Reptile & Amphibian Forums

yes, can anyone help me with a question???????????????????? --I recently obtained two new boa constrictors---3yrs old---both very aggressive during feeding and like to strike at anything that comes near them---the previous owner used to feed them by swinging the f/t mouse in front of them and tapping them on the nose until they hit......well today was the first feeding for the smaller one, who has been more active the past couple days....I placed her into a tall tub (3FT) ....She then seemed to be stalking me as I was preparing to drop in a mouse as I do not feel it's neccessary to hand feed....Well just as I dropped the mouse she struck at me...she missed but came pretty close to my hand---I then just left her and eventually she found and ate the mouse...when i dropped in another(from a distance) she didnt see it and continued to watch me...after a while she finally seemed to get close enough to the next mouse to smell it and then casually opened her mouth and ate him...no striking!!

I want to calm this behavoir and plan to put the mice in the container first next time...My question is this

does this species hunt by sight or is that just what the previous owner taught them and by preplacing the mice in the tub will I eventually be able to calm them down , as they are good size and I really dont feel like being bitten???????(sorry so long) thanks in advance for any help or suggestions....

If 3 year old Boa Constrictors are being fed mice, they're aggressive because they're starving! The prey being offered is way too small. Feed a rodent about the size of the snakes girth at it's girthiest point, every 10-14 days. This will probably help.
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2.1.0 Kidletts
0.0.1 Ball Pyhton (Rex)
0.0.1 Okeetee Corn (Maizey)
0.1.0 BCI (Ruby)
0.1.0 Cat (Ginger)
1.0.0 Pughuahua (Ranger)

It just sounds like your new boa has a very good feeding responce. Just use a pair of tongs to hold the mouse or rat, that way you put a little more distance between your hungry snake and your hand.

Just so you know, this type of behavior is very typical of a healthy boa. All of ours know when it is feeding day, and are waiting eagerly at the door for their rats. Sometimes so eagerly that they hit the door a time or two before I can even get it open.

Because we feed ours in their enclosures, we also use a snake hook to assist in taking them our of their house. I feel using a hook is a good idea even if you feed in a seperate enclosure, just so there are no mistakes about whether the warm object coming in their house is a rat or a hand.

Hope this helps you out. Enjoy your new friend.

Kathy

It sounds like you're doing it already but I'd like to mention to make sure you feed them separatly, even if you house them together .. feed them 1 at a time.

But I agree with Maizeysdad if you're feeding them just mice ... unless you're just generalizing using the term mice. You want to feed them rats at 3 yrs old and of the size he mentioned.

And definitely get some tongs. Being kind of aggressive I'd get some that are at least 10". Look at a hardware store, I found my set there or if they dont have tongs you could use a pliers with a long handle.

I'd think almost all snakes hunt by sight when the prey gets close enough .. in combination with heat and smell depending on the surrounding conditions . ex - nighttime.

My Boa is about 5-6 yrs old ( I adopted her, so am not sure)and she sometimes does not strike either. She watches the f/t rat then moves in and just eats it .. no strike. But the majority of the time she still strikes and coils.

A question about their aggressiveness. How often do you handle them ? Handling them more often, 1-2 times per week also might help calm them down. But if they weren't handled a lot before you got them be careful ... limit the time at first to mebbe 10-15 minutes and then increase it. Mebbe 10-15 min for 1 month then 20 the next and so on.

Good luck ... I hope they calm down for you and you feel more comfortable feeding them.
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Pete

1- 0.1 Boa Constrictor
1- 1.0 Patternless Green Burm
1- 0.1 Pueblan Milksnake - Apricot phase
1- 0.0.1 Honduran Milksnake - Tangerine phase
1- 1.0 Ball Python
1- 0.1 Rainbow Boa
1- 0.0.1 Cornsnake - Blood

yes thanks for the help----I do have a pair of tongs (I'm a chef, I have tons of them!!)but I feed my other snakes by just placing the mouse in with them....I do feed them seperately...They are used to eating mice (usually 4 at one feeding each) and I didnt want to change this becuase I was trying to be consistant with how the previous owner did things, as I have already uprooted them and changed the housing...I have only a few frozen mice left, so after that I will attempt to feed rats...I have only handled them a few times, I just got them about a week ago and I wanted them to have time to get acclimated.....They are somewhat tame, the prevoius owner(I hate refering to her that way, she was super nice) used to handle them frequently, and they would spend hours curled up in her hair around her neck...But over the past year she was diagnosed with cancer and handled them less often as they seemed to dislike the chemical smells she produce due to her therapy---she said they would basiccally try and get away from her every time she picked them up---I love handling them and plan to a couple time a week like I do with my balls and cornsnake---I'm just hopeing to stop them from trying to strike at me during feeding...thanks for all your suggestions--I am very patient and plan to keep them as long as possible and will do everything I can to make owning them beneficial to them and us...thanks again...
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just to add to what the other people have already said.. I would personally place the snake into the feeding tub first and then drop the f/t rat in. If you already have the rat in there before placing the snake in, the boa may smell it while still in your hands and that is a recipe to get bitten.
I originally only fed my snakes in feeding tubs. Over the last few years, I've switched to feeding in the enclosure (all of my boas are kept on newspaper, so I don't have to worry about them swallowing any substrate when they eat). I've been working on doing some conditioning with my boas, whenever I want to handle them, I mist them with water first. When I want to feed, I don't mist and just place the item at the front of the tank. They seem to be learning that once I start misting, there's no food coming in. They just learn slow. haha

One f/t rat of the right size fed every 2 weeks or so should be fine.

another trick for getting the snakes used to your scent, is to place a t-shirt you've worn (or slept in) into the cage, this will allow them to become more accustomed to your smell and not see you as a threat. Of course, it's not magic, but it might help if you feel they are still rather aggressive/defensive.

Hope some of that info helps...
Enjoy!
-April