Sub-species temperament

[ConcinusMan]

More of a grab on and chew huh? been there, done that. Racers will grab on, chew, get a good grip, then thrash around while they hold onto you. Ouch. And their teeth seem much longer and sharper than garters.

[RedSidedSPR]

I know. I caught a 5 (close enough) foot one, he latched on, and it was not THAT painful, but when let go there was a surprisingly big bite and LOTS of blood for a snake bite. LOVE THOSE GUYS!!!

[ConcinusMan]

Get pierced by something sharp and fine enough (garter teeth) and you don't even feel it. What you feel happens after the piercing. You feel the firmly anchored teeth pulling. Their bite really isn't for inflicting pain or damage anyway, it's for holding on. They are counting on the fear factor to discourage and dissuade you from messing with them. That is why in most cases, strikes are just a bluff.

I could swear that their saliva is an anticoagulant. Because never in any other case will such a small puncture wound bleed so dang much!

[RedSidedSPR]

Well, the saliva is with water snakes. Bleeds mostly because of it. But I don't know about racers...

[d_virginiana]

I've only been bitten by Houdini at feeding time when he misjudges the distance and grabs my finger instead of the food, but it always seems to really freak him out. Maybe it's because he was expecting a bite-sized piece of food and ended up with something different? Do any of your snakes have that reaction?

[RedSidedSPR]

No. Mine bites me sometimes, but he holds on for a few seconds, than let's
Go. He looks emberrased but doesn't freak out...

I can make my babies bite my by sticking my hand in te fish tank. They bite, let go, bite again, let go, bite again.... Theyre pretty relentless!

[kibakiba]

I believe you can damage their teeth by doing that. That's also teasing, I cant see you liking someone doing that to you if you were a snake.

[RedSidedSPR]

Well, it's when my hands smell like fish, and he never really bites, but if it's a risk I won't do it. I've only done it once or twice.... I don't really tease him like it sounded

[Mrs N1ntndo]

Excellent point. I like them all, but I am fond of attitudes.

I used to have a eastern garter I believe he was that would strike all the time. I dont like overly aggressive garters. We named him Wild Fang. He even looked mean. He was about two and a half feet long and we only had him for about a month and let him go again. He was beatiful was deff wild and mean...lol.

[RedSidedSPR]

Gotta love attitude.