Reptile & Amphibian Forums

My friend is very nervice around all sorts off animals including birds snakes and mice. despite this he insists on holding her,my boa. He has claimed on two seperate occasions that she has struck at him and hissed. My snake is very mellow and calm. i have witnessed no such agressive behavior. Is it possible that She just hates him? Personally I do not believe my friend I think he is imaginning it.
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0.0.1 Common Columbian Boa (Damian)
0.0.1 Amel Cornsnake (Kernal)
0.0.1 Okeetee Cornsnake (Guido)
1.1.0 Lhasa Apso's (Monkey, Tiffany)
1.0.0 Rat Terrier (Ricky)
1.3.10 Mice (nameless)
0.0.4 Goldfish (nameless)
0.0.1 Snail(Gary)
glass_lizard

Your boa might be picking up on how nervous your friend is. Quick movements and such can startle them.
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Peter: It's OK, I'll handle it. I read a book about something like this.
Brian: Are you sure it was a book? Are you sure it wasn't NOTHING?

I am also a big believer that animals "tend" to have "humanistic" qualities. Others will disagree..........And, that is their right to do so.
Have you ever just met someone you immediately didn't like? You know....That gut feeling? I have. And, my gut is generally on target with people that I want to spend my time with or not. Your snake could be doing the same thing.

I am not saying your friend is a bad person at all. I am just saying that some creatures do not "click" for some reason or another.

I am a believer in energy. It is everwhere if you are tuned into it or not. I also believe that animals in touch with this. So, it is not suprising to me when I hear things like this.

I had a Borneo Short tailed python for a while that just did not like my wife. It would puff and hiss just about evertime it saw her. And, she didn't care for it much either. They were just two beings that didn't "click". One the other hand........The Borneo was a real fun mellow snake with me.
She also had problems with one of my ball pythons. She said it struck at her when I thought it was the sweetest thing in the world. It should be said that my wife is also not super comfortable with snakes. Especially anything that is not baby sized. So, the ball could have been picking up on that.

More than likely you snake is acting or reacting to your friends nervousness. But, there could be more subltle things at work as well. Tell your friend to go in your snake room with a different attitude and energy.

This could be a fun little experiment. Have your friend sit away from your snake area and focus on things that make him/her joyful. You know..........Find his/her "happy place." Start talking about winning the lottory.........Stuff like that. Then, introduce your snake to him/her once your friend had attained that spot. See if it makes a difference.
"The six o'clock rantings of a madman."
John
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"To be the best..........You must lose your mind."

I've had the same problem with friends doing that as well....most of the time they just get scared by a little quick movement then say that the snake just tried to bite. Most of the time they are just imagining it because I watched it happen and it was just trying to get to a place where it could support its body.

Also as John said I have seen where a snake just didn't like a person...I had a friend that went to go pick one of my bigger snakes up that has never even so much as hissed and it was hissing alot at him, but once I went and picked him up he didn't even make a sound. Different snakes have different personalities I believe. Just my 2 cents.

Luke

I remember this one time... my husband was showing our friend the blood python, who is usually pretty nice. But it was storming outside and the low-frequency thunder spooked him, and he struck. No one was hit (and he's a small snake right now) but I felt bad!
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Peter: It's OK, I'll handle it. I read a book about something like this.
Brian: Are you sure it was a book? Are you sure it wasn't NOTHING?