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Opinions on "Taming" a Nippy Boa??

Matt2979

Matt2979

My dawg has the bluuues.
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I've had my share of nippy snakes, and I've always thought that either they were laid back or just mean (of course a few falling between those two categories). "Training" or even "taming" seemed like a waste of time to me. Now I've gotten in a female boa with nasty little attitude (actually BIG 'tude) and I'm hoping that I was wrong. Maybe there's something that I can do for her?

Let me give as much info as I can, and maybe someone will have an opinion to share. First of all, I only received her last Tuesday AM so I've really not handled her much yet; however, on the receipt in my box, positioned where I would pretty much have to see it before opening the bag, it said, "BE CAREFUL; SHE IS NIPPY!" (red caps, just like that).

I got her out of the bag and inspected her, only being struck at a couple of times, and neither was really even aimed at me. After getting her set-up in quarantine, I left her alone for a couple of days and then offered food. She POUNDED a weaned rat. She finished it so quickly that I gave her a 2nd. I KNOW IT'S BETTER TO FEED A SINGLE RODENT! I did this because I confirmed that she was 3 years old, and not much bigger than my hypos born Jan 31 2011. (Original ad listed them as yearlings, with a birthdate of 5/26/09 and I figured the year was off.) Last night I cleaned her enlosure, and soaked her to make sure she still had no mites (in case she came with eggs--so far, so good). Again she struck a couple of times, but never AT me. (And again, was only handled enough to get her in the bath, and vice-versa about 20-30 minutes later.)

When I confirmed the age, I also found out that she (and the rest of the available animals) is so small because they are on a "maintenance diet". They were also, for all practical purposes, not handled (3 years).

I'm thinking that she'll calm down some if she's not starving all the time. Once she's really acclimated I'll work with her, but I'm wondering if it's going to do any good, or if being left alone for so long is going to make it hard to teach her something new. While she does strike some, how flighty she is, is worse. It makes it extremely difficult to handle her without feeling like I'm going to hurt her...and I sure don't want to drop her!

She appears to be in excellent health for being so small at her age. These couple of pics were taken after I got her set-up in a quarantine tub. I never thought an '09 female boa could go into a 16 qt tub with such ease.
 

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Matt,

You can get dozens of differing opinions on how to "tame" down this particular female, but it will be just that; opinions.

Some animals never calm down. Her "aggressiveness" could be linked to how she has been fed over the past few years (how did you confirm her actual age because her body condition is actually really good for a maintanance fed boa, so I am just curious), but she could just be one of those animals who wants nothing to do with being handled. Being that she is a female it makes her temperament even more aggravating because a six to eight foot animal that wants nothing to do with you is a major pain (speaking from experience).

The more important question I would ask is: what is more important to you, trying to desensitize the animal and risk stressing her out or just leaving her be and handle her minimally?

It's a tough question, I know. I attempted to correct the issues of an adult I have and found the more I worked at it, the worse she got. Now I rarely handle her. Even when cleaning her cage I generally coax her to one end of the cage with a hook and then back to the other. It makes my life easier and she seems less stressed. Over time of minimal handling, she has even calmed down to some degree. She still cannot be trusted and will still bite in a heart beat if you give her the chance, but she is not hitting the cage of striking blindly anymore.

Some animals are just nice things to look at it and not so much nice things to handle. It's never fun for a keeper, but it is what it is. At the end of the day, these are wild animals and likely will always be such.

Good luck with her.
 
Thanks, Diem. I got her to make super hypo-super jungles with, not to be a pet. I have no problem letting her be a boa, but I am concerned with one of the points you made; getting a 6-8+ foot hormonal boa that's already constantly ticked off her babies AIN'T gonna be fun.

I never thought about her getting better from the lack of handling (long-term), but that makes sense. Again, my only real concern with her 'tude would be at breeding time, and of course if she's going to be one of those that strike the glass all the time (I don't use tanks, but the enclosures that I build use glass sliding doors).

As far as her actual birth date, I'm going off of direct information given to me by the breeder, himself. Not only does she looking incredibly healthy, but her head doesn't look like one of a 3-year old. I cannot imagine why the breeder would confirm that she was born in May 2009 (I asked twice) if she were really younger. If she weren't so healthy, I wouldn't be so laid back about her size. I could care less if she was actually a yearling (which is what I originally thought she was, and basically what she was priced as), but I can only go by the info I was given. She does look MUCH better since she ate a couple of days ago, but I don't want to bother her to take more pics.
 
