New Redtail

[dnt]

Thought id share my new animal of the house, and my experience today. This is my second snake and was able to talk the wife into letting me have a larger one (ball python was my first snake)

I let her get use to her enclosure for almost 2 weeks only taking her out to clean ect. Today was her first feeding and went well... well except for the part of putting her back in the cage. I had never been struck by my Ball so I was quite suprised when I went in to grab the Redtail from her feeding tub she struck me good.

My ball had always been the most gentle and docile after feeding ect. Does this happen to not be the same with a BCC/BCI? Do they seem to require a bit more "cool" down time after eating?


in any case, here is a picture of her, and any input you can all give would be great :)


(Sorry I didnt resize it ;) http://www.c2-solutions.net/IMG_0012.JPG

[ricorice]

hi well nice looking snake u have there wel my bci is a typical woman vicious and nasty lol ( no offence intended girls lol) but i cant go near her tank when theres a smell of rat in the air or she'll attack me though she dose it any way but more so when thers the smell of pray around i dunno if other will agree with me but they are very verocious (cant spell that word) eaters ive never taken her out of her tank for feeding though so i cant comment about that but u dont u feed her in her tank its safer for both of you that way lol

[Reticsrule]

im surprised to hear that you have a tempermental BCI ricorice. both of mine dont have an aggressive bone in their body. my advice on the feeding is to feed her in her enclosure because she will eventually be too large to move between her cage and the feeding tub. plus as you have already found out, they can be a little aggressive after eating so you are reducing the risk to both of you by feeding her inside her cage.

[ricorice]

lol reticsrule my mams been trying to get me to get rid oh her becoz shes so aggressive lol i think the snake is just sexist coz shes never struck at my mam just me lol she dose seam to calm down a little bit when shes out of the tank but even then shes been known to strike to wards me when im holding her but to a certain extent i think its coz shes is quite young well at least thats what im hopeing coz i dont hink i got handle her being aggressive when shes fully grown lol

[hbwright]

dnt--That looks very much like a new Central American BCI you have for a new pet. Congrats.

They are very much like Colombian but you may have hit on one of the differences. Their temperment..... You may get lucky and have one as docile as mine, but still always be sharp during feeding. I feed in the tub and give at minimum an hour before removing her and before I do I make sure she is aware of action outside of the tub to judge her reaction. If she needs more time I either wait longer or simply put her whole tub in her enclosure and take the top off for her to move out when she is ready.

Like I said, mine is very gentle and docile after her initial settling time. I think there are some that are always going to be a little nippy but you'll learn how to manage that. They do tend to calm down with age. Mine spends a lot of time with the family, including my three children, ages 7, 6 and 3 without threatening strikes but I am still always respectfull that she is a snake and, well, snakes will be snakes.

Give your new pet two consecutive feedings without handling at all. Only spot clean messes, change water and keep an eye on temp and humidity. Other then that leave her alone and let her settle in. After her 48 hours digestion after the second meal then it is time to handle her and give her time to get used to you.

Congrats on the new member of the family and enjoy her (or him).

[hbwright]

Duh, I'm sorry, I really did read your post but my brain is obviously not working right.

I see you did give her time to settle in so, LOL, dismiss my ignorance.

[Corran]

One thing about feeding a snake in it's enclosure is that snakes will quickly learn to associate something going into its enclosure as food, it is important to teach them them otherwise at an early age. That way when your snakes much bigger you can keep all your fingers when taking her out. Eventually it might get difficult to feed outside the enclosure but hopefull by then certain habits will be instilled so you wont get struck. Remember the instincts of snakes are very strong, once they go into feed mode its difficult for them to tell the difference between friend and prey and will be a bit confused. Sometimes all they need is a bit more downtime after swallowing.

[Bluzmn59]

One thing about feeding a snake in it's enclosure is that snakes will quickly learn to associate something going into its enclosure as food, it is important to teach them them otherwise at an early age.

I have to disagree here, to some extent. I handle my snakes a lot (5-6 times per week) and I am also in their cages daily for water, cleaning, etc. On the other hand, there is only one time per week when I am in there for feeding. I have heard others put forth this view but it has never held water with me. Why should a snake believe that the cage door opening signifies feeding time when that only occurs one time out of a dozen? Maybe if the snake is not handled much.......

