Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Ok...
Maybe you guys can help. What causes a baby boa to be twitchy? It only does it when you are touching or holding him. Otherwise he moves around normally. It almost seems like hes "jumpy".

I have heard many ideas but I wanted to hear from the guys on here before I made any conclusions.

Thanks, Terry

Im not 100% sure but it could be the fact our body temp is 98.6 and boas being cold blooded may be more sensitive to a hot hand touching their bodies out of the blue.

If your boa is twitching and such as your holding him/her there maybe a problem.

Greg

As he is sitting in my hand he is still...Its only when you touch him he twitches....It doesn't seem to be neurological because his eyes don't seem to be twitching, his head doesn't shake or bob.

He doesn't otherwise seem ill..He eats,shed,defacates,etc..normaly. But I am in no way Vet so any input would be great

Terry

If he's responding to stimuli by twitching as you say, that doesn't sound that out of the ordinary for me. Now if he twitched without reason then I would think there may be an issue. How long have you had him? Is he accustomed to being held yet? Some snakes tend to be jumpy until they settle down. Remember that as a baby boa, they are easy prey so it can take them some time to be calm about handling.

I agree ! baby boa know all of two things based on instinct,flight or fight.Yours sounds fine,just abit touchy but doesn't seem overly anxious to follow thru with full departure motion.I tend to agree on the temp reference as well,a boa can account for every scale on its body,so stimuli(regardless of source)"should be" reacted to by a healthy animal such as this.

>>If he's responding to stimuli by twitching as you say, that doesn't sound that out of the ordinary for me. Now if he twitched without reason then I would think there may be an issue. How long have you had him? Is he accustomed to being held yet? Some snakes tend to be jumpy until they settle down. Remember that as a baby boa, they are easy prey so it can take them some time to be calm about handling.
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TnK

Yeah, I agree. Some snakes that are not used to being handled will "jump" like that. They aren't sure if you mean to eat them or hurt them, and are just skittish until they learn you don't mean them harm.

It might take a while, but consistent, calm handling should do a world of good.

Plus, almost every snake I have will shy away from being 'tickled' on the belly (they try to arch their body away from the 'tickle finger'). Yes, I know they're not necessarily ticklish, but when I'm showing a snake to someone who is nervous or afraid of snakes, it usually makes them laugh to show that.
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Lauren Madar - OphidiaGems.com | CageMakers
1.1 Ball Python, 1.0 Hog Island Boa, 1.1 Hypo BCI, 1.1 Surinam BCC, 1.1 Saharan Sand Boa

So.....? someone that is nervous about snakes is taught what by aggravating the nervous system of an animal ?The animal learns what from the experience ?
The animal will react to extreme heat/cold in the exact same manner as this "tickle",it will attempt to avoid the stimuli.
Inducing stress is negative conditioning and should be avoided IMO.

>>Yeah, I agree. Some snakes that are not used to being handled will "jump" like that. They aren't sure if you mean to eat them or hurt them, and are just skittish until they learn you don't mean them harm.
>>
>>It might take a while, but consistent, calm handling should do a world of good.
>>
>>Plus, almost every snake I have will shy away from being 'tickled' on the belly (they try to arch their body away from the 'tickle finger'). Yes, I know they're not necessarily ticklish, but when I'm showing a snake to someone who is nervous or afraid of snakes, it usually makes them laugh to show that.
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>>Lauren Madar - OphidiaGems.com | CageMakers
>>1.1 Ball Python, 1.0 Hog Island Boa, 1.1 Hypo BCI, 1.1 Surinam BCC, 1.1 Saharan Sand Boa
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TnK

I agree with the above. I think temperature was mentioned.
If there is a reasonable change between his body temperature and the temperature of your hands...he's liable to be jumpy from contact with cold hands.
One common submissive defensive behavior would be to bury his head under his main body with a jerky motion.
Another jery behavior would be twitching his tail and posterior in anticipation of food. Involuntary Pavlovian instinctual reaction similar to salivation in dog and man.
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"As hard as I've tried, just can't NOT do this"
John Crickmer

He is jumpy. His instincts say that large moving animals (you) are to be feared. Some boas take more 'getting used to' you than others.
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Caden Chapman
slithering.serpents@gmail.com
http://slitheringserpents.com

I would love to be able to say hes just jumpy...Out of 80 or so babies I produced this year hes the only one doing this.

Its weird...if you just let him move on your hand/arm its totally normal, but if you kinda hold him so he "push" his way through, you can feel like little muscle twitches...

Terry