Matt2979 said:
Thanks, Diem. I got her to make super hypo-super jungles with, not to be a pet. I have no problem letting her be a boa, but I am concerned with one of the points you made; getting a 6-8+ foot hormonal boa that's already constantly ticked off her babies AIN'T gonna be fun.

I never thought about her getting better from the lack of handling (long-term), but that makes sense. Again, my only real concern with her 'tude would be at breeding time, and of course if she's going to be one of those that strike the glass all the time (I don't use tanks, but the enclosures that I build use glass sliding doors).

As far as her actual birth date, I'm going off of direct information given to me by the breeder, himself. Not only does she looking incredibly healthy, but her head doesn't look like one of a 3-year old. I cannot imagine why the breeder would confirm that she was born in May 2009 (I asked twice) if she were really younger. If she weren't so healthy, I wouldn't be so laid back about her size. I could care less if she was actually a yearling (which is what I originally thought she was, and basically what she was priced as), but I can only go by the info I was given. She does look MUCH better since she ate a couple of days ago, but I don't want to bother her to take more pics.
Click to expand...

No matter the enclosure, a boa striking glass (plexi or otherwise) is never fun. Lol The one I have with aggression issues slammed into the door so much at one point (even with newspaper covering it) I had to bring her to the vet. to be treated for severe swelling in her mouth. The biting I could tolerate, her hurting herself I could not.

I have had to pull her off slugs before (babies in her mind) and it was not fun, but I found throwing a big beach towel over her and scooping her up in it did the trick. Generally, when I have to remove her from the cage, I toss a towel over her, but I also normally have another person with me to have a second set of eyes on her head.

My biggest concern, as is yours, is the stress factor, but, like I said, leaving her be for a while and rarely handling her has improved her attitude drastically. She is still a you know what, but she is much better than she was two years ago.

The only thing I made sure to do consistently with her, even though I knew it was a point of aggravation for her was gently rub the snake hook over her head and along her back whenever I opened the cage. Over time, this desensitized her enough she did not come flying at me every time. It also allows me to manipulate her relatively easily with the hook because being touched by that does not bother here, whereas touching her with my bare hards upsets her a great deal.

Hopefully, after some time alone, the female you have will calm down some, but if not, you just have to get creative on how to deal with it. Every boa is different, but I do find covering the entire body (when possible) to move them generally works.

Not sure about the age thing either, but she appears healthy and, as you said, that is all that matters.
 
I don't have extensive experience, but with the couple of "nippy' snakes I have had I have found it helpful to handle them fairly soon after feeding (ie 2 or 3 days after a meal) when the feeding response is less keen, and also to cover the head (I use a pillow case) when removing them.
They have calmed down some, but I never feel these particular snakes are terribly keen on the experience - really just tolerating it.

I've had all 7 of my snakes for similar lengths of time and with similar backgrounds, 5 are trustworthy, calm and very handleable, the other 2 just plain don't seem to like being handled - I still do it so that they don't get totally unapproachable, but I minimise the time I spend with them.
 
She looks fine for her age, but I grow mine slow (ahem.. 'maintenance feed' I guess, I just hate that term because it sounds negative).
^_^
 
I really appreciate the replies. It kind of reinforces what I already thought was correct, but gave me a few other things to think about, too.

April, I'm not sure how often/seldom this girl was fed. "Maintenance fed" was actually the term that I put on it. The way he put it was that he had not been able to afford to feed them like he should.

Here's a pic of an '09 jungle that I've had for a couple of years. She's been fed every 3 weeks and is huge compared to this girl. I realize that each and every snake grows at his/her own pace, but there is a really big difference between these two.
 

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Ill fast track this for you
What you have is what you will always have,instinct is hardwired and there is no
reformat options with wild animals.
That animal has been allowed to run/live by design,its fight or flight in the wild
with the slim opportunity of reproduction.

Get some good quality gauntlet style welding gloves and a good quality hook
and enjoy your new friend.:yesnod:
Holding reserves of "future conditioning" will likely be futile.

Pretty animals BTW
 
Metachrosis said:
Ill fast track this for you
What you have is what you will always have,instinct is hardwired and there is no
reformat options with wild animals.
That animal has been allowed to run/live by design,its fight or flight in the wild
with the slim opportunity of reproduction.

Get some good quality gauntlet style welding gloves and a good quality hook
and enjoy your new friend.:yesnod:
Holding reserves of "future conditioning" will likely be futile.

