so I was visiting someone yesterday evening.

[kerensa]

and they had a little male they call a "jerk" he bit me 6 times, and I was thinking I'd take him home since they disliked him and were wanting to get rid of him. cute little fella about 8 inches long, some beautiful reds, looked like a flame albino. They decided when I told them he would eventually settle down for me when he figured out biting me was pointless that they would just keep him and continue using tongs to pick him up.

when I heard that I was tempted to bite them too. think they are confused as to who the jerk is.

their other two were really pretty little girls. think they were granites. very tame and friendly.

[Steveo]

Tongs? one day they'll squeeze down too hard and that will be that. It's not like a little 8" fella is going to hurt anyone.

[kerensa]

I'm sure I know why he bites. out of 6 bites, he broke skin twice. he's more frightened then bad tempered, and at this point his bite isn't as bad as the prick of a thorn. poor little boy.

[Didymus20X6]

Tell them at least to switch to some leather or PVC gloves. If they are afraid of being bitten, leather or PVC will be thick enough to block it, and both are soft, so as long as they hold him gently, neither will be harmful to the snake.

But tongs? Those should only be used for feeding the snake, not picking him up.

[kerensa]

I did tell them to use gloves. I gave them a bit of a crash course on handling snakes... I wasn't very impressed. Glad I reached in to pick the little fella up. their method would have made me less diplomatic if I'd seen it rather then heard about it.

oh and their tongs were the sort my mother uses to pick up corn on the cob etc. handles like sissors etc with a triangle loop of metal with "teeth" cut into the metal they are made of. not the sort of thing I'd use to feed. when I saw them there at first I just figured they were cooking when something called them on the run to the snake tank and forgot them there.

[candoia aspera]

poor little fella, if they continue doing what they're doing it's going to completely break it's trust (

[guidofatherof5]

Tongs are a very bad idea.

[Stefan-A]

Tongs are a very bad idea.

Broken ribs, broken spine, skin lacerations etc.

[-MARWOLAETH-]

The dangers of uneducated people.

[Dan72]

I hate to hear things like this because then my wheels get spinning along these lines.... I know we all love garters (and our other pets), and we all are aware of or hope that garters stay low key to the other snake keepers out there (more for us ). But just getting on the forum we see everyday that X amount of members are on with XXX amount of guests. So for all of us that care for our snakes, take the time to learn the correct way to do things, etc. How many people are out there (tong users) doing things wrong at the expense of the animal . I can only hope that, and I know this forum does, change some bad care for whatever the reasons into good care for those that seek it out. For those that don't..... I hope somebody picks them up with a pair of tongs.