Taming a boa

HeRpZ03 · 09-05-04, 11:47 AM

Just recently got a male BCI from Dani33

. The boa's wonderful except for his moody reactions. He already left me 16 wonderful puncture marks on my forearm haha. Well the biting is an easy fix, the only thing i need some tips on is his "hold on tight for dear life like i'm gonna fall off a cliff" act when i'm handling him. He constantly squeezes the hell out of my arms when he gets out of his enclosure and last night it took me about 15 minutes to get him off my arm cuz he wrapped me up. So any tips on getting him to "loosen" up? lol. Any help would be greatly appreciated

Thnx in advance,

Allan.

MouseKilla · 09-05-04, 12:35 PM

I've found that nearly all boas will cling as you've described when they are small and while in the clumsy rapid growth period in the first 2 years. It's seems as if they have an acute fear of heights.
This usually stops when they get big enough that they could easily climb down to the floor from the height you are holding them. It seems to to happen just in time because by the time they get to that 5 - 6 foot range where they aren't scared of being chest-high off the floor anymore they are also big enough to overpower you or at least make your arm turn purple.

A while back I literally lost my shirt in a wrestling match with a 6 foot male. He wanted to hide inside it and the more I tried to re-direct him back out of it, the more twisted up in it he got. Eventually he had looped through a sleeve and the bottom of my shirt so I just took the shirt off with him still gripping it. He wouldn't give it back after either, he ended up back in the cage wearing his new Red Hot Chili Peppers shirt that he had won from me and which he now had a death grip on, I'd have torn the shirt before he would have let me take it back.lol! He lost interest shortly after I submitted and I was able to rescue the shirt later.

I do the same thing when it's my arm or hand, just stick my arm into the cage and stay still and face them toward a hide. They usually decide to let go and take off into the hide pretty quickly and then you get your limbs back! lol!

HeRpZ03 · 09-05-04, 02:07 PM

lol! Well mine is just about 4 feet long, 46 inches to be exact and about a year and a half in age.

"I do the same thing when it's my arm or hand, just stick my arm into the cage and stay still and face them toward a hide. They usually decide to let go and take off into the hide pretty quickly and then you get your limbs back! lol!"

tried that method...ended up sittin beside the cage with my arm inside it for about 15 minutes lol.