She likes my face... maybe too much.

Niten · 12-27-14, 09:29 AM

Between my hands she feels at home but a couple of times she clearly aimed to my face ready to strike, she's a baby now and it was easy to manage but when she'll be 3 mt long she will get what she likes when she likes... the first time I just put her back in (she followed my face until the last second), the second time I risked and got her closer to me, to let her verify there was nothing to hunt there. She calmed down quickly and took a nice trip on my glasses...
The first time I had just taken her out of an unconsidered hiding place I immediately removed later, the seller recommended not to provide her with a lair as she could become too much territorial and aggressive even if anywhere on the internet they recommend the exact contrary. She had eaten a mouse 2 days before.
The second time she had been exploring my hands, my clothes and my neck for a while, when she found herself comfortable in one hand laying at a distance of 30 cm from my face while my head was resting on the pillow she switched to attack position. Last day before feeding.

ps: we are talking about a female baby boa I brought home 5 days ago, being my first snake I've made a lot of mistakes for sure... I worked a lot to her terrarium and handled her every day, maybe she's just a litte stressed...

**Minkness** · 12-27-14, 08:19 PM

Probably just stressed. I'd say give her about 24-48 hours between handling and keep the sessions under 15 minutes and let her slide off of you instead of just putting her in and closing her up.

I'm still a bit new to snakes myself, but this method has worked with my other reptiles.

Also, you are right to make sure she has a hide as this will help her feel more secure and help destress her. Some people have multiple hides so the snake can choose where to be.

Good luck =)

toddnbecka · 12-27-14, 08:52 PM

Simply because a boa draws its head/neck back isn't necessarily an indication its going to strike.

Niten · 12-27-14, 09:06 PM

I don't know, the seller is interested in selling me a hide but he doesn't want to, he says that if they hide too much they become more aggressive... O.o He knows his opinion is very different from the common beliefs on internet and was clear about this too...

@todd she followed every movement of my head for a while, she really looked concentrated on a prey, calculating where and when

SSSSnakes · 12-27-14, 10:20 PM

Snakes need hide to keep them from being to stressed. Keep the snake away from your face, snake strike at the face of their prey, so the prey can not fight back. You do not want to allow your snake within striking distance of your face. Keep in mind, snake tolerate being handled, they do not like it. I know some people will disagree.