I agree with the previous poster... I've had them seem to fall asleep while being held, usually when they are out for more than 30 min or so. Then when I move and the boa wakes up, they go right into ‘defensive’ posture. I was bitten once in that situation (luckily, my leg was bit and I was wearing jeans so I didn’t feel a thing). It’s never fun to get bitten by a large snake, esp. when you don’t expect it. It can definitely put you off handling the boas but all you can do is just move on and accept that it’s a part of having a ‘wild’ creature.

It made me very nervous for a while after the first big bite by a large boa. I bought a hook and sometimes use the top of a Rubbermaid as a shield when getting them out of the cage if I feel nervous. I’ve been trying to train them (ie. Pavlov’s dog) by misting the snake and using the hook to rub the top of it’s head, then use my hands to pull them out, it’s helped me get over the nervousness and hopefully is ‘training’ my snakes to calm down when they feel the spray and the pet on the head. Don’t give up, it was probably just a freaky thing. When they fall asleep while being held, just make sure to move slowly and let them wake up. I usually move them so they wake up and then stay pretty still until they relax from the defensive position, then go about normal business. The more you interact with them, the more you can read your boa and start to see these responses and avoid it in the future.
Good luck!




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'There is a very fine line between "hobby" and "mental illness."' -Rainshadow

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