aggression theory

[snakehunter]

ok ive been sick at home for four days, and when your inside for over 96 hrs your mind wanders....trust me!

so i have a "theory" on why ETB's and such are notoriously aggressive. ive been told many times that holding a tree boa that is at a young age could damage the spine, SO by the time your boa is structurely safe to hold, it has had a year or two of little human contact, and is in a sense wild. at an this handleable age it does not recognize people or keepers as safe animals, and is defense because of our size.

does this make sense, or have i been taking too much caugh syrup?
thanx
-Jacob

[reverendsterlin]

too much syrup

[CraigC]

Waaaaaaay Too much syrup!:D :D :D
CraigC

[maiden_canada]

some animals are just normally aggressive. what about all those monitors who will eat the crap out of you, and some other snake species like bloods

[snakehunter]

true, the logic made sense to me, but when you use that example it proves me wrong oh well! at least im not sick anymore

[Zoe]

I find that people too quickly assume that all emeralds are aggressive. Many are aggressive - definitely more so than other species of boas.
But mine is not, she's over a year and a half old and I can handle her just as easily as I can my other snakes (in fact, she's calmer than my BCI). I believe that this is why:
1. She knows she can't eat me
2. She knows I won't hurt her because she sees me every day.
3. I don't handle her often enough for her to get mad about it.

If I keep handling to a minimum (once every week or two and for only a few minutes at a time), IMO she tolerates it. When they get older, they know darn well they can hurt you but they don't, if you don't irritate them.

Zoe

[TheRedDragon]

Hmmm, that's really good to know Zoe, and, it sounds like you're doing a really good job with your ETB. I really want one, but, I am a little skeptical due to their tendency to want to use those fangs of theirs.

[Zoe]

Thanks! I'm having a lot of fun with her - she's super cool!

Definitely get one, don't worry about the fangs. I'm convinced that the reason many of them are so agro is because they get handled a lot in an attempt to calm them down... but they don't want to be handled. They aren't scared, they just don't want to be handled and they know if they bite they will be released.
At least that's the impression I,ve been getting! My etb "trusts" me but she merely tolerates me and I'm sure that if I handled her enough, she'd bite me so I let her go.

Zoe

[Linds]

Most arboreals are a bit more edgy, it is built in as instinct moreso than others, since they are exposed up in the trees unlike other types of snakes that may spend a lot of their time hiding in leaf litter or burrows. Also, a lot of arboreals available in the pet trade are still WC animals, which certainly isn't a bonus for a naturally defensive animal. Neonate ETB are not as small and fragile as say, GTP, so they can still be handled, just very delicately as with any small snakes. ATB can be carefully handled as well.

[WRX]

I had a baby ETB many years ago, and from a red neonate to a 4ft adult, she never struck @ me once. Make no mistake, she was very alert and curious, but not aggressive. I know this is probably not the norm, but ...?
I also understand the Basin ETB's are even less prone to biting, but I imagine it varys from snake to snake.

ATB's are in my experience, pure evil! :)