Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I know it sounds crazy and irrelevant...but something happened yesterday that i can't get out of my mind.

I have many boas, and this boa i am talking about has been with me for 4 years. He is a BCI, and is the tamest snake i have ever owned. He is constantly handled and has even been held many times by small children. He is just a pleasure to be around, and NEVER, i repeat NEVER, has shown any incling of aggression.

Yesterday my lil bro who is 16 and his gf came to visit, and i showed them the snake room. As soon as we entered the room, there was a loud HISSSS and a BANG! I couldn't believe that one of my boas was actling like this, and i found out it was him...my tamest boa.

He continued to hiss and strike at his cage non stop until the poor girl started screaming and we had to leave the room. I could still hear him hissing as we walked away.

I decided to leave him alone until today when i entered the room, and to my surprise, he was an Angel. I had him out of the cage and we chilled for quite a bit...like we always have.

This is just something i can't understand, how a boa can turn like this on a whim's notice, and then change back like nothing happened.

Only thing that came across my mind was that there was something wrong with one of the two people that entered that room with me, that the snake sensed.

I'm not saying that my lil bro or his gf is evil, but could it be that Snakes can sense things in us humans that can cause them to react in such a way?

It sounds like she is trouble. You better warn your brother.
-----
Boaphile Home
All Original/Boaphile Plastics
The Boa Network

Don't tell your brother that his girl friend stinks. That wouldn't be cool. Just figure out some creative way to encourage him to find a new one. I mean think about it. Boas are forever. Girl friends come and go.
-----
Boaphile Home
All Original/Boaphile Plastics
The Boa Network

But my boas are stuck with me... FOREVER! LOL! Or until one of us, me or them, pass on!
You know, I'm a girl and I frequently change deoderants, lotions, and sometimes spray body scents (not usually purfumes as the smell is so strong that I usually get sick myself) when I am going out, etc. I'm sure I have carried those scents in with me a time or two, or many more, but I've never had such a response from my own snakes. I have a smaller collection of around 34, well smaller compared to some of you big guys! Maybe I am just lucky? Or I have better taste!? ;p I prefer to believe the latter!
However, I did have one response similar, not as drastic as far as the striking repeatedly and viciously. My father (An alcoholic/with other worse habits, who hangs with that general type of person) brought a lady friend over (believe me, that is generalizing her nicely!). Naturally he wanted me to show off my snakes, I brought out my newer albino male whom I'd been handling without issue for a couple months; a stupid decision on my part. He nailed me, from quite a distance, near the eye... immediately upon exiting the cage. It was unexpected and he hasn't done it again, nor before that incident, but goes to show there are always factors to be aware of and to never to be careless in handling an animal, no matter how comfortable. I had to visit an eye doctor for a scratch on the white of my eye, I was told how lucky I was that I wasn't 'leaking' as the doctor put it and given a contact lens with solution to wear for a week. I don't consider myself a newbie, but I am always aware of my snakes behaviour before and during handling now. Was it the lady and her cheap purfume? I may never know...
On a side note, I am much more wary about whom I show my small scale collection to now. I was told by a bigger breeder to always be wary whom you admit the worth of or show your sometimes 'expensive' collection to, even if it's someone that is a friend of your trusted friend or relative, which should have been obvious to me, but I wanted to impress my Father. I think I've learnt a great deal from the incident, but back on topic who knows what really did it, but I trust animals insticts on many things. Something, even if it's smell, can show a lot about a person.
Just my two cents... and a little silly story!
Steph S.

It can be something as simple as the perfume she was wearing or he smelt something on one of the two. cat dog ferret ...
-----
www.jpcboas.com

That's likely it. I've had colognes that caused certain boas to strike. All comes down to pheromones.
-----
http://www.GilbertBoas.com/
http://www.BoaList.com/

I was also going to suggest perfume.

Vegas is one of my tamest snakes. When I have visitors over, I usually bring her out to show off. Had a friend over, he got pretty drunk, and wanted to see the snakes. I got her out, no problem. As soon as he walked into the room, she went nuts, striking at him and ended up tagging me in the process. None of the other snakes reacted to him like that, just her! Even my ATB was her normal calm self around him, only Vegas freaked out. It was very odd. Took her out the next day and she was back to her 'lovable' self. Who knows? Maybe some people just put off weird pheramones that some snakes are sensitive to. As I mentioned, this guy was pretty toasted, so maybe his somewhat eratic movements were making her uneasy. It was interesting though!
-----
'There is a very fine line between "hobby" and "mental illness."' -Rainshadow

i would warn the brother, spank the girl firm but fair lol

Where's your loyalty?

I had something like that happen with a ball python & someone I
was going out with. Maybe the perfume does it, it was exactlty the same situation. This bp was beyond docile too, he would
go bananas, hissing & striking every time she came over...

They would have let me know what my ex-wife was REALLY like before we married !
-----
Kevin Blumenthal
www.blumenboas.com

I've seen two things that pertain to this. One is my buddy who was doing a photoshoot with a pretty girl and his large docile boa. While he was shooting he was sweating in the snake room, and he never wears cologne, but he didn't want to offend the pretty photo model, so he put some cologne on. As he was taking the boa away from the model, anfter a nice shoot when he got the snake the snake smelled his colgne, and bit him.

But the other thing I have noticed, and I suppose it could be cologne too, although I didn't smell it in him, there used to be a guy we all grew to dislike here as out roommate. When he would come to my door, my snakes only two snakes I had then, would slither away from the side of the cage where he was. They would just slide away from this guy who used to abuse his girlfriend.

Maybe boas hate cologne.
Maybe creepy poeple smell bad to boas.
-----
Caden Chapman
slithering.serpents@gmail.com
http://slitheringserpents.com