Listerine

[Greg'sGarters]

I have discovered the trick to not getting bit by snakes! All you need to do is pour a little Listerine on your hands. I heard that if a snake bites you to pour listerine in their mouth, and it will get them to release their jaws as well as partially clean the wound (kinda sorta). But, if you put listerine on your hands in the first place, they are hesitant to bite! I heard this trick online, so I went and got my mom's listerine, and poured some on my hands, and then proceeded to pick up my "son of satin" burmese python. He struck but never bit! It worked like a miracle. I have heard that Listerine is safe in small doses for snakes, so if anyone has any facts proving this wrong please state it here because I love not getting bit, but also love my snakes health even more. If none, you should try it!

[guidofatherof5]

Personally I don't see bites from a garter as a problem. I also want my snake to want to come out and spend time with me. I want them to see/smell me as safe. Putting a repellent on isn't something that would work for me.

[thamneil]

I don't buy the whole listerine thing one bit. Sure, it may prevent feeding response bites, but the majority of bites are going to be defensive. A snake will do whatever it has to to defend its self. It's not gonna matter what you smell like when the snake is in a fight or flight situation.

I would also assume that with Narticines or more intelligent Colubrids, applying a negative odor on your hands would cause the animals to lose trust in you. Successfully keeping these animals in captivity is all about having a level of trust. Bites are bites, they're part of keeping snakes. It's up to us to deal with that.

[d_virginiana]

I wouldn't use it. I don't have anything big enough to make me worry about making it let go before it decides to. Like Steve said, part of the draw of garters is that they're so friendly. I want mine to come out and want to approach me.

I actually saw a video addressing the listerine thing earlier today. The guy in the video basically said that if you knew what you were doing you didn't need listerine to get a snake off your hand lol.

[-MARWOLAETH-]

As a general rule,it isn't good to pour chemicals on an animals head.

[Stefan-A]

The best way to not get bitten, is by not letting them bite you.

[Greg'sGarters]

Ok. Guys, I definitely appreciate the feedback on this because I wasn't sure about this one. I guess I'll just manually put up with my burmese python, I've done it before.

[CrazyHedgehog]

I had. Garter once that would bite as soon as the tank was open whether it was to feed, change water Etc. Chloe told me to try wearing thin rubber gloves, it stops the teeth really catching your skin, and the snake doesn't like the feel of the rubber so releases, after a month or so she just stopped biting

[Greg'sGarters]

With mean big snakes, I start out with really thick gloves and then whorl my way down the thickness all the way down to bare skin.

[ConcinusMan]

pour listerine in their mouth, and it will get them to release their jaws

Well more than 20 years ago people recommended using booze. Anyway, it's the ethyl alcohol that gets them to let go because it burns the mucous membrane of their mouth. Later that practice was abandoned for the most part, as cruel and unnecessary.

I don't want to potentially harm my snakes and I certainly don't want to put them in any pain or discomfort if I can avoid it. I discovered that pressing or tapping gently on the top of their head a few times makes them let go just as well as putting alcohol in their mouth.

As far as using it as a repellent to prevent getting bit... I don't really have any snakes that are all that aggressive in the first place, but if I did, I would accept the consequences that I'll probably get bit once in a while or I wouldn't keep them in the first place.

I would say no to the Listerine idea. Seems barbaric to me.