Snake afraid of heights?

[J.J.]

I have a 3 foot Columbian Redtail Boa and I think she may be afraid of heights. It seems like everytime I pick her up and carry her around or put her around my neck for a second, she kinda gets jumpy and she moves around a lot. Is it possible for a snake to be afraid of heights? I heard it was... but I could of heard wrong. Just curious...

[BOAS_N_PYTHONS]

In simple its a boa, a wild animal that in nature does not jump on a person' s neck and goes for a a ride. They are cautious animals that do not go through that type of stress in nature. The whole experience must be stressful to it and reason it wants to escape your hold is because of this stress. Although we love our animals and want to interact with them, they are not like cats and dogs who crave our attention.

Just my 2 cents.

[J.J.]

Yeah i see what you're saying.
I mean a lot of the time, she is just fine
It just seems like certain moments she just gets nervous or something
and i dont often carry her around my neck, because it does seem to bother her

[sharno]

well you just said everytime you pick her up she gets that way so which is it?

[BoidsUnlimited]

My old BCI would try to climb atop my head when I placed her aruund my neck. Is he/she trying to do that? Or just starts to get jump? It could be that she feels your grip release and is like "w00t I'm free! gotta bolt."

[Jeff_Favelle]

The Boa is afraid of YOU, not the height. LOL!!!

[J.J.]

yeah she tries to climb onto of my head occaisionally.

[J.J.]

yeah i said everytime.
i suppose its a mixture.
there are times when she's fine.
and times when she's jumpy

what im saying is like..
when im sitting down holding her..
she is fine.

but a lot of times when i stand up and am still holding her..
she gets jumpy.

make sense?

[Serpens]

It's probably the stress. And moving around would be more stressful than sitting, because she probably feels more like she's in control when you're motionless than when you're walking around.

Serpens

[J.J.]

mmkay.
yeah that makes perfect sense.
should i just not pick her up and carry her around then?
or just let her get used to it?
or just carry her around less?

[Serpens]

Id say carry her around for very short trips, like from her cage to the chair/couch, and then back again. Once she gets used to that, make the trips a little longer, so that she doesn't freak out. Slow steady progression. THat's my advice.

Serpens

[J.J.]

sounds like a plan!

thanks!

[RepTylE]

My Suri tries to climb the highest point when I have her out. When I am walking around the house with her around my neck, she seems pretty content.