Rosy Boas Aggressive?

[simon711]

Hello all,

I will soon be a first time snake owner and I have some questions. I have been doing a lot of research for a while now and I have decided that a rosy boa is the snake for me. I have found a breeder and a snake that I would like but the breeder says that he picks up the rosys with a snake hook because they can have high food reactions. Is this true? I know they have high prey drives but I didn't know it could be to where you have to use a snake hook to not get bit. He says he just uses it to put the snake in his hands then they are fine, but I thought you could just pick rosies up with your hands.

Let me know what you guys think,

Simon

[Aaron_S]

Yes. Rosy boas tend to be a bit on the **** side when it comes to picking them up at first.

[regi375]

I do that with all my snakes to let them know it's not chow time.

[condescomputers]

Whether your snake has a strong feeding response or not you should get used to using a snake stick.

[PsychoSnake]

I know this was asked a while ago but since I breed Rosie's I'll give my two cents. Rosies have two basic temperaments:

Very pleasant, demure, slow and hardly ever bite. These guys make great pets... When they eat. These rosies can be very hard to get feeding after birth because they are so shy. This can also happen to adults being established in a new environment especially if it was a stressful transition. But once established and eating regularly they do great.

The other temperament is of the rosy with an everlasting need for food. These guys will genuinely think you are a floating drumstick and you will fit inside their tiny bellies. I have one adult rosy who will literally fly out of her rack defying gravity flailing her open mouth at me. She also thinks my thumb is often a mouse and she once tried to kill and eat my bed comforter. At the same time I wouldn't call her aggressive. She just has a voracious appetite and is very confident that you belong in her belly as all her bites are food related bites. These guys tend to be good eaters from the start by the way.

Defensive bites actually tend to come from the more shy Rosie's and they really don't want to even engage in that behavior. It happens most often when I'm presenting food and they don't want to eat it. Rosies are generally sweet animals that prefer to evade danger than engage it but if you got someone like my girl Pepper, prepare yourself for some crazy antics

Overall though remember that each snake is an individual. Pepper is my most "hungry" rosy boa, Daisy is my calmest and NEVER bites (she tolerates a lot of BS and is my therapy/education animal), while I have several that can get nippy when actually hungry (meaning the food aggression is expected and predictable).

[Aaron_S]

I know this was asked a while ago but since I breed Rosie's I'll give my two cents. Rosies have two basic temperaments:

Very pleasant, demure, slow and hardly ever bite. These guys make great pets... When they eat. These rosies can be very hard to get feeding after birth because they are so shy. This can also happen to adults being established in a new environment especially if it was a stressful transition. But once established and eating regularly they do great.

The other temperament is of the rosy with an everlasting need for food. These guys will genuinely think you are a floating drumstick and you will fit inside their tiny bellies. I have one adult rosy who will literally fly out of her rack defying gravity flailing her open mouth at me. She also thinks my thumb is often a mouse and she once tried to kill and eat my bed comforter. At the same time I wouldn't call her aggressive. She just has a voracious appetite and is very confident that you belong in her belly as all her bites are food related bites. These guys tend to be good eaters from the start by the way.

Defensive bites actually tend to come from the more shy Rosie's and they really don't want to even engage in that behavior. It happens most often when I'm presenting food and they don't want to eat it. Rosies are generally sweet animals that prefer to evade danger than engage it but if you got someone like my girl Pepper, prepare yourself for some crazy antics

Overall though remember that each snake is an individual. Pepper is my most "hungry" rosy boa, Daisy is my calmest and NEVER bites (she tolerates a lot of BS and is my therapy/education animal), while I have several that can get nippy when actually hungry (meaning the food aggression is expected and predictable).

That's a really good and indepth explanation.

Pretty much my experience with them. Sweet as can be or you're a giant mouse and need to be eaten.

[EL Ziggy]

I love little snakes with big attitudes. :)