Hi,
I was wondering if someone familiar with boa behavior might have insight into something. Currently, I am caring for a six foot long common boa (roughly), which typically is docile and calm. She is not being aggressive, but is being unusually active. At first, my thought was she was simply hungry, and being active. I feed her two to three medium rats every two weeks (alternating the number usually). She ate this evening, and devoured them rather quickly in succession. The trick of it is that she's been active during hours when normally she'd be asleep (during the day). What makes it even more curious is she's pressing her head, rubbing it, against the sides of the aquarium, as if to push it open. This behaviors only been exhibited over the last two days.
Background info:
When I first got her, she was fond of soaking for long periods in her water dish. Eventually, this led me to note a problem with mites, which bled over to another snake. Reptile Relief seemed to work on the smaller snake without a problem, but on the larger (her) it didn't do much good. It seemed to be a handling issue (it's much harder to get a larger snake covered). So, I turned to soaking and quarantining her to a smaller much more controlable enclosure. The quarantine enclosures (large rubbermaid bins) were confining, but it was the best I could do at the time to keep tabs on things. After about a week or so of quarantine, I transferred her back to her aquarium, which I'd cleaned out. I think I have the mite issue under control (She's on paper towels, and I inspect both her and the aquarium / water dish etc daily if possible - I cannot find any evidence of mites). Or am I wrong? Is it possible she's just feeling better and "stretching her legs" (for lack of a term) or is the head rubbing evident of something else? When she does do it, she's pushing up against the sides of the aquarium and sliding over it with her whole body, but the head rubbing is the most evident action. She has exhibiting a desire to come out, which I have obliged by letting her free roam under watch -and she's fine when she's out. No head rubbing, none of it, she just curiously pokes around. I have not noticed any open mouth breathing or anything of related.
I have noticed what could be characterized by "Star gazing" but this usually happens shortly before she's meant to be fed, which I'm not sure to interpret as a sign of IBD or "Feed me". It's usually followed by her craning her neck up and trying to flip the lid off her home.
Any thoughts?
An obvious, Neophyte
