Pissed off female comlombian BCI wants to kill me...tips on tamming?

Soul_Reaper · 01-12-04, 03:39 PM

Ok here's the deal:

I have just purchased a female colombian BCI about 2 months ago, she's probably around 7 months old. At first she barely hissed, i picked her up all the time and she was completely fine with it. But now....oh boy! The damn thing starts puffing and hissing as soon as i enter the room, if i wave my hand next to the glass she goes as far as to attack the glass and bump her head around the enclosure for as long as it takes or until i leave the room...i'm not kidding here, this thing is EVIL.

But what baffles me is that she was such a sweetheart at first, her enclosure temps are fine and she is eating fine as well, she looks healthy and is pretty active. But she also wants to kill everyone or anything that moves.

The only thing i can think of is that she's going through a shed process, so could that be it? Could that be the reason why she's so goddamn pissed off? My BP and my corn are usually pretty cool during shed so i dont know...anyone here experiencing the same problems? Any tips on how to tame them or anything?

I mean, she's only a juvenile...but having a pissed off 8 feet long female boa in the house is gonna be scary...

Linds · 01-12-04, 04:06 PM

Some snakes get quite touchy when they are in shed, some don't. When they go in to shed they are next to blind, and I imagine it is generally uncomfortable feeling as well. This is why many snakes refuse to feed during this period. It is very possible that is the reason if nothing else has changed. If she keeps striking at the glass, you may want to put a towel or something to cover it until her shed is completed.

Soul_Reaper · 01-12-04, 04:13 PM

Thanks for the tips Linds.

It actually makes a lot of sense, i would be throwing punches around too if i went blind for a week and a giant hand tried to pick me up...hehehe.

ScreamingMisfit · 01-12-04, 05:03 PM

yeah i have to put a towel over my 8' male guyanas enclo0sure when he is in shed for the same reason let us know if the temperment continu8es after her shed...

Jay

MouseKilla · 01-12-04, 05:59 PM

I would tend to agree that the blindness from going into a shed cycle is likely the cause of this irritability, assuming this is her first shed since you've had her. The towel idea is a good one for a couple of reasons. First it acts as a blind so that the poor thing isn't being frightened by these big objects moving around too close for comfort. Second, if you dampen the towel it will obviously increase the humidity level to help with the shed. You may want to re-examine the arrangement of your hide(s) to make sure that they actually offer some privacy. I've seen a lot of cages set up with these nice, store bought hides with the opening facing the front of the cage. That's like a dressing room with no door, it serves no purpose, face your hides away from where there will be traffic and nosey people (or animals!). The idea here is to give your girl every opportunity to feel secure because that's where the defensive behaviours come from, an insecure or threatened feeling. If your snake feels safe she will likely calm right down to the typical boa attitude.

Soul_Reaper · 01-12-04, 06:20 PM

Mousekilla:

I like your idea for the hide, because right now i stand faulty on that, my boa's hide is facing the front of the cage. I had never really thought about that, i am at work and i'll change the hidebox's position as soon as i get home. Even though she never uses it, i'll try it out, maybe it'll help.

As for the towel, do you mean wetting an entire towel and placing it over the enclosure? Wouldn't that bring the humidity to like %95 or something? I just hope that's not too much...

My boa's enclosure is in a guest room upstairs, no one goes in it. I always leave the doors closed so my cat won't go adventuring in there either so, i am sure that she's not stressed out because of excessive outside movement, there isn't any.

Right now i am placing my bets on the shed issue, i believe that that's why she is so uptight. I'm going to wait until her shedding process is complete then i'll attempt to handle her again, i just hope i don't get tagged a second time...that would suck.

Thx for the advices!

HetForHuman · 01-12-04, 06:32 PM

You might also want to get a small snake hook as well, i have had a few snakes that if i put my hand in their enclosure it was ATTACK. But as soon as i got them out and in my hand they were calm as could be.

