Here are some facts: Not sure what type of Boa he is - looks like a redtail from pics I've seen. Bought him on 10/10 he's in a glass terrarium. 4 feet by 2 feet by 2 feet 2 feet long as of 10/10 Male Has a heat pad, and a lamp (I think it's 65 watt, not high) Newspaper as substrate Some driftwood - he likes to hide in it. A dish with water Temps seem normal Ok - here is the problem: A few days ago - he struck at my husband. We had fed him 2 days before. Now, he is always in a strike stance when we come near him. We fed him on the 19th, and haven't tried to handle him since. Not sure what his problem is - we handled him just fine the day we put him in his new home. We waited 1 week before we tried to handle him at all. What can I do to tame him?
The reason he didnt strike when you got him is that it was stressed and not "being itself". Is there a lot of traffic around the cage? Do other animals or children have access to the cage? What are the actual temps in the cage? You could put a worn shirt in the cage so it can associate your smell as something safe. When it strikes at you dont back off, reach in and grab him and take him out of the cage. If it makes you feel safer you can use leather gloves to keep the teeth from sinking in.
I'll try with the leather gloves - i will measure the temps when I get home. No traffic at all around the cage. It is in my living room - which the dogs are not allowed in, it is gated off. Last I checked the cage - it was right around 50% humity, and maybe 80 degrees. I will check again and let you know - maybe it has gone down since it has been cooler around my house. He bit my husband - and he did leave a mark - maybe I will try with the gloves. I will also try the shirt thing - great idea!!!
K get a digital thermometer with a remote probe. It sounds like its expensive, but they are only 10-15.00 from radio shack, target, walmart. Sounds like you have him in an aquarium, that probably has a screen top. If this is the case your going to have lots of trouble stabalizing the temps. May need to glue i piece of thin plexiglass over/under the screen so it covers about 2/3rd of the lid, this will hold heat and humidity in better. You temps at the floor should be pretty much right at 88 degrees on the hot side. If you r temps are at only 80 degrees this gould be irritating your boa, specially if he just ate. Boas need belly heat to digest their prey. too cool of temps could make your snake regurge(throw up) You know how you feel when your nautious, youd prolly bite anyone that messed with you too.lol Try offering a box or something for it to hide in to get away from everyone, til he feels secure. An all glas cage while being good for displaying the animal, on the animal's side he is on display... Snakes are not used to being in plain sight, so this also could be stressing it out. is it possible the snake has a shed coming on? are it's eyes cloudy at all? they get real jumpy near a shed. So first make sure temps are stable at 88 on the hot side(cool side will take care of itself) Next offer a hide box Next put an worn t-shirt in the cage Does the snake have a big enough water bowl for it to soak in completely? If so keep an eye on the snake and see if it is soaking allot. if it is the snake could be ready to shed, or theres a possability the snake has mites, they can also make a snake irritable. Sorry for the flood of info, but i guess too much is better than too little right?
In addition to what has been said are you feeding live and are you feeding in the cage? Live feeding can be so dangerous for your snake. A mis-grab can leave the rats head free and cause your snake to lose a chunk of flesh or an eye. It can also heighten aggression. Feeding in the cage can sometimes lead to the expectancy of food coming when you open it as well, especially if it was live food.
Yes, we feed him in the cage- and we are feeding him live mice now. I have to convice hubby to do the frozen rats - cause he really likes to watch them eat the live. I've already told him how much better it is for them, and I told him that it can hurt the snake. I bought the snake from a reptile show - the temps are higher than I thought - they are closer to 90 degrees than 80. Humidity is low. There are special screens on my tank - and I would like to use it for one of my beardies one day - or another lizard. So I don't want to glue anything to anything. I have a towel over one end of the tank to help with the humidity a bit. I have been misting the snake - the bowl is big enough for him - I've never seen him in there though. Eyes are clear - so no shed; He has a hid spot in his log and seems to love it; I'll try to put another one in there. I forgot to put a t-shirt in. We didn't try handling him last night since he was hiding the entire night. What type of environment do you suggest I feed him in? I know that my mistake was I didn't do a lot of research prior to buying him - when I bought my beardies, I researched alot. He was a little bit of an impulse buy - and I knew better than to do that. I got too excited at the reptile show. I thought as long as I bought him young, and handled him often - he'd be a good pet. I can't even handle him once!! How can I handle him often!! I'll keep trying!! Thanks everyone!
Please do not take offense at this, I understand that you are here trying to learn and take the proper steps to care for your snake. Now that I have qualified my statement here it is....... The reason for feeding live that you mentioned above is one of the most frustrating excuses those of us that have kept reptiles can hear. If someone has purchased a snake for the "thrill of the kill' then they are in it for the wrong reasons. Feeding live is bad for the snake! The snake can be injured or killed when a rat bites it. Live and prekilled prey also carry parasites that can harm your snake. In my opinion there is more of a thrill in having a snake snatch up a f/t rat that I am dangling for it in a pair of tongs than watching it hunt a live one. As for feeding in the cage... until you get the aggression issues taken care of I would recommend feeding in a separate feed tub. Did you get the 90° temp with the probe from a digital thermometer on the hot side? The logs are pretty much a waste... the snakes dont feel secure in them. One of the caves that you can get at the pet store would be better. A hide for a snake should be enclosed and somewhat tight for the snake. They like to be coiled up tight and secure. My snakes look almost like little turtles in the caves they have.... they get all coiled up and stick nothing but their heads out through the entrance of the cave to watch whats going on. When the snakes get too big for the caves cat littler pans and old plastic wash tubs with holes cut in them work great. The cage location may also be an issue.... even though the dogs cant get to it the snake is going to "feel" the traffic in and around the cage. You and your family coming and going through the room, the tv, maybe a stereo all could be working to cause the snake stress. Good luck and keep us posted on how it goes.
