1 yo Caulker Cay - handling questions!

Boas
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Hello all. I have a new Caulker Cay male child, 1 yo. I’m not very experienced so I need help with how to proceed with handling him. I know the basics from videos and another snake I have (a ball python). My approach in the past has been to do “choice-based handling” with the python; however he stands retreated almost all of the time and almost never desires to spend time out. Now, I notice when I take a snake out when I myself want to do so, they start hiding more and show themselves even less afterwards - even though I’m gentle, keep good temps in the room, etc. What I’m missing must have to do with small things like what exactly to let the snake do when out, how to proceed when getting them out and how to better focus on their comfort…

I want to teach familiarity, comfort and interest in my new Caulker Cay boa. Please, give me tips I wouldn’t get on by just watching the usual “101 snake handling” videos on youtube; any elaborate advices would be greatly appreciated!

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Hello silence! There are plenty of boa people here who will give you solid advice. I am tagging @tommccarthy to start out with. He is a wealth of information walking! :joy:. Others will see this as well and may jump in sooner.

I had some CA boas and a BRB at one time but I don’t want to offer advice regarding a Caulker Cay since I have no experience with that type of boa.

So glad you came here instead of the YouTube videos! The very best of luck to you and your new “child!” Boas are phenomenal!

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In my experience (which, to be fair, is limited to 1 boa and just 2 other snakes), choice-based handling can be a tough, looooong way to getting a snake comfortable with you. Because as long as you look big and scary to them, they’re not really ever going to choose to come out.

What’s worked well for me is to gently take them out of their enclosure every day or every other day (aside from when they’re digesting or in shed) for short, gentle, positive interactions. Just get them out, wait for them to relax, let them explore for like 5 minutes, and then put them back. This helps teach them that a) you’re not going to hurt them, and b) getting out of the enclosure is a good thing, not a scary thing. Now, two out of three of my snakes will typically crawl right out into my arms when I open the enclosure, but they wouldn’t do that when I first got them. I feel like if I hadn’t (gently) forced the issue a little bit in the beginning, they wouldn’t be so chill and friendly now.

Always remember that to a snake, you look like a terrifying giant. Their natural instinct is going to be to stay far away from something so large and intimidating. Especially with a snake who is naturally more shy, as it sounds your boa is, you may need to just pick them up to get them out of the enclosure. And it may take some time for the snakes to get comfortable with you. Every snake is different, so they’re all on their own timetable with socialization.

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Thanks for the long response! Can you clarify whether by taking them out you mean including if they’re in their hides? A thing I think I’m missing as well is the particular experiences to introduce a snake to. For example, a certain measure of letting them roam in the room on their own vs. continuously handling them and keeping them next to me. I tend to do the second, but I’m starting to think they would appreciate a feeling of control that comes more so with the first. However…sometimes they would also rather retreat if I let them roam, which throws the idea of comfortable exploration out of the window…

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Thank you :slight_smile: I’m obviously not an expert but I’d think there aren’t big differences between different locality boas in behaviour. I’d appreciate more general tips if you have something interesting to offer.
Either way, mine seems chill and hasn’t hissed or bit just to give context. I’ve heard Caulker Cays are as chill as Hog Islands, Crawl Cays or Tarahumaras.

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Sounds like the CA’s that I had. The male was a puppy dog. However I bought the male and female both as tiny babies that I could literally hold in the palms of my hands. I really didn’t have to do anything special as they were growing up. CA’s, as your boa, have a very chilled out nature.

However, I made the mistake of keeping them together thinking that if I didn’t brumate them they wouldn’t breed! Duh! Another story for another day! After my female became a momma she was not as social, but Red, the poppa, was of course the same puppy dog.

They are both now live with a close friend of mine and hopefully will become parents again early next year. BRB’s on the other hand are a bit spicy.

You should do just fine with your Caulker Cay! As with any snake, make sure he feels supported when you hold him and avoid his head/making sudden movements. The important thing is to make sure he is good and settled in before you begin the interaction process.

Leave him be when he’s hiding. When he’s out and about open his enclosure and let him make the first move. Or gently scoop him up around his mid section avoiding his head. Sometimes the human has to initiate contact. When your boy realizes you are not a threat, and he will, he will probably end up seeking your attention.

