Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hello once again all-
I was offererd a 13 y/o somewhat aggressive redtail today by a teacher at my school. I know that it is a healthy snake, but i also know that he has it in a tank that is too small, and hasnt handled it in about 3 years. Can any one tell me if i should take it, and if i do, will it get tame again, or is it too old to even bother with now?

Logan

I think you should take it if you are capable of offering it the proper caging and husbandry requirements. It could tame down if handled properly but it is hard to say. If it is under fed and kept in poor conditions it probably is a little cranky. Would'nt you be?
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Jared Douglas

Thats sort of a retorical question,either way both answers either right or wrong are basically right.Its all in your own preference.To me no animal is too old to deal with,unless its to old to breed and even then it can still be a good pet until its demise.As for agressiveness,there are several different levels of agression like,is it put your hand in the cage and automatically bite agression,a warning hiss and bite agression,just hissing,just puffing up,etc.Depending on the type of agression will depend on how much effort needs to be put forth to get it used to being held by you.Snakes for the most part will tame down to the point of tolerating human/animal coexistance,others are just not to inclined to do so.It may tame down say in a week or two of handling sessions and it may be that way until its untimely demise,either way its up to you how much time and effort you are willing to deal with the problem if you decide to get it.In any scenario the animal comes first without ?,humans are second.Regards Bill McLeod

It just kills me to see the boa in such a tight home, it needs some better caring. When i take it in, how bad is it going to bleed/hurt when i get bitten? I put my hand to the glass, and he just backed his head up. no hissing or striking.

Logan

Sounds good. It amazes me how many teachers that have classroom pets don't care for them properly. Like I said if you have the ability to give it a better home I would do it. Boas generally tame down with handling. Just be sure to use a snake hook when taking him out of his cage because this is usually when they bite. Many that hiss, bite, and look like they will bite are totally docile once out of their cage. Maybe you could try holding him out of his cage to see if he is calmer. I recommend that you wear long sleeves, gloves, and possibly eyewear for protection. If you have already been holding him out of his cage and he is still aggressive disregard this. And in this case he may still tame down with proper consistent handling. Or he may just stay mean and you can use hooks to handle him during cage cleanings and admire him just in his cage. Good luck.
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Jared Douglas

It will not hurt as much as you would think but it depends were you get bitten. Bony parts of the body hurt worse(hands, elbow, face). It will bleed quite a bit and could get infected due to the bacteria in the boas mouth. If you do get bitten make sure you wash it immediately and thoroughly with antibacterial soap.
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Jared Douglas

Like Jared said if you know for sure that you can handle the responsibility of better housing as well as a few nips/bites here and there then by all means go for it.As for bites,never once have i been bit by any of my bigger snakes,only by the babies and its always been my fault.When i did get bit by them it was just like pin pricks and a little blood,with the exception of my blood python that found a vein and held on,good little bit of blood.Even though it just backs away from the glass when your hand or body comes near it doesnt mean anything,its what it does when that body part reaches in the cage that counts.Just about every snake i've ever owned has at one time or another backed away from the cage if i stick my hand or body near the cage.If it is agrressive when in the cage,that doesnt mean it will be when out.Chances are if its agressive in the cage then its doing what it does best and thats protect itself and its territory from wouldbe predators (you).

Another thing to do is watch the movements as well as listen to the sounds he/she gives off.For the most part that helps to determine if it wants to be messed with or if its having a bad snake day and doesnt want to be messed with.Sometimes the signs are subtle othertimes they are in your face,either way learn to recognize them and it will save you some blood as well as stress on the animal.Regards Bill McLeod

And not disagreeing completely with jared but the whole glove theory to me is one of the biggest mistakes of the herp industry.Usually if a snake bites you it just slices through the skin with no big problem but when they bite into a glove of any kind they have a greater chance of losing a few teeth and have a greater possibility (to me anyway) of getting an infection,abcess,broken off tooth,etc.Why put the animal through that kind of risk just to keep from getting bit.Thats like buying a nile croc and never expecting to get bit at least once in its life.What are you going to do with him,wear armor to keep from possibly losing a limb?Maybe its just me but putting an animal through that great of a risk isnt worth the effort of saving a little blood.Bloods replaceable,antibiotics for infection are costly,but everyones got their own ways of doing things,me i'll stick to getting scraped or lascerated.Regards Bill McLeod

The largest snake to bite me on bare skin so far was my 6' female a few years ago (my fault, I startled her). She bit my hand, since that was the startling appendage when I reached in to pick her up, and it did bleed and bruised a slight amount by the next day. It wasn't really all that bad, nothing like a cat or dog bite or even a cat scratch (all of which I've had the pleasure to encounter for comparison's sake). Other than her, the other large snake was my testy male - 7 footer - and that was with my gloves on (I knew he was VERY cranky that day, but his cage needed cleaning never-the-less). I only have a couple of snakes that I regularly use gloves with when first removing them from their cages, even with the use of a snake hook. The first is my female dumerils boa, which is a very aggressive feeder and strikes the first warm thing she encounters almost every time - then spits me out, and my female Solomon Island ground boa who is wild caught and really hasn't tamed down appreciably since I got her last year. Considering I have 23 snakes, I don't think needing gloves for 2 of them is all that bad. The gloves I use are my motorcycle gloves, very snug fitting and very smooth, soft leather. I make sure not to pull away when they strike (gloves or no gloves) so that the snakes don't lose any teeth (which can and does happen). And for what it's worth, I'd take the snake in if I were in your shoes and believed I could provide it a better home.

Raven

You definately would not want ot wear gloves that are furry. Leather gloves are less risky but still pose the risks mentioned by Highlander.
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Jared Douglas