Reptile & Amphibian Forums

So I just got a new male, and wow... he's 6 feet of pure fury. Tries to bite my face off every time I open his cage. I posted on another forum saying damn I need a snake hook because he is really unused to human contact I guess, but honestly, he really f'd me up and i couldn't help but be impressed. I pulled the whole, "I'm not even angry, I'm just impressed" when he shot of before I could get him all closed up and as soon as he was out on the floor he was instantly ready to attack me. I have honestly never had my hand swell that much from a bite before. So like I already said... IMPRESSED. His sides area quite a bit muddier in pattern then I had thought and hoped, but hopefully the cleanness of my girl will make their babies quite pretty. Anyway just wanted to share the recent escapades of rainbow boas at my place, especially since their was a thread on handling. And about the whole no fear handling, well its a little hard not to be tentative when he bit me to the point of not being able to flex my finger completely, but it happens, I'm going to work with him, and since my female is a doll, maybe he and I can come to some understanding, haha.

Is he a recent import?

>>So I just got a new male, and wow... he's 6 feet of pure fury. Tries to bite my face off every time I open his cage. I posted on another forum saying damn I need a snake hook because he is really unused to human contact I guess, but honestly, he really f'd me up and i couldn't help but be impressed. I pulled the whole, "I'm not even angry, I'm just impressed" when he shot of before I could get him all closed up and as soon as he was out on the floor he was instantly ready to attack me. I have honestly never had my hand swell that much from a bite before. So like I already said... IMPRESSED. His sides area quite a bit muddier in pattern then I had thought and hoped, but hopefully the cleanness of my girl will make their babies quite pretty. Anyway just wanted to share the recent escapades of rainbow boas at my place, especially since their was a thread on handling. And about the whole no fear handling, well its a little hard not to be tentative when he bit me to the point of not being able to flex my finger completely, but it happens, I'm going to work with him, and since my female is a doll, maybe he and I can come to some understanding, haha.

I suggest getting that bite looked at. BRB's do have long teeth and they can damage nerves/tendons in a bite if they hit the right spots.

He definitely sounds fiesty and unused to human contact. A snake hook may be beneficial, or at least wear heavy gloves to protect your hands, (maybe goggles too, if you think he likes to go for the face) at least till he is more used to handling.

He could have been fed always in his cage and never taken out other than for cleaning, so he could be very heavily feeding responding when his cage opens.
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PHLdyPayne

All the threads and comments about handling were in referrence to taming a baby, not an aggressive adult. There's no way I (having dozens of BRB's) would nonchalantly, without fear, reach my hand into that cage. Time and handling may help but you should be prepared to ALWAYS be on your gaurd with that one. I would definately try the "old shirt" trick, couldn't hurt. Take an old shirt and wear it for the day. Even better if you have some strenuous work to do as long as it would not get anything detrimantal like grease or paint on the shirt. Yard work is perfect. DO NOT wash it, put that dirty (smelling like you) shirt in the cage with the snake. The idea is to get it used to your scent. I've never tried the trick myself, never had an animal that agressive. Although, Eve is a bit feisty, hmmm, might just do it myself.

Keep us posted on your progress, what works, what doesn't. I would be prepared though for him to be the "need a beer before dealing with" snake.

>>So I just got a new male, and wow... he's 6 feet of pure fury. Tries to bite my face off every time I open his cage. I posted on another forum saying damn I need a snake hook because he is really unused to human contact I guess, but honestly, he really f'd me up and i couldn't help but be impressed. I pulled the whole, "I'm not even angry, I'm just impressed" when he shot of before I could get him all closed up and as soon as he was out on the floor he was instantly ready to attack me. I have honestly never had my hand swell that much from a bite before. So like I already said... IMPRESSED. His sides area quhte a bit muddier in pattern then I had thought and hoped, but hopefully the cleanness of my girl will make their babies quite pretty. Anyway just wanted to share the recent escapades of rainbow boas at my place, especially since their was a thread on handling. And about the whole no fear handling, well its a little hard not to be tentative when he bit me to the point of not being able to flex my finger completely, but it happens, I'm going to work with him, and since my female is a doll, maybe he and I can come to some understanding, haha.
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Thanks,

Dave Colling

www.rainbows-r-us-reptiles.com

0.1 Wife (WC and still very fiesty)
0.2 kids (CBB, a big part of our selective breeding program)

LOL, to many snakes to list, last count:
20.28 BRB
14.18 BCI
And those are only the breeders

lots.lots.lots feeder mice and rats

Jeff, I was told he was not a recent import, but he's definitely not used to being handled.
I think the bite is looking much better and I have no loss of feeling in my hand and the swelling has gone down, although I am left with a world class bruise and some nice punctures and a small razor type cut.
And yeah, I'm definitely on guard dealing with him, I knew he wouldn't be as sweet as Jade is, so to move him i was using an old paper towel roll and I would stick it over his head, then grab his neck so the nasty parts were away from me (like tubing venomous snakes), but then he shot through it really quickly and i had to rip it apart to get it off of him so then i was out of luck for decent ways to control him so i did snake bag over the head and hope for the best. I have already started looking for a snake hook, because even though that's not gonna solve all my problems I feel it will definitely help.
Dave, I should definitely try the shirt trick, thanks for telling me about it. About sticking my hands nonchalantly in NO WAY, I move his head with a piece of cardboard and grab behind his neck to take him out. And I'll keep you guys updated with how it goes and hopefully include some pics of him at his best.

