Nipped On The Nose

 Jesse and I have pet snakes.  One is an eight foot Boa Constrictor named Dune.  We have had her since she was a baby.  The other snake is Pete.  She is a five foot long Ball Python of about 13 or 14 years old.  You may wonder why we would name a female snake 'Pete'.  Well it's because before we knew she was female she used to be an escape artist.  Jesse named her 'Sneaky Pete' because of that time in her life.

Cooper is a very inquisative dog.  One day when the snakes were being fed, Cooper became very interested.  Jesse had the cage open and was dealing with Dune.  He was aware of where Pete was but he wasn't paying attention to what Cooper was doing.  At that time Cooper had no reason to fear the snakes.  He just wanted to see what was going on.  He got in there close enough to get a good sniff.  His intention was to embark on some serious exploration.  He was very busily  on the track of something he was about to discover, wasn't quite what he had expected.  

This is Sneaky Pete

He was sniffing at a very hungry Pete who had smelled a rat.  She was in feed mode, so she struck and bit Cooper right on the top of his nose.  It was a clear case of mistaken identity! Cooper YIPED and pulled back.  He came running to me and landed right in my lap nervously looking back toward the snakes.  I think he was unsettled that Jesse was still over there with those EVIL BEINGS.  I calmed him down and carried him to the bathroom for a wash cloth so I could stop the bleeding.  It was then when I realized that Pete had left a piece of her tooth in Cooper's nose.  Yup, she got him good.

This turned out to be a very good lesson.  Cooper is very cautious now when he knows the snakes are out or being fed.  He is on guard when Jesse feeds the snakes.  This is a good thing because Cooper needs to have the sense to stay away from the snakes if he sees them out.

Pete getting a drink

Just to put people at ease I would like to let everyone know, Cooper is never in danger of being unprotected.  He has had his encounter, which I'm glad for so he knows to protect himself.  He also is never left alone with the snakes.  This is why Cooper goes upstairs when we go to work.  The snakes are locked up downstairs. Cooper can't get in where they are and they can't get out of the room even if they found a way to get out of their cage.  We've also gotten them a better cage.  Since then they have never gotten out. AND FINALLY, Cooper sleeps in his dog crate with the door closed every night.  There is no chance for a snake to sneak up on him while he sleeps.  He's safe with absolutely no chance of an accident being able to occur.  We take these safety measures without exception.  Any mistake could be our final one with Cooper in this matter, so there is no tolerance for any variation from this rule.  

Cooper is absolutely safe at all times.  He has a small scar on his nose.  Good lessons sometimes leave scars to remind you of what you've learned.  Cooper remembers.  He won't repeat that mistake again.