My girlfriend has an internship at one of the zoos in our area and they were recently being taught how to handle the boa constrictor they have there (its used for education purposes). I believe the snake is around 5-6 feet and i think its a b.c.c female. Anyway, they were taught to hold it with one hand around the middle of the body and one hand holding it closer to the head. She's not a big fan of boids and she said that whenever she tried to hold it, the snake would freak out and try to go all over the place, which in turn caused her to freak out a little bit lol. I figured it was because the way they have them holding it, the more they try to control the head or put pressure around the neck, the more the snake would feel threatened and try to fight. Thats what my cornsnakes do anyway. I was just wondering if this was proper technique or if there is a better way to hold a large constrictor like that. Thanx alot for any help.
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boa handling question
Replies (1)
No method will apply to all snakes!!
If the snake is "tame" AND it's calm about being held AND you are observant about it's "mood", I would recommend simply supporting it's weight. Somewhere about 1/3 and 2/3 down the body. You need to ALWAYS be aware of what it's doing and how it gets if/when irritated.
Good support is key to the animal feeling secure, if it feels like it may get dropped. it's gonna wrap onto something and hold on, getting it off can irritate it into biting
If it's not tame OR not calm OR in a "bad" mood (sometimes caused by shedding?) then it might be time to restrain it's head. All of my boa's are tame and I typically never restrain the heads. even when pissy, you just have to be aware and maybe skip the cage cleaning for that day 
Peaple always ask, "does it bite" and I always reply "does it have a mouth" followed by an explanation something like, it's an animal, it's first line of defense is it's mouth, it has no arms/legs to strike out with. This particular animal is used to being handled and does not typically bite. But you should always be aware that it could bite and keep yourself away from it's mouth.
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Thanks,
Dave "Rainbows-R-Us"
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