Thanks. I had to go back and reread my own message to double check what I had written. I understand what you mean about feeding response and general temperament. I was thinking more about threshold and stressors...being crated and traveling, plus being touched, plus being hungry, all added up together.

We do condition our animals to differentiate between handling and feeding as much as possible. For the large snakes we use hooks and for the lizards we use clickers or something like it.

I'm really much more of a lizard person than a snake person. I've only had this boa for about a year, so I'm new to his care. Some forums are more approachable than others when it comes to asking questions; I'm grateful to have been able to ask without getting slammed. Then again, I noticed another response had been removed. Uh-oh!

I'll change his schedule right away and keep up with his regular handling.

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