Again, heh heh heh…….
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Yeah, my field (research psych, behavioral neuro) has such issues with replication of studies and people just publishing unchecked data or unreplicated results, that we are taught to take every published article with a grain of salt unless multiple other studies support the evidence 
it sucks, but with the way things are (being paid and earning tenure for the more publications you get - publications that can only really happen if you show new, surprising results), data being portrayed incorrectly, being manipulated, or just experiments not being repeated to make sure it wasn’t a fluke are all things that are rewarded, since they result in publications 
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Having been SOUNDLY chomped by a fit and powerful Ball Python, the biggest danger is if their tiny needle fangs punch a vein under the skin in your hand, and blow out as a hematoma. Massive dark bruising, swelling, it was very unpleasant.
But that is mostly, I suspect, because I am NOT a healthy adult by any stretch and I am physically more… friable than most people.
If you’re a moderately healthy human, provided there’s no histamine reaction, you should be fine if you just wash it and do usual wound care. Snakes don’t seem to have nearly as much bacteria that can pass to humans as say, a cat. Cat bites, as mentioned, are heinous. Nonvenomous Snakes? Not’sa much.
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I’ve been bitten by an adult ball python before. (Before you ask, it wasn’t my fault. I did not mishandle the snake. I think it was just stressed because its environment was not the correct husbandry. It is not my snake.) and I was fine. Bled for a little bit, didn’t hurt much. no life-threatening infections 
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I can’t find any definite numbers, but the answer is at least less than 1%. Unfortunately, I am part of that less than 1%. I was bit by a red tail boa on November 21, 2021. Over the next two years of my life, I had five surgeries on my wrist, ultimately resulting in total wrist arthrodesis. I am missing bones in my wrist as well as the whole end of my ulna bone and I have no cartilage, no ligaments, and no tendons that are usually associated with hold your wrist together. The doctors needed to place metal to finally get me out of pain. So, yes, your chances of developing an infection from a non-venomous snake bite are ridiculously low, but not zero.
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Wow! @snakebiteh, just wow! I hope that it didn’t put you off from handling snakes permanently. Must have been a big snake. Did it also constrict?
I’d have to say that is by far the worst bite I’ve ever seen.
I was bitten severely back in 09 or 10 by a large carpet python. She figured it was food day even though she had never been fed during the day and had a large rat in her from two nights before. I was reaching in to pull the water and she latched onto the back of my left hand, then, after anchoring herself, wrapped around my wrist and tried to drag me into her hollow log. ( Hanging on the roof). As she pulled, her teeth cut across all the blood vessels. Having a couple decades of giant constrictor experience means I have a small bottle of whiskey in my room. Of course out of reach. My sister, in a controlled panic, helped me remove the log and start to unwind her. A small drop of booze in the mouth got her to release. I ended up with three doctors and two nurses watching as another doctor spent @ 3 hours stitching me up. None of them believed it was a snake bite. They even called the police to come ask me what happened. They were sceptical as well.
Fortunately, no infection. I have almost no scarring today. Despite having a dozen or so teeth dragged through my hand, the worst part was seeing how much I bled.
I still have snakes and I hope that your bite hasn’t put you off these wonderful creatures.
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That’s awful, @snakebiteh ! You’re 100% correct, very low odds is not the same thing as zero odds. I haven’t had terrible bite experiences, thankfully, but I’ve had severe, life-threatening reactions to medications. When I almost died from side effects from medication for a bone scan of all things, the doctor first said, “Nah, that can’t be the cause. That happens less than 0.5% of the time.” Which, of course means that it does happen.
I’m glad that you’ve been able to get your wrist repaired to some degree. I hope that it isn’t too painful now.
@gabonica1, that sounds like a nightmare. Glad that you didn’t have any lasting impacts.
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I have no idea how many times I’ve been bitten.
Worst bite ever was a colubrid though. A night snake(Hypsiglena). It was very defensive and gave me the worst two days ever from a bite. Like, the whole suite of symptoms, including a couple days off work. It was flailing and spraying and, of course, bit me. Not a great pic, sorry.
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Ouch! I don’t think so! 
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@gabonica1 I still have her actually. I now just handle her much differently. And I do have other snakes and have been tagged since this bite. I’m now just super vigilant at keeping an eye on my wounds.
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Holy moly…
I’m really glad it didn’t turn out like that when I got a “kiss” on the lips from my Boa when she was around 5 feet. Got spooked and smacked me right on the mouth, it felt like being punched by a dude with needles. Glad you were able to at least mostly recover from your incident, sometimes those 1 in a 1,000,000 things can occur (I know thats not the real probability but its still rare). The crazy thing is that my Boa is really gentle and calm outside of those few incidents where I’ve been bitten.
Its wild to think that bite would cause so much lingering damage though, I’m so sorry you had to go through that! The bite on my mouth/chin just bruised and welted up a fair bit for a few days where it was sore to talk or eat and then faded away. It did give me a fear of having snakes close to my face though. I do still have my girl and I handle her and treat her as if nothing happened, me and my girl practically grew up together.
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They’re mildly venomous, right? Wonder if you had a reaction.
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@solarserpents To my knowledge, they are not venomous. However, they carry a plethora of bacteria in their mouths, one of which goes by the name pseudomonas aeruginosa. That particular bacteria is EXTREMELY antibiotic resistant. I was on a picc line with a special concoction of antibiotics for a little over three months when I was going through all of this. If you look it up, most non-venomous snakes carry this very same bacteria in their mouths as well.
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That’s crazy that your worst bite was from a night snake! They’re native where I live and they’re one of my favourite species to find, largely because the individuals I’ve encountered have always been so docile and easy-going. I’ve never had any troubles scooping them up and gently handling them for a few minutes before letting them mosey off on their way. I’ve never seen them be defensive at all. Maybe mine are just chilled out California night snakes.
But it’s my understanding that they’re rear-fanged venomous, so I can see how a bad bite from one could be nasty.
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I think @solarserpents was referring to the night snake that bit @gabonica1, not the boa that not you. I certainly hope that most of us know boas are not venomous.
But yeah, all animals have mouths full of bacteria, snake bites just seem to get infected less often than other animal bites, presumably because snake bites bleed pretty profusely. But it’s still possible to get nasty infections (not that you need to be told that, seeing as you lived it).
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Yes, they are an opisthoglyph. The bite was surprising. Felt like getting shot with a staple gun. Then, numbness like I had been to the dentist but in my hand, lasted @6 hours.Followed by a deep down, in my bones itch, for 48 hours. Headache, mild nausea, stiffness in the joints. 2.5 years, i still have a mark.
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Yes, sorry I was referring to the night snake! But wow, that is quite the recovery process.
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I had a reaction to being chomped on by a garter snake, got infected, took what seemed like an absurd time to heal, but it was nothing like some of these tales, for which I’m thankful. So many folks have really had major challenges!
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Any break in the skin from any wound can cause a life threatening infection. I have been bite literally hundreds of times by Kings and ball pythons and once by my cat. It was my cat that sent me to the emergency room because of infection. Wash the wounds of a non- venomous snake bite with soap and water and if you feel like it would help some triple a and you will be fine
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Hypsiglena are rear fanged venomous.
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