The one i have is the 24" Mini Hook from Mid West tongs, and you can get them from Ryan and shiela at www.scaleszoo.com

They are well worth it IMO.

hip · 01-12-04, 07:51 PM

If you are looking for midwest hooks closer to home Reptile Headquarters in Toronto is also a midwest dealer (save you shipping costs) Sorry Het and Ryan and Shiela. The above advice for the pissy boa is very sound go with the flow.

Hip

nolagurl · 01-12-04, 08:25 PM

I have a hook from midwesttongs.com. (Try tongs.com as well, not sure of the URL). The one I have is more suited to field work although you could also use it not fully expanded. I paid about $45 USD for mine and shipping was included.

HetForHuman · 01-12-04, 08:41 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by hip
If you are looking for midwest hooks closer to home Reptile Headquarters in Toronto is also a midwest dealer (save you shipping costs) Sorry Het and Ryan and Shiela. The above advice for the pissy boa is very sound go with the flow.

Hip

No problem Hip, just letting him know about them and where i picked mine up at.

I've never done a search on them either to know who supplied them, but a closer place is deff better.

Soul_Reaper · 01-13-04, 10:37 AM

Problem solved. It was the shedding that got her uptight, i came home from work yesterday and damped a big towel and covered the entire enclosure with it, the humidity went up to %84 i think, at first i thought it would be a little too high but since she was shedding, i took the advice given to me to increase the humidity whenever the snake is in shed because it makes it easier for the old layer of skin to peel off, therefore not being so stressful on the animal.

I woke up this morning to go to work and voila! She had a perfect shed, from head to tail, i even saved it because it looked too nice. So i decided to gently approach her and pick her up, she didn't make a sound, i could tell that she was very aware of my hand being there but she accepted it. So i picked her up and played with her for a couple of minutes, she calmed down very quickly and soon enough started to climb around my neck and stuff. I must admit that i was a little skeptical about it all because she had tagged me twice on the right hand before and it wasn't pretty, gladly she didn't rip my nose off.

Thanks for the tips everyone, i'm still gonna order the snake hook but so far, i think i know when to/not to handle her.

*cheers*

djnzlab · 01-18-04, 10:26 AM

HI ,
Occasionally I sense a aggresive snake I just throw a towel over them and pick them up, they usally chill once out of the cage and are more managable.
I ve done this with more than one huffy snake..
Doug

Snake_Hunter · 01-22-04, 03:39 PM

Hey Soul I've been tagged in the face from my (female)bci a couple of times its not fun and its really bloody but it leaves a cool after effect LOL. Anyways thats good that it was just the shed my girl just went through a stage like that but i don't know the reason cause she wasn't sheadin', she was eatin' fine, and shes not in a high traffic area, not to mention the temps were also fine at the time(still are) but she just one day came off it it was annoying however cause there was no warnin' nothin' just like everyday for about a month i got tagged. Anyways hope that doesn't happen to you again i know how annoyin' it can be when all they do is bite.
Andrew
:groove:

lakeridgekennel · 01-25-04, 12:03 AM

I have the same problem. My baby boa is pissed all the time you touch her she bites. you walk bye her cage she hisses. She weill do anything to bite me. I have a snake hook but she just keeps biteing it and will fall off to just try to bite me. How can i get her calm.

Linds · 01-25-04, 12:18 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by lakeridgekennel
I have a snake hook but she just keeps biteing it and will fall off to just try to bite me. How can i get her calm.

Doesn't sound like you are using it correctly if your snake is falling off of it

Generally you use the hook to aid in retrieval of the snake, and if the snake is still quite nippy, you can use it to help keep the business end at bay, but you are still holding your snake with the other hand. The only time you use hooks with no contact is with venomous snakes, and that is an entirely different type of handling, and you are not just balancing the snake on a single hook.

To answer your question, just keep with it. Patience and understanding are the most important factors, assuming she is 100% healthy, inside and out. Make sure that she is in a secure environment, proper setup, low traffic area, away from household pets that may be frightening her. If that is all and well, then all you can do is keep up with regular handling sessions and wait for the rest to fall in to place, at whatever pace she is willing to calm down at