Oh, I almost forgot, two things. 1 is I don't have to worry with introducing him to my female do I? even though she's 5 years old she's noticeably smaller then he is and she is incredibly tame. I would imagine there shouldn't be a problem but I would just like reassurance. And 2, he's got a bright pink belly as of late so I'm expecting a shed, but he has like little black spots and kind of notches/fraying on the edges of his belly scales, could this just mean he was dehydrated for a while or had some rough times?
Thanks again, and sorry for the long post

I would watch them at first, probably not an issue, never seen a BRB really attack another aside from males pushing each other during breeding season.

Just checked my 14 year old male who is just starting to opaque and his belly is also bright pink but no signs of notching or fraying on any of the belly scales. I also checked Eve, my WC female, her belly is white with no damage to the belly scales. Lastly I checked Savannah, a female who came to me all crusty and dehydrated as a subadult in 2003. Her belly scales are also all white and complete. Can't say if she looked worse and has just healed up over time.

I'd say watch him expecting to see him opaque soon. And keep an eye on those belly scales.
-----
Thanks,

Dave Colling

www.rainbows-r-us-reptiles.com

0.1 Wife (WC and still very fiesty)
0.2 kids (CBB, a big part of our selective breeding program)

LOL, to many snakes to list, last count:
20.28 BRB
14.18 BCI
And those are only the breeders

lots.lots.lots feeder mice and rats

Pink belly and frayed scales are signs of belly rot. This is caused by conditions that are too warm/wet. It is fairly common and easy to treat. You will want to take the animal to a vet. Is this the real aggressive male? Good luck with that. They will prescribe some type of topical antibiotic and may even supply you with a few injections. While treating the snake, keep him on newspaper and fairly dry. It sounds like your condition is not that advanced and, with treatment, will clear up within the next shed or two.
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Mike Lockwood
www.tooscaley.com

..He is not going to tame down with you restraining him behind the neck. A hook will help you to get him out of the cage but as soon as he is out you need to start handling him in hand. At first he will probably still be striking so hold him at mid body or further back and let him crawl back into his cage. You can use the hook to keep his forward body from reaching you with a strike but he must be allowed to feel more comfortable with you before he will ever calm down. After several sessions of this he should become more handleable each time and eventually will calm down. I have had dozens of imported BRBs and they all eventually became fully tame. I did get a few bites from each of them along the way to taming them. The trick putting your worn shirt in with him will help. The black spots on the edges of the scutes could be a current problem but could also be scar tissue from old wounds or fungus or external parasite bites. If the pink belly does not go away with a shed soon he probably does need a vet visit. A little bit of pink on the belly before shedding is usually okay but very much pink is often a sign of irritation caused by too much contact with wet dirty or acidic substrate. I would not let him near any other snakes for at least three months.
Jeff

>>Jeff, I was told he was not a recent import, but he's definitely not used to being handled.
>>I think the bite is looking much better and I have no loss of feeling in my hand and the swelling has gone down, although I am left with a world class bruise and some nice punctures and a small razor type cut.
>>And yeah, I'm definitely on guard dealing with him, I knew he wouldn't be as sweet as Jade is, so to move him i was using an old paper towel roll and I would stick it over his head, then grab his neck so the nasty parts were away from me (like tubing venomous snakes), but then he shot through it really quickly and i had to rip it apart to get it off of him so then i was out of luck for decent ways to control him so i did snake bag over the head and hope for the best. I have already started looking for a snake hook, because even though that's not gonna solve all my problems I feel it will definitely help.
>>Dave, I should definitely try the shirt trick, thanks for telling me about it. About sticking my hands nonchalantly in NO WAY, I move his head with a piece of cardboard and grab behind his neck to take him out. And I'll keep you guys updated with how it goes and hopefully include some pics of him at his best.
>>
>>Oh, I almost forgot, two things. 1 is I don't have to worry with introducing him to my female do I? even though she's 5 years old she's noticeably smaller then he is and she is incredibly tame. I would imagine there shouldn't be a problem but I would just like reassurance. And 2, he's got a bright pink belly as of late so I'm expecting a shed, but he has like little black spots and kind of notches/fraying on the edges of his belly scales, could this just mean he was dehydrated for a while or had some rough times?
>>Thanks again, and sorry for the long post

hey, thanks to all of you, and about the restraining thats only right when I'm taking him out of his cage as i don't have a hook yet, but as soon as i have him out i loosen up and hope for the best, which already we're making progress on and I have not received any more bites.

I think this may be my last question, but about the belly issue, would it be a problem to wait it out a few days and see if it is an old issue and see if the pink is just due to his shed? Because when I picked him up I made note of his lack of a water bowl and he showed some signs of dehydration so I soaked him for 20 minutes then put him to rest. Although the first few nights he dumped his water bowl and I had to change the newspaper he's on, but those weren't long periods of time.

Thanks again to everyone.

Waiting a few days should not be a problem as long as you keep up on the husbandry AND there are NO signs of serious infection.

Maybe a non-tippable water bowl is in order?
-----
Thanks,

Dave Colling

www.rainbows-r-us-reptiles.com

0.1 Wife (WC and still very fiesty)
0.2 kids (CBB, a big part of our selective breeding program)

LOL, to many snakes to list, last count:
20.28 BRB
14.18 BCI
And those are only the breeders

lots.lots.lots feeder mice and rats