Reptile & Amphibian Forums

okayi just had thought. i might be wrong but i just wanted to find out. well i have heard a lot of people saying that adding a hide box in the enclosure makes the snake more comfortable and less likely to strike at you. well what i thought was wouldn't a snake the is in the open and sees you the owner all the time would be more used to you and also when you go the pick up the animal it knows it you by site and smell. i just thought that a snake that hides in the box most of the time and only coming out to drink and eat and don't see you would most like strike at you when you go to move or uncover it home to hadle it. please give me all your imputs on this. thanks any suggestion on raising a tame boa. i do have a very tame 6 month boa bci but i just need input on keeping her this way.

That's a very good question and I believe you'll get very good arguments from both sides.

But IMO it's up to you and your boa to decide. If you have a small boa in a relatively small and comfy cage you may find that the boa doesn't use a hide box. OTOH a small boa in a large cage may stay in the box all the time because it's afraid of the wide-open area.

I had a large female Peruvian bcc years back that I'd raised up from a baby with a hide box. It became harder and harder to find a big enough container for the hide so I removed the hide for a few days to see what she'd do. She freaked out, becoming very restless and crumpling up the newspaper substrate like I've never seen.

But, I have a three year old female Colombian bci right now that I raised from a neonate without a hide and she is fine without one.

A couple of years ago I spoke with a very good long-time boa breeder who does not use hide boxes at all and makes it a point to interact with her boas daily, even if just to touch them. Her thinking is that the boas shouldn't be raised to feel that they need to hide around her (BTW, you'll never get a nasty boa from this lady). OTOH some breeders keep the babies and juveniles in racks and rarely, if ever, handle them except when cleaning the cage. Those boas may have a greater chance of being nervous during handling and might require more work.

I don't know what Gray of Allboas.com does, but perhaps you could ask him. I like his practice of keeping his boas around people so they become mellow and accustomed to being handled.

If you have a small boa in a small cage you could try it with no hide box, but use newspaper or Aspen; something that the boa can hide under if it wants to. Then wwatch what the boa does. While it's true that boas will hide in the wild, that's because they have to for protection and also to ambush their prey. A comfortable cage of appropriate size is altogether different.

Good question!

Regards,

Bill

I currently have hide boxes in most of my boas' cages and they all seem to enjoy having it there. I had a baby Argentine (BCO) that was tame when no hide was in the cage, but when she was in her hide she was very aggressive. I eventually decided to not keep a hide in her cage and she remained very calm and easy going.
See what works best for you and your boa.
Good luck!

.. never seems to go away. And the reason is there's no clear-cut answer.

With some Boa hide boxes are essential, others seem to never use them. Why is this? We do not know.. because there are too many variables involved. Here's a short list:

What type of boa is it, and how old and what size?
Describe the cage..... what substrate?
How do temperatures, location of the enclosure and many other things differ from the set up of others?
When do you attempt to handle your boa?
Do you have other pets, friends, new cleaning solutions and/or after shave on at that time?
Is the boa in shed or had a large meal recently?

Will hide-boxes tame a boa or not ?.. we don't even know what you call a tame boa or how you approach and handle the snake...

No one can give you the correct answer because all these make a difference, neither is it known how these factors may or may not interact with one-another. So while we all like to prognosticate on these subjects (and you have gotten some good replies) all we can really do is pass on our experiences (or what someone else has said).. and those are just a starting point.

It is like the perpetual question.. 'how much do I feed my boa'?.. How the heck do we know?! We don't know how big you want the animal to be, what condition it is in now, what the lineage of the animal is and also most of the variables mentioned above are also a mystery to us.. these all help determine feeding...

So just like the feeding question, all that you get when you ask the question about hide boxes is what has worked for us or not worked for us before. (Sometimes we may make it sound like a final answer!).. YOU have to decide how much to feed your boa and whether or not to provide a shelter, if you should or should not breed him or her, how soon you should hold the boa after feeding.. ad infinitum..

Because of all the unanswered questions about the animal and how it is kept the (sometimes excellent) advice you get here can only form the start of your total husbandry program.. The routine you come up with after watching your animals in your set-ups over a period of time is going to be the best choice.

That's my prognostication!

Gus

I think it is important for every caged snake to have a hide box because it adds variety to the snakes enviornment.

Obviously, a cage with no substrate or accessories would not be a very "fun" (for lack of a better word) place for your boa to live. That's just one of the reasons why we add things like substrate, hide boxes, water bowls, climbing branches, etc. Each provide a little bit of variety to your snakes home, and as a result adds to the quality of your snakes life and enrichens your experience as a pet owner.

From my own personal experience...
When I first got my boa, and was right in the middle of the very steep learning curve that accompanies a new kind of pet, I noticed that my snake spent most of its time "hiding" inside the water bowl with 90% of its body being submerged. First, I checked for mites and found none. Then I thought it was too hot inside the cage, so I added more substrate, raised the light several inches, got a temp gun, etc. Turns out the temps weren't more than a few degrees off of ideal, and my snake still "hid" in its water bowl even after a slight temp adjustment.

After some research on the web, I finally decided to try a different and more functional hide spot since I had never seen my snake use the silly "half log" that I had bought. I took the tip from PE and began using the clay base of a plant pot with an entry way cut out, and IMMEDIATELY my boa was out of its water bowl and now spends a lot of time curled up under there.

From this experience I have learned that it is part of a snakes nature to want to hide, wether it has things to hide from or not. It is a matter of your pet feeling secure. Every snake should have a functional hide box! If you do have a hide box and your snake doesn't use it... there is a reason for it!
-- Learning from the clues that your pet gives you is the only real way to improve your husbandry techniques.
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David - Houston, TX
Young Red Tail Boa
Purchased 11/16/03
www.geocities.com/davidag02

you guys are wrinting great tips and experiences keep them coming. this will help lots of newbies like me and other whoa are new to this.

from my experiences of having a boa for the past month. i have found her to be very relaxed when handle seems to crwal a bit on my arm and thern rest herself and just look around. i have aspen substrate in her enclosure along with a climbing ledge made from a driftwood. and a otted plant. i have seen my boa hide in the substrate hide in the potted plants and also bath herself often. i recently treated the enclosure for mites with provent a mite and it worked great. i have notice that she often would take a look and me while i am surfing kingsnake. her enclousre is right in front of me so she sees me a lot. whenever i try to hadle her she would not resist. i come from behind and i holf her head with my other hand. she is very mellow at this point. i keep my temp regulated with thermostat. at the hottest point on the basking area is 93-95 degrees. in the middle at 88 degrees and at the end somehwere between 79-82. she seems to like the hotter side of the tank. well since then about three days ago bought her a hide box under the drift wood. she has ben there eversince. i'm worried that she feels somehow insecured about me and the enclosure so she hides. which led me to ask this question. i just didn't want her to always hide in the box and if i go and handle her she freaks out cause i would lift her box and come after her like predator would. making her feel evrytime she sees me or smells me to think that i'm a predator coming to eat her. well i really appriciate all the comments and suggestion. i really need more haha. from what you have read so far. what should i do should i take out the hide box because i feel insecure. i know for sure i'm thinking in the best interest of myself right now. but i really don't want a pet that would not like the owner.

I think you should defnately leave your hide box in. It will make your snake feel more secure in his cage, and will help reduce stress.
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David - Houston, TX
Young Red Tail Boa
Purchased 11/16/03
www.geocities.com/davidag02