I tried picking up the boa again today and she struck at me when I touched her. From what I hear she's a real sweet heart once you get her out of the tank, but should I try to get her out after she has already struck, or should I just leave it alone for the day? I'm worried that I'm just stressing her out and doing more harm than good. Any suggestions? I'm also worried that by wearing leather gloves while I tame her she'll become acustom to them and then not let me hold her without them. Does tame just mean tame or will she be more tame for me since I'll be the one doing the taming even though it's technically my girlfriends snake? Thank you for your help.
Reptile & Amphibian Forums
Welcome to kingsnake.com's message board system. Here you may share and discuss information with others about your favorite reptile and amphibian related topics such as care and feeding, caging requirements, permits and licenses, and more. Launched in 1997, the kingsnake.com message board system is one of the oldest and largest systems on the internet.
Another question
scatha
Dec 13, 2005 05:51 AM
Replies (3)
Morgans Boas
Dec 13, 2005 08:04 AM
She may get stressed, but when I'm dealing with a Boa with an attitude, and it starts hissing, or striking, I'll go in and pick it up for awhile. Sometimes the hissing continues, but usually subsides once out of the cage. Maybe you'll want to wear only one glove that's closest to the strike zone, and the other hand can support her without being gloved. How old is this Boa?
-----
--aka DMOG68
scatha
Dec 13, 2005 04:12 PM
I don't know exactly, we're the third owner of this snake, but I can tell you it's about three feet long we think.
rainbowsrus
Dec 13, 2005 11:43 AM
If you retreat and don't pick it up, you are reinforcng the behavior of "hiss/strike and get left alone". I know it can be scary and intimidating to pick up a pissed off boa but better to get them used to handling while it's young then wait till it's big.
That said, you don't want to over stress it so don't go in repeatedly. If you go in and it's hissy, pick it up, handle it, put it back. Then leave it alone for a day or two, then repeat the process. Also pay attention to it's behavior, I have a salmon that gets real hissy when it's going into shed. He doesn't strike but hisses a lot when he's starting to blue. Maybe your's has the same or another predictable behavior, time of day, time of eating cycle (just ate/digesting/hungry) or???
-----
Thanks,
Dave "Rainbows-R-Us"
0.1 Wife
0.2 kids
4.12 Brazilian Rainbow Boa
1.0 Hypomelanistic BRB
0.1 Het for Hypomelanistic BRB
0.1 BCI "Elvira" normal from 1989
1.0 BCI albino / het-anery
0.1 BCI Hypo / het-albino
0.1 BCI Anery / het-albino
0.1 BCI Hypo (possible super)
1.0 BCI albino het stripe
1.0 BCI salmon hypo
0.1 BCI ghost
lots.lots.lots feeder mice and rats 
