If you're going to own a snake...

You are going to get bit.  Period.  No matter what.  It's only a matter of time and severity.  Sure, my small snakes like Quinn & Isley could try to bit me, and it wouldn't hurt.  In fact it would likely startle them more than anything, a simple reflex.  Isley might actually be able to break skin, but she couldn't do any real damage.  Sancho however, or any larger breed snake for that matter, that's going to hurt.  Ask me how I know (actually, I knew before I got bit, but this just reinforced it for me).

There are generally two times when any snake will bite you.  One, when they are startled and it is a defense mechanism.  And two, when they mistake you for a food item.  The first is the far better of the two.  Most snakes will let you go quickly when they figure out what is going on.  The second, not so grand.  If you happen to have the misfortune of being bit by a hungry snake that mistakes you for food, it's just plain going to suck.  Especially if the snake wraps itself around you and tries to coil.  Unfortunately, the second is what happened to me.  And Sancho did wrap and coil my arm.

Last night Sancho had finished his meal and had the food down his body a fair bit, so it was time to move him back into his enclosure.  As I was reaching down to pick him up, I almost had my hand around his neck, he turned his head and latched onto two of my fingers, didn't even strike, just bit.  He thought I was course two and quickly coiled me. 

With the help of my friend, Ariel, we got him off of me pretty quickly.  It looks pretty gruesome, but honestly the cuts are superficial.  It's where he coiled my hand and bent my fingers in awkward positions that really hurts.  It felt like he dislocated the two joints on my ring finger, and the swelling didn't really help.  We got the cuts cleaned and disinfected, then iced my fingers until Sean arrived with gauze to bandage me up.

I went to urgent care today to make sure nothing was fractured or out of place, and to get some antibiotics to make sure I don't get an infection (he had just eaten a rat).  They said that everything looked just fine, and that I had done exactly what I needed to.  Hopefully the swelling goes away in a few days.

Honestly, things could be worse.  With his size, he could have snapped my wrist (which my wrist is sore from him coiling me, so it is honestly possible).  And at least he didn't bite my boob.  I think what really saved me in the end is the fact that I had already resigned myself to the fact that he was going to bite me eventually.  Sure, it still surprised me, but I didn't freak out.  I tried to keep my cool, and I tried to be mindful of the snake so I didn't hurt him as I was trying to free myself.  In that situation, I think it's the best I could have done.  The part that sucks the worst is that it hurts for me to try to hold knitting needles.  I foresee a lot of reading in my immediate future.

By the way, Sancho is fine.  His jaw was a little wonky for a while, but he looks fine now.  Snakes not only dislocate their jaws while eating, but the lower jaw splits down the middle to accommodate larger food items.  This is probably why his jaw looked odd, but it's all normal this morning.

Speaking of snake food, we have two new breeder mice in the house.  Meet Zoe (black) & Ben (tan).

Sean calls them Kibble & Bitt, I like Ben & Zoe better

These have got to be the two strangest mice I've ever had.  Ben is totally neurotic.  Instead of running on the wheel, he runs circles around it.  And now Zoe started to do it too.  But they seem to be friendly, they let us pick them up and hold/pet them, which is more than our last two breeders ever did.  I'm hoping they make pretty babies.  I mean, if I'm going to breed snake food, I may as well enjoy it, right?

Oh, and I also decided it would be a great idea to give Gidgit a haircut yesterday, before the whole biting incident.  It came out OK, except for a few bald spots where she moved when I was mid cut.  Hopefully it will help to keep her cool in the warm temperatures that seem to have snuck up on us.

All dejected looking, don't let her fool you, she's a happy girl.

I'm off to ice my hand and watch some movies with Sean.  Hopefully I don't go stir crazy not being able to do anything with my hands.

Finding Normal

A lot's happened in my life over the last year, and because of that everything in my life is changing.  If I were to look ahead at my life exactly one year ago I would be shocked.  I am now trying to figure out what I expect to be normal going forward.  As much as I hate to say it, my life is evolving into a "new normal" which is a buzz word in my industry right now that I absolutely can't stand.  But it's the truth and I have to come to accept it.

So with that in mind, and the fact that I've never been good at blogging regularly to begin with, please forgive the sporadic posts.  Life has been marching on here in the Kingdom.  My evil cat Loki is blossoming into quite the loving and mature adult cat, now if I could just get her to stop scratching at door frames.  My yearling corn snake is now about 2 1/2 feet long, maybe longer as it's rather hard to measure something that's squirming around, we usually just eyeball it.  Cricket is becoming old and crotchety, Gidgit still likes to try and herd the cats, Isley eats regularly again, but Bruce has become a finicky eater, and Sancho is slooooowly warming up to us (I still won't take him out of his enclosure without Sean home).  So life marches on.

I've been doing a lot over the last few weeks: 

I demonstrated spinning at the Marion county fair.

I made some progress on my knee-highs.

I knit a pair of anklets.  Arch-shaped socks, 7/11-7/17, Wollmeise in Spice Market colorway.

I worked on my KAL socks.  The KAL is over and I'm only on the heel flap, oh well.

I went to Sock Summit with a great group of gals.

Where I helped my friend Stephania set up her booth.

And watched a giant group of people perform a flash mob about knitting.

I knit another pair of anklets.  Arch-shaped socks, 7/17-8/10, Cascade Fixation.

And I started a Hitchhicker scarf/shawl, which I am absolutely in love with.

So it's not exactly like I've been sitting idle around here :-)  I also taught one of my friends how to knit.  She finished her first project, a hat, last night and is already working on her first pair of socks!  My plan to convert the world to knitting reptile lovers is slowly working, mwahahaha!

And of course, the mandatory cute and fuzzy picture for the post:

Loki has got to be the strangest cat I've ever had.