Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hi all. I have an 9 month old male woma that I've had for about 4 months now. When I first acquired him, he would strike at anything that moved. So I put him in a 10 gallon aquarium and put paper over 3 of the 4 sides to make him feel more comfortable. For 3 months he gradually improved and was no longer striking at moving objects.

I recently moved him into a boaphile cage 24 x 24 x 12, so it's black on 3 sides which I thought would make him feel more comfortable. Well, now when he's out of his hide, he continues to strike at the glass everytime someone walks by.
He's been a fairly consistent eater (and growing like a weed!), but when offered food, strikes repeatedly but never hangs on. He'll eat eventually when the rat (f/t) is left in the cage.

He handles great when he's out of his cage, but when I attempt to get him out, he coils up into the "S" and lunges at me (usually doesn't bite). When I handle him, if I put him down he'll begin to coil up again until I actually have him in my hands.

In your experiences, is this still him being a young woma and something he'll grow out of? Now that he's feeding consistently I'm going to start feeding him outside the cage.

Any suggestions would be much appreciated. Thanks for reading this long post!

Steve

That's how mine were when they were younger. Everything seems to be food in their eyes. Just keep working with them and they should calm down.

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Joe

Sounds a lot like my olive when I first got him, and still on occasion. I know another guy who kept his pair of olives in sterilte semi-opaque containers, and they were angels. As soon as he moved them into the larger Neodesha enclosures (same design- black all around, except for the front glass), they began the same behaviour as you describe... he calls it the 'cave' theory. All they know is that all sides are good, except for that front part where some HUGE hand keeps trying to come in and eat me.

I think with time, he'll settle down. Also, I have to be careful not to startle my olive when I walk up, otherwise, he goes haywire.

He has settled down a lot (ANGEL once outside his vision), but I'm still using my welders glove to take him out unless he's already at the glass trying to escape.

//Todd

I have a female woma that does the same thing. Extremely excitable. Thrashes around....I'd swear it was a blood python at times. She's about 4', was a replacement for a larger female who had the same problem, but died. My male is a kitten. Aspidites are very sensitive to handling. They may tolerate it, but they sure know it.
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1.1 Blackheaded pythons
1.1 Woma (Juvie female)
2.1 Aussie Olives
1.1 Timors
1.0 Angolan Juvie
1.1 Savu
1.1 Juvie Bloods
1.1 Juvie Balls
1.1 IJ Carpets
1.1 Coastal Carpets
1.2 Macklotts
1.1 Papuan Olives
1.0 Jungle Carpet
2.2 Scrubs (on breeding loan)
0.1 Jungle/Diamond cross
0.1 child, CB
0.1 wife, WC

I feel for you while we are mosylt a Ball Python breeder we are addicted to pythons and have started into carpets, and others. Just got our first woma in today, a 5 foot male, and whew I am still bleeding.
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Mike and David at 3-D Pythons
www.3dpythons.com

So I'll ask that same question. Womas I was led to believe were puppy dog nice, as easy as a ball python. True or not, recognizing individuals ehave differently..generalizations appreciated. This guy we just got is slamming glass, bleeding me out, he's very pissed. I have dealt with his kind before with decent success at overcoming it...but just curious how typical this is for womas.
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Mike and David at 3-D Pythons
www.3dpythons.com