Head Shaking

[Linds]

I have one boa here (adult bcc) that displays some unusual behaviour around feeding time. I toss a p/k or f/t in front of her hide and then she eventually comes out and starts sniffing it as well as shaking her head... like a wet dog... almsot like she was smelling something bad that made her twitch... she will shake so hard as to knock her head of her hide... she does this for about a minute or two before she finally strikes. She does this every single feeding. Very odd, I have never seen anything like it before. Has anyone else experienced this with their boas??

[BoidKeeper]

OMG! I've never ever heard of anything so weird! Has she always done this? I'd check all over on this one Linds.
Keep us posted,
Trevor

[Chris Steele]

The boa i used to have did the exact same thing....I dont know why, but it could be something to do with vision (wild guess) because chickens bob their heads to see.

[Linds]

I'm not at all worried about her. Otherwise her behaviours are perfectly normal and she is very healthy. I'm fairly certain it has nothing to do with sight, she only does it when she is right up close smelling it, and she can track movements outside her cage right on the mark from all distances. When she does her shake-out-like-a-wet-dog-lookin-like-a-big-sneeze thing she does it between 2 and 8 times I would say before taking the bite. However in all the snakes I have ever worked with, I have never observed anything even remotely similar to this, was wondering if anyone else had?

[Pixie]

I think I might know why she is doing this but it is only a guess. My female BP does the same wierd head shake when she "feels" something different or ticklish on her face: my hair or grass for example. Even if just a strand or two slightly brushes against her face or head she does the head shake, a quick head shaking almost like a shudder! The first she did this while in my hair behind my neck really freaked me out!!!

Could it be that your boa has a similar reaction to the food's whiskers or fur??? It sounds just like how my female ball reacts to things touching her face.

Pixie

[Colonel SB]

I don't think it's anything to worrie about as long as the head shaking is only during feeding.

[Linds]

Pixie,
That does make a lot of sense, I never thought about that!

Colonel SB,
Hehehe... as mentioned before, I wasn't at all worried about this, just curious if anyone else had experienced this ;)

[djc3674]

my colombian red-tail does the same thing sometimes...he doesnt shake his head like violently..but he does move it back n forth. Since they use their heat sensors..i figured he was just tryin to zone in on the prey item, i could be wrong though..it is kinda strange looking.