I recently rescued a common columbian boa from a well known pet store chain that aquired her from an unknown person. I was told the snake that is about 6 feet long was kept in a 10 gallon aquarium and had not eaten in 5 weeks prior to them aquiring it. So neddless to say it was neglected and mistreated. She was fed 2 days before I got her and I moved her to a large enclosure more suited for her size. She has enough room, good temp and humid, and a place to hide if needed. She was very gentle but curious when I handled her at the store and when I got her home but she did not bite nor strike. She has been here for close to 2-3 weeks now and she was fed a frozen rat on friday. On sunday I removed her to clean up the mess she made with the water and she seemed to still be in "feeding mode". She was a bit more aggrressive and she did bite me once on the forearm, letting go immediately. I am not an expert but have had a few boas before and currently have another guayana which have never displayed this kind of behavior. She ate so she should be happy, right? I fed her the same size rat as the store gave her but she could probably use a rat one size higher. i didnt want to feed her to big of a meal since she was probably starved over a month before each feeding and im not sure what they fed her. I want to gradually increase her meal size. So, my question is.... Is this normal? She still seems aggressive but I have left her alone as I dont feel like getting bit again. Could she still be hungry? If so I dont want to feed her again until "nature takes its course" with the first rat... Any thoughts, ideas, hints, tips, criticisms are appreciated.
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aggressive boa
Replies (1)
Snakes have evolved to survive long periods of starvation followed by a huge meal. Only a few instances come to mind that they do better with smaller food items.
While Gravid.
Recovering from regurge issues
Other illness.
I have a food aggressive boa. IMO she's hardwired to be a larger specimen and with the same size meals as others her size were getting she was still hungry. After I increased her food intake a little she settled down and is back to being "tame".
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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:
26.49 BRB
20.21 BCI
And those are only the breeders 
lots.lots.lots feeder mice and rats 
