Touchy Boa

[ladyinlevis]

I have had my female BCI for about a 1 1/2 years now, and I have noticed recently that everytime I go to touch her or even mist her, she pulls away from me. She has never done this before. When I go to take her out of her cage, or even barely touch her, she quickly jerks her whole body away, and tries to curl up. She never strikes, or even looks as if she is going to. Is this normal? The husbandry in the cage is all ok, 90 hot side, about 82 cool side. She has been to the vet, and everything is fine. Maybe I am just paranoid. Thanks for any input.

[mltc78]

Re:  Touchy Boa

Hey Lady,

I've had similar responses from my female as well. Sometimes when I try and pick her up she will literally push my hands away with her body and sort of coil up. I just translate this behavior as not wanting to be handled at the time. She seems like she kinda gets a tude from time to time. I'd just leave her be and try again another day, it'll pass

[ClayEnglish]

Re:  Touchy Boa

It very well could be a situation of "Leave me alone", but if it persists, I would take measures to go ahead and get the boa out for handling.

Try using the Touch-First method... Use something else to touch the boa first, such as a glove, a towel, or almost anything.

I always use a snake hook to gently reach in a move all our adult boas. By slightly moving them with the snake hook, they have become conditioned to know it is me and that there is no danger to them. After I slightly move them with the hook, then I can reach in and get them out.

If they tend to coil up on you, use the snake hook to elongate or stretch out their body, and then attempt to get them out.

The Touch-First procedure has always worked well for me.

[kahaj]

Re:  Touchy Boa

I totally agree with Clay on this one. Petting them for a minute while still in the cage usually calms the snake down so that you can get them out with ease. I've had it work on even some wild snakes that I found out & about.

[Troggleby]

Re:  Touchy Boa

my male was extremely docile when i got him, but after about sixmonths he became really touchy. he would pull away and often hiss loudly.
do you have any other animals within smell or sight range of the snake?
i found by close observation that the cats were scent marking the cage (rubbing on it) and spending a great deal of time laying around and on it. this excited the boa and made him very nervous. after prolonged exposure to this he became nervous of everything. boas are highly sensitive and can sense if a predator is close.
any foreign smells on you (perfume, make-up, animal smells, even ciggarette smoke) can cause the snake to act strangely to you.

[Doug]

Re:  Touchy Boa

HI,
 I had a baby Guyana a couple years ago that bit anything that would move, SO I would use a small hand towel to cover the head and lift her out. SHe would attempt to strike out  but she never connected with my hand,she could'nt see. after being removed from the safety of the cage and hide she would calm down..I never push my hand in her face i would always work with the middle and the rear.. Alway be sure to support your snake when lifting try to use a two point lift, as they age they pick up weight and you may be hurting her accidentally as you lift. One of my snake acts mean in the cage (tough  guy)and is a different snake when out. He may be defending his hide don't want to share.   good luck with her,
  PS The Guyana is over her nippy stage and likes bein held now that's her lurking under my name in the picture..    doug
 

[ladyinlevis]

Re:  Touchy Boa

Thanks for the input everyone. I forgot to mention that she is not a baby. She is about 3 or 4 years old and about 7'. She has never struck at me or anything for that matter. She is very docile. It just seems lately she dosen't want to be touched. Like her skin hurts or something. She doesn't have mites though, so that's good. I just fed her a couple days ago, so I will leave her alone for a while. Thanks again.

[redtailedmel]

Re:  Touchy Boa

my new lil baby is touchy too, just last night i was holding her and of course she is fixing to shed so her scenses are a lil off and she was fine i put her back in her hide box her fav one of course she has 3 likes just that one while i was attempting to get her 4 water bowls out to clean she didnt like that and the hissing began! i had to get my lil hook out pick her up and chill her out after she was there a sec i was able to hold her i put her back in when i was done. shes been fine since. just today our power was out i had to take her for a ride to a neighbors to get her some heat no problems.

[Snakewife]

Re:  Touchy Boa

This one may sound really stupid, but my 3-4 year old python got really bad at one point and everytime anything went near her, she struck at it, but, it seems she was constipated!!! a good soak in the water got things moving, s7.gif and she has been fine since. but she has always jerked her head back when I go to pick her up, so I always pet her back part first to let her know its me, and she seems to not tense up as much and doesn't strike.

Good luck
Lisa aka snakewife b29.gif

[ladyinlevis]

Re:  Touchy Boa

Thanks for the info. I will have to try that one. She just ate 2 large rats on friday, so I will give her a soak tonight. She is so nosey though it is hard to keep her in one place. She love to explore..... a lot! ;D
While I am here, does anyone know how much food is TOO much? This snake never seems to get enough, She will eat her dinner (2 large or 2 jumbo) AND, then if my male wont eat, she will eat his also. I have given her up to 3 large and 2 med in one sitting!!! she is a cow!!! I try and only feed her 2 large a week though. Thanks, everyone here is so helpful!