Also, once they get big, it can get a little dicey moving a snake that is 8 feet long and hungry from one enclosure to another when there is the smell of rat in the air.

[dnt]

What are the distinctions other wise (appearance) as far as a Columbian vs Central American? Obviously I had called it this because thats what the snake was advertised as. Thanks for clueing me in though ;)

The first feeding I had attempted was with a frozen thawed. Let it get to room temp, warmed it up a bit in warm water, ruffled the fur good, and put her down. She could care less about it. Climbed onto my hand I put her back in her cage no problem.

This most recent feeding I used a live rat, stunning it with a good wall smack, and she struck at it instantly. Any suggestions on how to make the F/T more tempting?


Other than that, thanks for the great replies!


Just read the FAQS silly me ;)

[arash]

I have to disagree here, to some extent. I handle my snakes a lot (5-6 times per week) and I am also in their cages daily for water, cleaning, etc. On the other hand, there is only one time per week when I am in there for feeding. I have heard others put forth this view but it has never held water with me. Why should a snake believe that the cage door opening signifies feeding time when that only occurs one time out of a dozen? Maybe if the snake is not handled much.......

Also, once they get big, it can get a little dicey moving a snake that is 8 feet long and hungry from one enclosure to another when there is the smell of rat in the air.

well its kinda like fish i think when u walk in front of a fish tank all the fish come to where u are on the surface in hope of food.

[hbwright]

dnt--CA's are usually darker and usually have conneced saddles that are kind of orangy in color. Their sides and belly are usually pinker then Colombians. From what I understand this is typical. I have one that changes drastically in coloration from VERY dark to light. They also stay smaller, more typical of the dwarf boas but don't let the dwarf part fool you. Dwarf boas can still be good sized snakes.

As far as the feeding, make sure it is nice and warm and you may have to practice patience to get them to feed. The most important part is persistance. I have two that insist on totally different methods. My youngest male doesn't like the rat to move. I simply place him in the tub, add a warm rat and he opens his mouth and swallows, has never missed a meal. On the other hand the first 6-7 months with my little CA was torture with many tears on my part trying to figure out exactly what she wanted. I would try the wiggle and leave it in there and eventually put her feed tote and all in her enclosure to stay overnight. That never worked for her but I know have for some. She would always have to constrict before she ate. I eventually figured out if she didn't constrict she wouldn't eat. At times she'd wait too long and the rat would cool and she'd completely loose interested so I'd have to re-warm the rat. Sometimes she would not eat if I was there with her and other times she would let go as soon as I walked away but would eat if I stayed. Eventually it got better and now she nearly attacks me as soon as I walk up to the feeding tote, I have to use the cover as a shield when putting in her food. There are many things that work, it is just figuring out what will work for him/her. One other first attempt to try is to defrost, immediately freeze and defrost again. Don't let stay defrosted for too long the first time so bacteria doesn't build up. This often increases the smell of the rat to make it more enticing.

Give her a week in between attempts and let us know how the next try goes.

[BoidsUnlimited]

The first bite I ever took was from my old female BCI after she was feeding. Prior to feeding or and hour after she was the most calm snake I had...but when she got the scent of prety she would go insane.

[YoungBuck]

Hard to say what type of BCI that is...but if it is a Central, it's pretty light in coloration. Very pretty though~!! I keep and breed Central American Nicaraguan Boa's myself and if indeed that is a CA, just be careful with her. CA's are very fragile and regurge very easily. She won't get very big though...approx. 5 ft or so. Keep feeding her in a separate tub like you are and give her about an hour or so after feeding to calm down (like hbwright said). If you try and put her back right away you will deffinately get tagged. Once they're in feeding mode they will straike at anything that moves including your face. Make sure you spend 10-15 minutes every 2-3 days with her and she will settle down quite nicely. CA babies are known to be nippy as neo's but will settle down with handling. Hope this helps~! ;)

[YoungBuck]

Here are some pics...hope you don't mind.

1.1 Central American Nicaraguan BCI's

http://www.ssnakess.com/photopost/data/500/ssnakess2.jpg http://www.ssnakess.com/photopost/data/500/ssnakess1.jpg