Reptile & Amphibian Forums

as stated before i dont understand why he stinks so bad, but only when in the cage... he ate for me the other night just fine...

one thing that i have noticed about him is that he has not got the muscle mass of my other snakes... he is not weak, but my other snakes are solid muscle... maybe that is nothing, but considering how many snakes i have and its a noticable difference i thought i would mention it...

he deficated 2 days ago and it looked normal...

i have never had to probe a snake before but i am really not sure that this is a male... i have PAT the snake.. lol

well any ideas would be a great help... i did take him to the vet and the vet made a few calls and check him over and said it seemed ok...
the thing the is confusing to me is that the snake appears to be in perfect health, but once in his cage for 5 minues him and the cage stink to high heaven... the cage will air out in about 5 minutes on its own, but he needs a bath..

thanks
shiloh

This may be a dumb comment....and I have never seen any of my boas do this, but could he/she be musking in the cage..as in marking territory? I have seen my females urinate soon after a male is put in their enclosure, but I have never noticed any unusual odors. If you are smelling it immediately after putting him/her in the enclosure and you don't smell it just before, when you are still holding him/her, it would seem to me, he is deliberately emitting "something". I don't know if, or to what extent, males mark territory in the wild. None of mine do it that I have seen. Perhaps it is because mine are all CB.....is your boa a wild-caught?

It would seem that if he/she is ill and the odor stems from the illness, you would smell it all the time. It would be better right after a bath, but it would come back eventually and you would notice it while you are holding the animal.

I have a female boa here, that belongs to a friend at work. He has owned this female a little over 6 years and she is his beloved-precious-baby-girl Last fall, we brought her here to possibly breed with my Motley. She did not like me AT ALL in the beginning and would show me ALL her teeth (and tonsils) everytime I opened her cage door. She never offered to strike or bite, and I was very careful handling her. Once, I had her out and she musked me. I noticed the oily substance on my hands before any odor, which was really not very strong. She only did it that once and before long, she accepted me as her new housekeeper/ratprovider.

Well....I hope you find some answers and I wish you the best with this boy/girl
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Linda Hedgpeth
lindafh@frontiernet.net
Sierra Serpents

"Not one shred of evidence supports the notion that life is so serious".

at first i thought illness was the problem and that was why it was stinking so i washed him/her and kept it out for about 2 hours and it did not stink at all, but once back in the cage it stunk to high heaven...
its a 4th generation CB... has a wonderful personality, but i am at the point where i cant deal with the smell... i think that is why i got the pair so cheap and why the seller is not responding to me when i try to contact them...

is musking common in females??? i have one of my large males on the other side of the room, so i wonder if she can see him and that is why she does it...
what do you think???

shiloh

Hey Shiloh,

Well, I'm stumped....maybe one of the boa wizards on here will chime in. Like I said, I've experienced the musking thing only once - ever - by the female in my post above. At this point you don't know the sex, right? It's too bad the vet who saw it, couldn't have probed it for you. Not that it would have solved anything, but you would have at least known the gender you are dealing with.

If this is a recent purchase, perhaps the boa will relax and stop (musking or whatever) after it settles in some more. Have you called the seller, or only emailed?

As far as "seeing" another boa in the room. I don't think that would be a factor as much as possibly the scent of another boa. I doubt their vision is such that they could visually recognize another sex of boa across the room. A male could definitely smell a female across the room though and if she is smelling "right", he should be at the door of his enclosure wanting out. At least, that's what mine do. They plaster themselves to the door like cartoon snakes

I'm out of suggestions, however I wish you luck and I would love to know the outcome and answer to your stinky critter.
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Linda Hedgpeth
lindafh@frontiernet.net
Sierra Serpents

"Not one shred of evidence supports the notion that life is so serious".

my vet is more of a normal pet vet... he is lots of help thought... he always makes calls to find answers, plus he is a friend of the family and does not charge me...

i will buy a probe set soon... i have never needed one before... i have always been able to tell by the tail and spurs... i am almost sure its a male, but its not worth guessing...
i keep my snakes in neodoshea cages and vision cages for my GTP's... so they really dont let out that much oder... they get plenty of air, but his cage is not noticable until it is opened...
i just dont understand... he has been home for about 2 weeks and i have a room designated for my reptiles so he should not be stressing... he is eating fine and seems to be healthy...
i am open for ideas...

shiloh