“It licked me!” Nita Strauss gets licked in the face by Alice Cooper's snake while playing – but doesn't drop a note

Nita Strauss has returned to action as the starring shredder in Alice Cooper’s band, and she’s received a very warm welcome from one member of the shock rocker’s crew in particular: the band’s snake.

The guitarist was forced to step back from the band due to scheduling conflicts with her solo shows which saw Orinathi tapped up for a nostalgic return to a band she spent three years in before Strauss took over. However, a hip injury then forced Orianthi to be replaced at the last minute, with former Guns N’ Roses man Gilby Clarke getting the nod.

Strauss wrapped her solo tour in Houston, TX on March 8 and returned to the Godfather of Shock Rock's band of ghouls on Saturday, March 22 at the Wild Horse Pass Stadium in Chandler, AZ.

It seems Cooper’s boa constrictor missed her the most, with the guitarist revealing “It licked me!” in an Instagram post marking her return to the fold.

The incident, seen in the video Strauss has shared online, happened – aptly enough – during a run-through of the 1991 hit Snakebite. Ever the professional, she remained unphased at the serpent's show of affection, a hearty peck on the nose, as she stuck diligently to her task.

She is then seen mouthing something and pointing to her face as she walks off, wringing out power chords with just her left hand as she processes what had just happened.

Cooper’s touring crew consists of numerous snakes to work around their various feeding times – you wouldn't want to parade a snake in front of thousands of screaming fans when it’s hungry, or digesting a tasty meal.

The singer has owned multiple snakes over the years, including Lady Macbeth, Count Strangula, and Julius Squeezer.

Incredibly, Julius died after being bitten by a rat intended to be his breakfast, while another snake, the 12-foot-long Yvonne escaped down a toilet of a Knoxville, Tennessee hotel.

“I put her in the bathtub overnight as she loved to swim, but in the morning she had gone down the toilet,” Alice remembered [per MOJO]. “She eventually emerged two weeks later in a different bathroom, having survived on sewer rats in the plumbing.”

Aptly, she emerged in the bathroom of country music star Charley Pride, whose first big hit was called Snakes Crawl At Midnight.

In related news, Strauss recently sat down for has named the iconic female shredder who proved a huge inspiration for her pursuit of a music career, and, when highlighting the five riffs that changed her life, has called a Scandinavian metal band her “Beatles”.

Orianthi is recovering well from her injury having played at a recent benefit concert that saw her play Livin’ on a Prayer with two generations of Bon Jovi guitarists, Richie Sambora and his replacement, Phil X.

Alice Cooper will head back out on tour in May ahead of a busy summer schedule for the band which will see them traipse the US and Europe.