Pretty animals BTW
Click to expand...

Thanks, Tommy. I've got some good snake gloves. LOL...I've actually got some welding gloves, too, but I don't think they'll be needed for at least another year or two. Unfortunately though, the gloves make it much harder to hold onto her because she's so flighty so I think she'll be better off if I just take a few bites (not so bad...yet).

I'd love to see this girl be a lot easier to handle so that I can enjoy her more, but again, I didn't get her to be a pet sooo...I guess this girl is going to prove a point. The prettier the girl, the more :censored: that I'm willing to take!! :rofl: I foresee bloody pics being posted soon! :thumbsup:
 
Matt, See what you get to look forward too!! LOL Nice looking girl! The pretty ones are always high maintenance! Good luck!
 

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Jeffery,i had that before. lol.

Matt,i have 1 2003 dh sunglow that bit me the day i got it,and a few times after that.Honestly,i kept at it and he learned i am not doing anything he couldnt take.No grabbing by the neck/head to control him.After several bites through the year,he is now very handable but once in awhile he gets in a mood. I know taking bites is not fun and dont even know thats why he got a little submissive.
As Diem said,sometimes you just cant do anything but wear the gloves.
Maybe start by wearing the gloves and try to remove a glove so it she can feel you touching hear bare handed and then remove the other glove.I dont really know,just an opinion. Take her outside when doing so she see's that good things come from being handled.
Thats how i got all my bites,taking him outside in the fresh hot air.
Good luck and she is lovely man.
 
jmwboas said:
Matt, See what you get to look forward too!! LOL Nice looking girl! The pretty ones are always high maintenance! Good luck!
Click to expand...

Dang, Jeffrey! What were you doing? Boxing with a boa??? lol
 
allreptiles1966 said:
Jeffery,i had that before. lol.

Matt,i have 1 2003 dh sunglow that bit me the day i got it,and a few times after that.Honestly,i kept at it and he learned i am not doing anything he couldnt take.No grabbing by the neck/head to control him.After several bites through the year,he is now very handable but once in awhile he gets in a mood. I know taking bites is not fun and dont even know thats why he got a little submissive.
As Diem said,sometimes you just cant do anything but wear the gloves.
Maybe start by wearing the gloves and try to remove a glove so it she can feel you touching hear bare handed and then remove the other glove.I dont really know,just an opinion. Take her outside when doing so she see's that good things come from being handled.
Thats how i got all my bites,taking him outside in the fresh hot air.
Good luck and she is lovely man.
Click to expand...

Thanks, Rich. I don't want to take her outside yet because she tries so hard to get out of my hands. At least if she manages to do so in my snake room, she can only get so far before I'll catch her. My backyard would offer too many quick hiding spots! lol

And I'm not sure about the lack of gloves. I was kind of thinking the opposite about her feeling my hands. I know another breeder told me once that he seldom got bitten by some of his "less handleable animals" when wears latex gloves. Not sure if it is the lack of body heat that brings less reaction or what.

I think I'm just going to let her be for a bit longer. I'll try a few times, but if she just gets anxious every time I try, I'm just going to let her be and touch her as seldom as possible. Hopefully that's not the case. I would definitely enjoy handling her a lot more often, but I'll let her dictate whether or not that happens.
 
Well, I've given this girl lots of "alone time", and a few meals. Evidently her appetite had little to nothing to do with being irritable. I wanted to get some outdoor pics of her, but worse than her trying to bite me is her being so flighty. I'm not given up yet, as this was the first time that I've really tried to interact since I got her.

For now, here are a couple of pics. I finally picked up a new camera yesterday so I'll be taking lots of pics over the next several days or so! :D
 
I must have submitted before the pics loaded. Trying again...
 

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She is beautiful Matt.
At least she is kinda small.My 03 dh sunglow is big,thick and he has gotten me a couple times when i first got hi,He was 6 then. But i kept taking him out and he eventually got it.
Not saying it will work for yours. Good luck.
I now know why that 1 guy on here always has welding gloves on. LOl maybe harleydan or something.
I always laughed,( sorry Dan)till i got taught a lesson by the male. But i still dont wear gloves.
 
My friend has a few blood pythons. He posted a video of one of his males in a cranky mood. This was a comment that was left for him. Feel free to try it.

"What you need to do it calm them down by rubbing starting from the tail to the head them have your hand in front of there eyes about 1 inched away and then pick him him up."
 
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