# can slow worms bite?



## neil270289

as the title says, can slow worms bite? i have one in my back garden and want to pick him up but im scared incase i freak him out and he bites lol, do they let off a stink if the get scared like grass snakes?


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## Fixx

Can have your arm off if you're not careful.


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## neil270289

Fixx said:


> Can have your arm off if you're not careful.


har har very funny lol i no they wont hurt us im just worried incase they have teeth and if they bite might pull a tooth out lol, i just dont want him to get hurt


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## BenjaminBoaz

I remember my grandad bringing one home (about 25 yrs ago now!) i took it to school to show my teacher and the class. I felt so proud and was going to keep it but then she made me take it out side to release it! not really wanting to i did, but as i went to pick it up the bloody thing took a liking to my finger and took a munch. I fought back the tears and watched it slither off. ANSWER: YES.


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## Galaxy Girl

:no1:

In all my childhood years of catching these i never once got bitten!! haha

even now i can't cut the grass till i have hunted for slow worms to make sure they are not gonna get eaten by the mower!! (not a problem now actually as i have no garden anymore!) 

but no... as far as i am aware... both your arm and the slow worm are safe!!


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## Galaxy Girl

animalstorey said:


> I remember my grandad bringing one home (about 25 yrs ago now!) i took it to school to show my teacher and the class. I felt so proud and was going to keep it but then she made me take it out side to release it! not really wanting to i did, but as i went to pick it up the bloody thing took a liking to my finger and took a munch. I fought back the tears and watched it slither off. ANSWER: YES.


 
seriously????? i used to hunt the little buggers and put them in my sisters tea set just to scare the hell out of her! i never got bitten!

(and yes i was a horrible little girl! but i grew out of it! though given half a chance i would still wind my sister up!!)


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## BenjaminBoaz

Story was true - happened a long time ago but remember it so clearly. It was a lovely s/worm. I use to live in cornwall and would come across them at times. My GD would often bring home interesting things to look at. I remember some hugh catipillers that frightened me! lol and now i would be sticking them in sweet gars and raising them up. Havent seen a slow worm in years!


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## Galaxy Girl

my old house had colonies of them in the garden! but used to mean i couldn't cut all the grass, coz i would cut around nest sites!!


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## neil270289

Fixx said:


> Can have your arm off if you're not careful.


har har very funny lol i no they wont hurt us im just worried incase they have teeth and if they bite might pull a tooth out lol, i just dont want him to get hurt


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## Philcw

If it has a mouth it 'can' bite...

'will' it bite however...very unlikely


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## dmr22

Are you not worried about the venom?


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## Tiger Dragon

aaww i love slow worms!! soft as butter fast but soft..
ever since i was little me and my friends would find them and feed them spiders!! becareful if u do pick them up their tails drop off like geckos.
vemon ?..only the adder has vemon 
here found this in my garden last summer .and saved a grass snake from a dog and farmer my brother thought it was an adder, picked her up and she pooed al over me!! (and i say she cause she was huge!!)


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## Ssthisto

neil270289 said:


> har har very funny lol i no they wont hurt us im just worried incase they have teeth and if they bite might pull a tooth out lol, i just dont want him to get hurt


Yes, they do have teeth - but they are *lizards* so the risk of them pulling a tooth out is very low even if they did nom onto you.

However unless you smell like a slug you're unlikely to be bitten; they do not musk either.


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## Mirf

You would have to have very small appendages before you had to worry about a slowie biting you. My adult girls can only just manage to get a large waxie in their gobs, so you should be safe enough.

If you do attempt to pick it up be warned, wild slowies tend to thrash about in quite an alarming manner, making it difficult to keep hold of them (the whole idea obviously)....they are also a protected species so be careful not to harm it in any way. Not that you wouldn't, I'm just saying


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## Matt Harris

I've been bitten more times by slow-worms than I have by grass snakes, but overall it's rare for them to try to bite. They're more likely to cr*p all over you.


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## ryanr1987

If you get bit expect a hospital visit :lol2: i used to catch laods when i was younger out of 100's i found only about 2 bit me, there more flighty than anything else but the bite does not hurt and should not damage them. for a "slow worm" they can move lol


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## dwm123456

wimp:Na_Na_Na_Na:


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## CrazyWolf84

I remember having quite a collection of snakes/worms caught in the wild 
in cornwall. (porthtowan) . a friend and i would keep them all in an up turned 
rabbit hutch.I do know we never tried to catch an adder so didnt have one,
the others must have been grass snakes and slow worms ( one was 3 ft )
we named him Big Ben. 

we never got bit. 

Adders will bite they is nasty !


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## Barney_M

every reptile CAN bite


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## Tiger Dragon

i used to live in north wales and we found slow worms and comman lizards. ive caught loads and never bit me once! 
but remember their wild animals so rather flee than be caught by us ...and boy are they fast!!(but if your quick and relaxed then they dont seem to mind.)


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## andy07966

I knew a guy who used to keep about 5 of them in a big fish tank. He had them for years!!


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