VERY Defensive Baby Boa Tips

[tommccarthy]

Hi

Here is some info I posted on older fourm for someone that needed help with their retic. This will work with boas to, if anyone needs to tame their boa. But you will need a smaller snake hook for baby boas. I have added some new info to this to help you out.

Just so everyone knows, Tigger passed away in 2012.

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.

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. 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. Remember, a restrained snake is a mad snake. I know I don’t like being held by my neck )

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.

Tigger only bitten me one time in 2006, and it was just a little bump on my hand, and it was to let me know she did not want to come out as she was deep in shed. The bite did not even bleed, just 2 or 3 little marks in my hand. When she was in a deep shed, I would not take her out of her cage, but I could open it up and pet her. Tigger became one of my tamest snakes I have ever owned, and she was not head shy at all. I believe this is because when I first got her, I would pet her head a lot. In the last 3 or 4 years of her life, I didn’t even have to use a snake hook anymore when I opened her cage.

She did have bad shed allot, so after she starts to shed, I put her in my bathtub and help pull all the old skin off of her. I think she did this on propose as it seems like she likes me doing this back then.

There are pictures of her on my website if you would like to see them. Tigger

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 47+ years, I feel I can read most snakes’ attitudes pretty well, at least the ones I own.

Update 6 / 2012
Tigger was probably the tamest snake I have owned, and I didn’t even need to use a hook with her the last 3 or 4 year’s of her life to get her out of her cage. When she passed away, she was over 16 feet long and 120+ lbs.

I had my vet do some tests on her, but nothing was found wrong with her. So I will never know why she died. Me and my family miss her very much. I owned her for 7 years, and in that time, she helped change a lot of peoples opinions for the better for all snakes.

Take care
Tom McCarthy

[caron]

Wow Tom. That post made me smile but I wanted to cry at the same time. The untimely death of such a magnificent treasure of an animal is so sad to me. But what an incredible snake she must have been. Of course your patience and training made her what she was.

@amacioce Here is your go for Miss Voodoo! Also check out the boa thread. You will see countless beautiful boas plus a few of the fine people in this family!

[amacioce]

Wow Tom, this is so so helpful and reassuring. Thank you. I can’t imagine how it must feel to lose an animal you worked so hard to bond with. But it gives me a lot of hope.

I am such an animal lover and my husband thinks I’m crazy because I get physically sick to my stomach every day after my handling sessions with Voodoo because I already care for her so much and I know she is reacting this way out of fear. Knowing she is that scared and stressed makes me want to cry. I want her to feel safe with me. I know anywhere else I would have to justify that as sounding dramatic. But I know everyone here gets it. I’ve worked with wild snakes who were injured that didn’t give me this much grief so this new experience is a tough one but I am hoping it just creates a bond like you had with Tigger.

[tommccarthy]

When handling her, do not have a death grip on her. Let her go where she wants for the most part. You can still direct her so you have control of her. Always use hand under hand with her. Never coming directly towards her face. Always under her chin and a few inches back from the neck. Keep her moving, and she will not have time to think about biting you.

I know how you feel about animals. I cried more when my fist boa died than when my father died. I had that boa for 18 years, and I got her when I was 11 years old.

[amacioce]

@caron @dsed @smite @tommccarthy so here is something interesting I observed. As I mentioned, I moved Voodoo to a 40 qt tub because I thought she may feel more secure in a lower profile enclosure and it would be easier to do my daily handling with her. She is set up next to my BP who is very active during the day and roams around a lot. Today Voodoo has finally noticed she has a neighbor and is fixated on her. The reason I realized this is because I could hear her striking at the tub from the next room. So I decided to block her view with paper towels rolls in front of my BP tub.

