aggressive snake?

[Red]

I have herd two sides to how to tame a snake one being to hold it all the time and make it like you basically...  and the other being not holding it and just letting it become compterble with you as a person...  I want to know what way's have you all done it...  This is my first mean snake...  I have two redtails and a corn snake and they are just the nicest snakes I have ever met...
Thanx for the info..  I only keep pet snakes right now but This one is trying to become sombodys breeding stock if you know what I mean..
Eric aka...Red

[kahaj]

Re: aggressive snake?

My Northern Pine was really aggressive when I first got him. My wife didn't think he'd ever make a good pet (hissing & striking every time you got in even just to change the water). Now, he let's me get in there & grab him out as easy as my Redtail does. I just made sure to handle him for at least 15-20 minutes a day (whether he wanted me to or not). Now he's mellow as could be. I started seeing results in a couple of weeks.

[LORI]

Re: aggressive snake?

have tried all of them here. All depends on the individual snake actually. Some will tame down with regular handling, some by letting them be awhile and adjusting/acclimating, and of course there's others that just never "tame" down to the point that your looking to get to also. Some I have even sent on to a new home with another person cuz they just love dealing with the nasty and untame ones..I am not one of those types of persons at all. Soo.. Unless I can tame it down to a certain degree OR it is destined to become basically a breeder/show animal that doesn't get handled too much... AND it is one that refuses to become tame to a certain degree..I know plenty of other people who prefer to keep the untame in their collections and are more than willing to take over the ownership of the snake for me np.

GEESH... That helped a ton huh ?? ??? Sorry..but I have dealt with the full spectrum in this area..So from me there is not one basic answer for your question at all. :

[Red]

Re: aggressive snake?

Ok well I will give a lil' bit of background... This snake is a rosy boa...
It was nice for like the first three weeks I had it and then went south in one day...
He whip's around and bites and realeases over and over intell you put him away or in the feeding box...
He is fed plenty and he usta in the first three weeks be real unhappy when he was hungry... (the day before I fed him...) What do you think... I will not be keeping a display animal... and I have no inclination on breeding rosy boas...
Any help would be nice...
Eric aka...Red

[Larry]

Re: aggressive snake?

If he was docile when yuo got him and then turned...maybe a medical or husbandry problem? I believe Rosys have different requirements, right on down to substrate (I think most of them like to burrow in sand?) There are others here that can probably help more then me...I just figured I'd drop in my 2 cents :

Larry

[Red]

Re: aggressive snake?

Ya he is in a encloser and he has sand.. He also has a couple rock's they like to squise in to tight places... Water 5 days a week and I keep the humidity around 45% they say inbetween 40% and 60%.. depending on where the rosy is from... I think he is a san-falipe..
Eric aka...Red

[LORI]

Re: aggressive snake?

AHH..OK.. A rosy boa huh ? I don't kep them but have friends who do. They have run into the same problem that your having with this one in the past also. Basically this is what they had told me that they did to get the snake to stop doing that "latch on bite" thing that rosy's like to do. They handle the snake and watch it closely for an attempt from the snake to try and bite/latch onto them. When the snake goes to do this, they lightly blow on the snake's face. [ I know.. but it worked for a few people I know even. :] After about a week or so of doing this, their rosy boas no longer did this to them at all when being handled.
The rosy does that lil "move' like a king snake does at times right ? Your I mean. They glide along your arm basically. Then suddenly open their mouth and try to latch onto your skin. Does your do this move at all ?
As for the biting like you describe that it is doing....It's looking to have you not handle it at all. It is training you basically to leave it alone lol. Soo How many of them pasky lil bites can you withstand from this snake ? Most snakes that do this type of thing can be "tamed" down , BUT it takes patience on your part and a lot of bites to get there also.
YES, Rosy boas do require a different husbandry than the bci boas also. I am not sure but can ask some of the people that I know that keep them what they provide for husbandry if ya want np. They are burrowers also. Rosy's do well on aspen I do know. That is about the only thing I know of their husbandry that my friends provide for them in that area. Lots of hides also. The rosy boa is a very private type of snake.

[Red]

Re: aggressive snake?

Well can you ask one of your friends how to find out if my rosy is a desert or not because desert ones have different husbandry tecks. One is suposed to be around 83 and the other is suposed to have a hot spot of around 90... The desert one is what I thought mine was but now I have turned of the heat in hopes that this may have been the problem... If I hold him and just let him bite.. he will just latch on to a finger and not let go ever intell I pry him off.... He coils and gets him self as tight as he can.. Witch is not very tight... lol...
Well thanx lori...
Eric aka...Red

[LORI]

Re: aggressive snake?

Ok.. I'll catch them ol either tonite or tomm and ask them for ya np.

he will just latch on to a finger and not let go ever intell I pry him off....

