Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I have had this boa since she was a hatchling. she is now 2.5 years old. every now and again she "checks" things out. she is VERY alert and is in good heath. I just want to know if looking around here and there is normal. she was looking up for no more than a few mins. she wasnt like swaying about or anything. just stright looking up.

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Thank you,
Dave

i feel behavior like this is perfectly normal. i see this behavior frequently especially in my rescue male who i have had for over four years. i compare behavior like this to standing on your toes to get a better view of something. in almost every occasion i find the snake is accualy looking at something such as a light, or a vent or something. it is my opinion that this behavior is nothing at all to worry about.
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- Jason F.

thats pretty much how i felt. just wanted more opinions
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Thank you,
Dave

Like alot of folks, I take my Boas outside when it's warm. There is an erea in my yard where the grass is always long. When the big girls crawl through the tall grass, they will stop to lift their heads up above the top of the grass and smell with their tounges in all directions. Someone earlier had said that their Boa does that by the cage vent. What most describe as "looking" is actually smelling. The vent is where the smells would be coming into the cage. Boas are naturally curious when it comes to smells because it's the best sense they have. It keeps them alive!
I've seen sick boas that stargaze and the difference between actual stargazing and lifting their heads to smell around is quite dramatic.
I use the term "smell" loosely. What Boas have going on is a super 4d version. I wish I could "smell" like a Boa for a day, or maybe not!

jas
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sounddjinn@yahoo.com

Things always get cloudy, just before transformation.

I have often wondered about this myself. I have an albino female that will do this every now and then. Just never got around to asking what she was doing. Thanks for asking this question as it cleared it up for me.

And thanks to Djinn, that makes a lot of sense. The area she lifts her head to is where the air vent on her cage is. Sometimes I'll go a little longer between her feeding days to slow her growth down a bit, and this is when I have noticed her doing this. It's probably because she's getting hungry and smelling around for her plump juicy rat! Thanks for the info!

Jason Gonzalez

Thank you for posting about that, I posted earlier and I am glad to hear that other people see this with their snakes as well.
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