Is she THAT defense that she is also afraid of the movement coming from my BP?? She will strike the tub if she is out of her hide and you walk too close to the tub. Or is these a chance she thinks my BP is food? I tried to feed Voodoo yesterday and she did not take the meal so maybe not. But separately this has me concerned since @dsed mentioned as long as she’s eating I shouldn’t be concerned … it has only been 5 days since her last meal but I have been doing my daily hook training with her and she is just as stressed as ever. Only seemed to have one “better” day.

[dsed]

I would keep the boa out of view of other animals to keep stress down. All my boas get fed every 12 to 14 days, others feed more often but IMO 5 days is way too soon. I dont think she views the BP as food but its rather a defensive action similar when my boas know its time to feed, they strike at any movement. I would stick with one environment so the boa can get used to its environment, one where she can move about and a hide to feel secure.

[caron]

I’m with @dsed Dennis! Block her view of the BP with something like a towel draped on that side. You can also put some clutter in with her like some fake greenery for her to keep her cozy while not in her hide. And keep her in one place……

And yes 5 days between feeds is not enough. 10 to 14 days is good……

Btw, I have the same kind of shelving except my is silver/metal!

[amacioce]

Just a little update. I’ve been taking your advice and moving super slow with Voodoo, not forcing anything but making sure we end our “therapy session” I’ve been calling it, on a good note. And I have seen such a drastic change in her in just 10 days.

I started with just putting the hook in the tub with her and doing some light touches. Starting point was her hissing and striking constantly. But I would wait it out for her to stop hissing and close her mouth. Sometimes it would take 20-30 minutes. As soon as she did this I would end the session.

Over the next few days she eventually stopped striking and only hissed a bit. Then she progressed to no longer hissing but definitely still being stiff. Once she was no longer hissing, I progressed to moving the hook around much more - petting her on the neck, lightly rubbing the sides of her body and trying to support her body with the hook without increasing her stress since I didn’t want to push anything.

Her last session on Wednesday, prior to eating on Thursday, she was actually moving around her tub and exploring while I did my routine with the hook - petting her neck and sides. So as she moved around it gave me more of an opportunity to support her body weight with the hook and she did great, barely getting spooked and stiffening up. But of course she isn’t yet 100% comfortable.

Today was fantastic! I gave her two days to relax after eating and wondered how she would do after the days off of therapy. She was so accepting of the hook, as long as I remained gentle and slow, that I felt comfortable putting my hand in the tub and quite a few times she slithered over to investigate! So since she didn’t seem every stressed, I wet as far as to give her some light side rubs. She flinched every time but this is FAR from the girl who turned to snap at even the slightest movement NEAR her tub.

It’s still going to be a slow process and I am sure she will have some bad days. But this has made me so hopeful that as I continue to gain her trust along with her aging and growing out of her baby fears, she will be great to handle over time. And it’s honestly such a rewarding experience to be able to gain her trust.

[caron]

This is such exciting news! I’m tell’in ya, the boa people here, as well as all the other people here, know their stuff and won’t steer you wrong! Pretty spoon you will be wanting to change her name to “baby doll”!

I’m so glad you found the forum! We all look forward to each progress update!

[tommccarthy]

I’m glad to hear she is doing better for you. By this time next year she will be very tame. At least with you, as she will associate your scent as non-threatening. I have had boas that were only clam with me.

[caron]

I think it’s so cool they recognize our scents!

[amacioce]

2 month update -

With patience and consistency, Voodoo has become quite the mama’s girl. I can take her out of her tub with no issues after a small stroke on her back. She is a curious girl who loves exploring the snake room while I clean or is content relaxing with me like in the picture above. I think she was actually totally asleep in this picture. She has so much personality and I appreciate the extra time I had to put in to get her to trust me.

[dsed]

This is awesome to see!

[smite]

Amazing work! The ones that make you work for it all always special she’s a beauty too

[jawramik]

Awwww, yay! So glad to hear that Voodoo’s come around. She looks so cozy and comfy on your hand. Great work. It’s amazing what time, patience, and consistency can do. Good on you for sticking with it and not giving up on her.