I don't take offense. I'm sure there are plenty of people who purchase snakes just for the "thrill of the kill" I assure you - I am not one of them. Just something that my husband liked about having the snake. I'll start on frozen ASAP - I had no intension of feeding live rats - I think I said that wrong. Yes, I did. Bought it at Walmart for my beardies. Works well. Will look for a new hide ASAP (probably tonight) Terrarium is located in the Living/Dining room. No where close to where we enter the house. Dogs/pets can't get near him at all - TV in separate room. It's a formal living/dining room - therefore we never use it (except for thanksgiving) We are finishing our basement - once that is complete, beardies and snake will be moved down there. Thanks for all of your advice. You've been a great help. I'll keep you posted.
Since you were feeding live (dont worry not gonna beat a dead horse) What i would do is when your snake poops take the fresh (must be fresh) to your vet to have a fecal run on the snake. It's possible it has internal parasites. This would also make them quite cranky. If its the case a few meds and the snake will be good as new. Getting a young Boa to take f/t prey is pretty easy. As Stormy siad feeding f/t prey off tongs can be quite a thrill, and much safer than throwing live prey. I'm glad your receptive to the advice given.
The Tongs sound like fun. Any special kind? The kind for food? What works best? Any suggestions on how to get the humidity up in the tank? Spraying, water on warm side, what else?? Thanks!!
I am glad I didnt offend you! I misunderstood the cage location, you said living room and I thought high traffic people around all the time kind of living room. Not a formal living room. Arent formal living rooms are such a waste of space these days... everyone that I know that has one says the same thing.... "We go in there about once or twice a year" I use old BBQ tongs The long handled ones, so that when my 7' female wants to do her impression of a freight train coming at the prey I am not in the line of fire. For the smaller prey items I use a pair of hemostats that you can get at most medical supply stores. For the humidity you could try keeping a towel or saran wrap over a portion of the screen on the top. Another option that is really good is Cypress Mulch, it looks great and holds humidity very well.
Yes, but DON'T feed on it. Feed in a seprate tote of you use it. I use hemostats. i should graduate to something larger but ehhh more money to spend.lol Looks kinda funny offering bunnies with the hemostats, almost like why bother using anything.lol Plus I dont dangle I just flop the bunnies intop the cages. Mine are kept on newspaper so i dont have to worry about ingesting substrate.
Everyone has given you great advice so far. The 90 is fine, I keep Saigo's hotside at 90-91 degrees, His coolside is 78-80 so it gives him a nice gradient. BBQ tongs work great it's what I use as well, my only advice is make sure you keep a fairly loose grip on the rat (I usually hold them by the crook of the back leg, works better than the tail for me) cause when they strike it can take ya by surprise its so fast and if you have too hard a grip he can't snatch it out. My only other advice is to point you at Clays English's care sheets - they are superb care guides and have helped me a lot in keeping Saigo healthy and happy. http://care.redtailboas.com
Ok - Where should I be measuring the heat? I have beardies- and with them I know where to measure - but with Boa's - I would think to measure lower, closer but not on the heat pad. We are getting the humidity higher now by misting in there more often - it's helped. Last night my husband dove in under the newspaper where he seems to like to chill, and grabbed him out. (a little more gently than I just made it sound!!!) His head was up while my husband had him, and he never seemed to really relax. He seemed to have struck at me once - but he didn't bite. Then - we changed out his water - and I noticed when I went to bed that he was chilling in the water dish. This morning - he had left a present in there for us. I wonder if we handle him today if he will be a little happier - maybe he was constipated? What do you think?
Its possible he may have been backed up a bit. You would know better than us when he pooped last. Mine always seem to poop about 20 minutes after i clean their cages. its like clockwork. A good handling usually get the goods moving.
Leezard, If your snake should ever go more than 30-35 days without defication, it usually helps to raise humidity levels to 75%-80%. That along with some gentle handling should get things moving. lol. If not try a soak in warm water. It seems that your snake already knew that. lol. How did the handling go today?
I'm sorry, I didn't realize I was still getting replies here. Here is a little update. He's pooping good - LOL! He is the easiest pet I have ever owned to clean up after!! He has pooped twice since I've owned him - and both times was right after I put some warm water in the tank - he soaked in it, and Viola!! Right in the water!!! So easy to clean - gotta love him for that!! I didn't realize I would have such a fear. It's hard for me to pick him up. My husband has been handling him a bit more though - but he seems very edgy. If I come near them - his neck turns into an "s" shape, and he looks like he is going to strike. I don't want an aggressive animal in my house - I know it sounds mean - cause Cyruss didn't ask to be bought by me. I'm just worried that he is going to stay aggressive, get bigger - and then it will be really hard to sell him. I keep meaning to pick up some gloves that fit me - cause the ones I tried to use were way too big, and I couldn't pick him up. It's stupid - I was never afraid of snakes before - but I'm really afraid of Cyruss!! I just can't pick him up!
All animals seem to really sense fear. It is good that somewone is doing the handling. Just make sure to change that water daily. Good luck!
Just because they carry themselves in an "s" position doesn't men they are going to strike. Wear a glove and test it out. Many snakes are normally in an S shape just being relazed. And yes they sense fear, and when your afraid it gives them reason not to trust you.
