new boa owner seeks advice.....

[Gemin][][]

I read the post by Hollywoodsnake about her being afraid of the snake she was snakesitting . Now I just inherited a columbian boa from a friend who claimed to not to have time for it so I said ok kool.I fugure all i need to do is just to get to know the snake a little better and to get to know its habits, but the kinda thing freaks me out some times,plus I've got kids ...lol... but they love it.He said the boa loves the water, so I figured I would give it treat and bathe it, but it swims around and tries to get up the side of the tub, cant; then opens it's mouth. Is it pissed off or natural....?I expect to get bitten one day but not this soon you know.I want to take all the nessacary steps to have a healthy snake.I think it was underfed and you can see its ribs and I was told that also, I want to get it bigger so im feeding it like 5 live mice a week he is
2 1/2 to 3 years and 4 feet . I handle him a fair bit and feel comfortable doing it but one time I took him into public he was great, but after a few hrs he opens his mouth too.... I just wanna learn as much as I can, but the net only offers so much....ty and look forward to responses.

[Badger-X]

[][']I read the post by Hollywoodsnake about her being afraid of the snake she was snakesitting . Now I just inherited a columbian boa from a friend who claimed to not to have time for it so I said ok kool.I fugure all i need to do is just to get to know the snake a little better and to get to know its habits, but the kinda thing freaks me out some times,plus I've got kids ...lol... but they love it.He said the boa loves the water, so I figured I would give it treat and bathe it, but it swims around and tries to get up the side of the tub, cant; then opens it's mouth. Is it pissed off or natural....?I expect to get bitten one day but not this soon you know.I want to take all the nessacary steps to have a healthy snake.I think it was underfed and you can see its ribs and I was told that also, I want to get it bigger so im feeding it like 5 live mice a week he is
2 1/2 to 3 years and 4 feet . I handle him a fair bit and feel comfortable doing it but one time I took him into public he was great, but after a few hrs he opens his mouth too.... I just wanna learn as much as I can, but the net only offers so much....ty and look forward to responses.

I have been the proud owner of a Colombian for 2 and a half years now, raising a baby to a now 6 and a half foot beauty. My first piece of advice would be to have the snake checked out by a qualified reptile vet. My girl goes once a year for a checkup. Unless you know the snake really well, opening the mouth can mean a lot of things including respiratory issues. I find them to be a gentle snake due to their nature. Your best bet is to get the animal onto frozen thawed rats. Mice will never give you size without a massive amount of them. If you are doing live, switch to thawed. I just recieved a Hog Island Boa as a rescue only feeding on live and it switched to frozen with little issue or problem. And lastly, keep the public displays of the animal to a minimum as it is stressful for an animal not use to it as well as the many people who may fear it. You never hear about the 50 times your snake entertains, helps someone past fear or thrills a child but the world seems to hear about the 1 time it bites or gets loose. Always keep this in mind. It has worked well for me.

Best of luck!

Tom

[HeavenlyHerps]

For one thing if you just got the snake you need to slow down. It still needs time to get used to its new surroundings. Another thing go out and buy 'The boa constrictor manual.' This will help you alot. Avoid bathing it inless its nessasary, an if you do so, make sure the water is about an inch high and is luke warm to your touch. If the snake starts to stress remove it and dry it off with a warm towl. Feeding a snake mulitible prey items like that only takes it longer to digest an can cause loose stools and other problems. If the snake is around 4 foot it can eat a medium rat. If the snake is skinny take it to a reptile vet, give it a check up and make sure a fecal is done. Open mouths can be a sign of many diffrent things, from stress, inhaling water, respratory infections and others. Avoid flanting the snake in public, it only takes one accident to cause a problem. Make sure your have the proper set up for housing it.