in the way of its meal. It is going to use all of its teeth to hang on to its meal and swallow it.
If it believes that you are its next meal, this is a problem. It may also mistakenly bite another snake or its tail.
How Feeding Bites By Ball Python Happen
Feeding bites are most common when a ball Python is being fed outside an enclosure.
The snake smells the food. Although it can’t see what is inside, its pit organs detect the heat signature of those who are about to feed the snake.
When the person feeding the snake is about 0.9 m (a meter) away, the ball python becomes extremely excited.
This is the time when ball pythons are likely to literally bite the hands that feed them.
Because the ball python cannot let go (you remember that its teeth are curved backward), it is necessary to peel the python off human skin, breaking off many teeth in the process.
These bites can be quite painful. Because the snake eats the entire body of its prey, including the guts, it is possible to get an infection with E. coli or other bacteria from the bite.
Although defensive bites can cause skin damage, they may not cause any injury. On the other hand, feeding bites may require medical attention.
Both types of bites are rare and almost impossible to avoid.
How To Prevent Feeding Bites By Ball Python
The single most important thing you can do to prevent being bitten when you feed your ball python is this: Never feed your ball python from your bare hand.
Wear gloves when you feed your ball python by hand.
Even better, present your ball python with its meal by dangling the prey animal in front of it with metal tongs.
You should separate any more than one ball Python before you give them to your children.
While the first ball python may be fine, the second ball python will likely have trouble. The smell of food can cause them to become frenzied.
Use a second enclosure if you can to feed your snake.
That way, your ball python will not learn to expect food when you put your hand inside its enclosure. You will expect it to eat when you place it in its cage.
You will need to leave your ball python in its feeding cage long enough to digest its meal at the right temperature for digestion. Ball pythons cannot digest their food if the ambient temperature is too low.
The spider morph has a hereditary neurological condition that can cause serious feeding problems. These beautiful snakes have a notoriously bad aim when they are presented with a food animal.
Spider ball pythons can strike at humans who are feeding them, other snakes in the same cage or even their own bodies.
Once they have bitten, they cannot let go. A spider morph may starve if it is not removed from its own tail, bitten at feeding time.
How To Prevent Defensive Bites By Ball Pythons
A ball pythons defensive bite is a slight nip that is its way of telling you I want to be alone.
A ball python that is not used to being picked up may strike at the person attempting to hold it. A ball python may be unhappy about changes to its cage, or getting a roommate for breeding purposes.
It is crucial to desensitize your ball python to human contact when you first receive it.
You can place your gloved hand into the terrarium of ball pythons. Dont try to touch it.
Your hand should be covered with a glove so that your snake knows you aren’t dangerous.
After doing this several times, you can start to touch your snake. Dont try to pick it up. Just touch it harmlessly for 15 to 30 seconds, and then take your hand out of the cage and close the lid.
Next, pick up the snake. Dont use the same moves predatory animals make. Approach your ball python from the side, not from above.
Approach your ball python slowly, not with sudden moves.
Hold your ball python gently and firmly outside its enclosure when you first bring it out. To prevent it from running away, you don’t have to squeeze it. It can slink between your fingers, or wrap itself around your arm.
Your snake will soon feel comfortable being held after 20-30 desensitization sessions. But you will always need to avoid sudden moves to keep it from biting at you.
First Aid To Ball Python Bites?
Defensive bites are usually treated with nothing more than washing the skin with soap and water.
For bites that are not easily treated, you may need to wash the area with antiseptic and then bandage it for a few days. If you are concerned about infection, see your doctor. Your snakes teeth will grow back.
