aggressive boa

kateness91 · 03-19-15, 09:30 AM

I have a 6-8 month old boa I bought ab a month n a half ago and added to my collection.. I got him at a show 3 hrs away from home, we had him out in the car ride home.. Couldn't ask for a better tempered snake...... Well until a week or so later, I fed him and now he's the most aggressive thing ever!! I can't mess w him give him water anything w out him striking at me.. I've never encountered such a problem before.. He was being handled daily but now not as much because I'm burnt out on being bit.. Any suggestions as to what I can do with him.. I have 5 other snakes and never had an issue.. 🐍🐍🐍🐍

Zcorpshea · 03-23-15, 05:14 PM

I have the same issue with my male BCI- he was perfectly fine for the first 6-7 months of me keeping him then out of nowhere he got dicey. ive tried a lot of things to calm him down but hes a pain in the *** to get out of his Viv without getting bit. if you go near his Viv at night hell strike out at the glass. What sort of works for me is i just hook him out of his viv and he calms down pretty well once hes out. Hes probly just Viv defensive and thats something that ive found is difficult to change. Ive come to except that just like people some snakes are just dicks.

reptiledude987 · 03-23-15, 05:19 PM

Some snakes will be cage defensive and theres not alot that can be done about it. It could be hes going into shed ( mine hisses at me when i go in his cage while in shed). As stated use a hook to get it out of the viv. Once out they usually calm down quite a bit. Just exercise caution even after removal with a hook. getting bit on the hand sucks but not nearly as much as a possible bite to the face. With regular handling and interaction the snake should calm down.

kateness91 · 03-23-15, 05:22 PM

This is all the time.. He's so quick ..

reptiledude987 · 03-23-15, 05:56 PM

Just be prepared for the strike when opening the viv. Have a hook ready once first strike is over scoop it up with the hook. Once its out should be be better. Have a tub ready in case theres still attitude then do what needs to be done in the viv.

Zcorpshea · 03-23-15, 06:49 PM

hes still young so you can rock a glove for extra protection. a waterproof winter glove will stop the bite. youll feel it but its not nearly as bad. some snakes will come around and calm down otheres wont... just the nature of it unfortunately

bigsnakegirl785 · 03-23-15, 11:36 PM

Could you post photos of your set up? What are your temps like? How often do you feed, and do you feed in or out of the enclosure (sometimes feeding in a separate enclosure can stress them out)? How do you take it out, and how long do you keep it out?

Many times when I see someone's snake is cage-defensive it's due to stress. They either provide too much open space, keep it in too small an enclosure, handle it too much, among many many other stress-inducing factors.