Reptile & Amphibian Forums

This is not about a venomous snake but you people know the answer. I've got a wild caught Solomon Island Ground Boa that needs some medical treatment and has already tried his teeth on me several times. When you tube restrain a snake do you use electrical tape to keep him in the tube. If not, what?

Mike
Vincennes Exotics

There is a tube use tutorial at this link:
http://www.snakegetters.com/demo/tube/index1.html
Good luck,
Karl H. Betz
Buzztail1@hotmail.com

You can download the sample tubing section from Venomous Snakes in Captivity here:
http://www.reptileeducation.com/index.php?pid=16

Many folks forget that although tubes are a must when keeping venomous herps, they are also an invaluable aid when keeping non venomous species as well (especially those with a tempermental attitude). The key is to find a tube with the proper width...it should be just large enough to get the snake's first 1/3 of its body into the tube. Once you have a good amount of snake in the tube (w/out the head coming out the open end), you will then restrain the snake by grabbing the tube and snake with the same hand (this is what keeps the snake from either moving forward or trying to go backyard). Depending on what you are doing (giving a shot, taking off stuck shed, stuck eye caps, etc.) you will most likely benefit from having a second person (one person to hold/restrain the snake while the other does the "procedure"; with practice, its pretty easy to do this yourself (but not with venomous). The hardest part at first will be to get the snake into the tube. Just approach very slowly but deliberately. I typically come at the snake at slightly less than a 45 degree angle. Once you get the head into the tube, try to move the tube over the neck and oftentimes, a little tap on the tail will elicit a quick movement forward by the snake making the "tubing" a snap. I hope this helps.

Rob Carmichael, Curator
The Wildlife Discovery Center
Lake Forest, IL

>>This is not about a venomous snake but you people know the answer. I've got a wild caught Solomon Island Ground Boa that needs some medical treatment and has already tried his teeth on me several times. When you tube restrain a snake do you use electrical tape to keep him in the tube. If not, what?
>>
>>Mike
>>Vincennes Exotics
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Rob Carmichael, Curator
The Wildlife Discovery Center at Elawa Farm
Lake Forest, IL