A lil teensy bit of lemon juice will do the trick. It might even stop him from doing that if he hates it like most snakes do and figures it out that he'll get it if he bites/latches hehe. Just place a drop inside of the mouth at the corner when he latches and he will let go ASAP ;D

[stormyva]

Re: aggressive snake?

Another thing you may want to try is the old t-shirt trick. Place a t-shirt that you have worn in the cage with the snake for a couple of days. The theory behind this is that the snake will come to associate your "smell" with a comfortable place and not a stressful situation like handling. Do you have any background on the snake? Ie: wild caught, captive bred.
Any chances that it has some other problems going on like parasites?

Husbandry, you should be safe with temps around 88-90° on the hot side and low-mid eighties on the cool side. Night time drops are needed and should be alright to drop into the lower 70's. Humidity needs to be kept low around 30-35% max. Keep just a small shallow bowl with clean water on the cool side of the tank.

[Red]

Re: aggressive snake?

Thanx... You have a desert version of a rosy boa huh... Stormy.. That is exactly what I have read about the desert versions of the rosy but the forest version is different... That is why I am wondering... They say to keep the hot side for the other kind around 83-87 no higher... So right now I am trying the cooler temp's.. I held him today and he was less agressive then the day before... the lemon juice is somthing I should try... As for wild caught I don't know it might be... because he has some scares and he is to small to eat any thing that could bite him... they where there before I got him...
Thanx for the info... I think he may have a problem with a internal infection or parasite... his poo is a lil' on the runny side... I think I need to see a vet with this one....
Eric aka...Red
P.s. he eat's like a hogg and I found a feeding table yesterday and found out I may have been feeding him on a weekly basis when I should have been still feeding him every fifth day... hopfuly this will solve the problem of the bitting snake.... The T-shirt is going in the cage tonight...

[tommyfitz]

Re: aggressive snake?

red, what did you mean when you said your rosy is too small to eat anything that could bite him? the fact that your rosy is not only biting but also constricting leads me to believe he's probably hungry. i would also try to keep the humidity closer to 40% than 60%- rosy's are known for easily developing respiratory problems due to excess humidity. hope this helps.

[Red]

Re: aggressive snake?

I feed him every five day's now and he is still biting he gets two pinkys or one fuzzy...  He get's a buldge in his gut and well He is being tamed as we speak...  I have been holding him a lil' more like 20 min. a day...  I also don't know where you got the info that I had his cage at 60%  I have it at 30%  where it belongs..  I know all the husbandry things.  he has a heat gradeant...  I am now treating him more like a forest type then a desert to see if this might help..  Thanx for all the responses I have got...  
Eric aka...Red



[fixed your tag for the color was all in edit ]

[ClayEnglish]

Re: aggressive snake?

I wanted to touch on something that stormyva said.

And that is the "association" aspect. I have taught for a long time that I believe boas are easily conditioned, and that they can learn to associate.

It has been proven over and over with feeding practices and I have proven it as well with handling. I think it is important to handle snakes that are somewhat agressive. Especially those that are babys through yearlings. (I do not recommend anyone try to "tame" an adult extremely agressive snake. Yes it can be done, but I think by only those with a lot of experience and for those with help. ) But the younger/smaller boas shold be handled often. This can be done in several ways.

I will mention a couple here.

1) do not be afraid to use gloves. A good pair of soft leather gloves will provide your with some "relief" factors in the aspect of helping you not be afraid to be bitten, just in case the boa does strike and bite you. And this relaxation for the human side of our reactions will help us remain calm during handling sessions. Several times with gloves, and then you can use gloves to pick up the boa, then take one off, using the gloved hand for most movements, letting the boa get used to the feel and taste of your skin.

2) Using a snake hook. You can use a snake hook to initiate touching and lifting the snake in and out of the enclosure. Then use the snake hook for moving the body head area and the free hand for the support of the rear/tail part of the body.

Anyway these methods help condition the boa to touching and handling, to the aspect that even with gloves and snake hooks, to learn that you will not harm them.

It may take extreme patience and repeated effort on your part but it pays off in the long run.

[Red]

Re: aggressive snake?

Ya thanx for all the help... I have been feeding more and I also put a scarf in the cage and he seem's to be responding to it... The twenty min.'s a day has been working I think... Of course he was nice when I got he and he turned... I think that he relised that I would put him back when he would bite me... So I was just letting him bite me... It doesn't hurt at all... and It has helped with not jumping when they strike... This is the first snake that I have had that I actuly tryed to tame... The first snake I had (ball python) was really mean... she would bite and hiss and all of that.... I traded her for a redtail boa... He is the one I still have real nice snake... lov's to be handled.....
Eric aka...Red