And just so you know, we require a picture tax because WE LOVE REPTILE PICTURES! :joy::joy::joy:

If you begin to experience problems don’t hesitate to reach out! Can’t wait to see your beautiful boy! :pray:

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If I get you right, what you mean is I should wait as long as necessary until he’s comfortable being out of his hides exploring the enclosure (and not going to hide when I’m in the vicinity). And start the process only then. However there’s a catch to this. As someone else mentioned in the comments here, unless you initiate the process with a snake, he will probably not feel comfortable to do so considering you look like a threat to him in general. This is also what I experience with other snakes and it’s the vicious circle because of which I’m reaching out for help - if you go in to handle them, that seems like forcing the process and has them retreat more; if you don’t, they don’t start seeking contact because they aren’t used to it.
As for this child…I had taken him out two or three times out of his hides because he was refusing to eat and I wanted to weight him and check him out. This sounds like a bad start based on what you say. And indeed, he used to show himself at first, but now hides all the time and I don’t see him.

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How to tame most snakes.

Here is some info I posted on older fourm for someone who needed help with their mean retic. This will work with most snakes, too. But you will need a smaller snake hook.

When I first got Tigger in 9 / 2005, she was not tame at all. She was 12 feet long and 28 lbs.

It took me about 3 months to tame her. Here is How I worked with her to tame her down.

For the first week, I used the snake hook to touch her a few times, and I would just put my hand on her body and the hook holding touching her head. I did this for about 2 or 3 minutes a day. I also put my shirt I was wearing in her cage at night so she would get used to my scent. I did the shirt trick for about 3 1/2 weeks. You can use a sock too.

The next 2 1/2 weeks, I would use the hook by her head and pet her on her body. She would jerk her body and throw my hand off, but I would put it right back on her. I did this for about 15 minutes a day.

Then, after the 2 1/2 weeks, I still did the same thing, but I would also pet her head. I did this for about 5 to 7 days.

Then, I started to take her out of the cage for about 10 to 15 minutes every day. I would let her go just about any ware she wanted to, but I would not put her down. I did this for about a week. I still would pet her in her cage just about every day.

(Never restrain a snakes head with your hands as they don’t like this at all. Remember, a restrained snake is a mad snake. I know I don’t like being held by my neck. :rofl:

When handling your boa, do not have a death grip on it. Let it go where it wants for the most part. You can still direct it so you have control of it.

Always use hand under hand with it. Just hold them loosely but in control of them and let them move around and change your hand position by going hand over hand as they move around.

Never coming directly towards its face. You should never put your hand in front of their face. Always come from under their head / neck from behind. Always under it’s chin and a few inches back from the neck. Keep it moving, and it will not have time to think about biting you.

If your snake stops moving, they may start thinking about biting. So keep them busy with moving around.)

The next week, I started to let her crawl around on the floor. But I had to use the snake hook to pick her up as she would strike at me.

After about 1 or 2 weeks, she was fine with me, and then I started letting my kids pet her when I had her out in the house.

The first time I took her outside (this was about 6 to 7 months after I got her), she went right back to wanting to strike at me, so I had to use the hook with her.

After about 2 weeks, she was fine outside with me, and I even let my kids pet her too.

I still used the hook every time I opened her cage to take her out. All I had to do was touch her head then, and she knew it was not feeding time.

The only time I would not do anything with her was on feeding day and the day after. Tigger used to stay in feeding mode for about 1 to 2 days back then. When she got older, she would only stay in feeding mode a few hours after she had eaten.

I always messed with Tigger’s head at home when I would have her out, so she was used to people touching her head. I could even slap her on her side or even hold her head and give it a good shake, and she didn’t care about it. I did this for years with her. I even let my kids at home play with Tigger a lot to help her get used to children. Whenever a snake person came over to my home, they couldn’t believe how tame Tigger was and the stuff she would put up with. After owning snakes for 48+ years, I feel I can read most snakes’ attitudes pretty well, at least the ones I own.

Take care
Tom McCarthy

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Thanks so much Tom! I have your post booked to repost for future inquiries……! You’re the man! :man_standing:

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Yes, I would take them out of their hides in the beginning. Now I don’t really need to, as they’ll usually come out of their hides when they notice I’ve opened the enclosure, but I’d take them out of their hides when I was working on socializing them.

In the beginning, I’d mostly keep them in my hands or on my lap. I’d let them explore by stretching their necks out and moving them in a direction they seemed interested in going, but I’d keep at least one hand under their belly. As we got more comfortable with each other, I started to let them roam more. Now I’ll usually let them roam my bed/room for more extended periods of time and with a lot more freedom. With time they seemed to get more confident and want to explore more, and I also got more confident about my ability to supervise and retrieve them before they got themselves into trouble.

My boa actually started out pretty confident and inquisitive, but she became even moreso with time and exposure to handling and environments out of her cage.

I will say that there can be some differences in temperaments across different localities. I don’t really know much about the reputation for Caulker’s Cay boas, though (and even if I did, not all individuals live up to their locality’s reputation). My boa is a morph boa who I suspect is of mainly Columbian ancestry, though she’s probably got some other localities in the mix as well.