The difference between boas and balls...

[BigJ]

Hi guys and gals,

Its been a little while since I posted a thread on here and had a very funny occurrence last night during feeding that I thought you all might enjoy. As some of you know, I no longer own any balls, and have gone all boas (6 to be exact) but for some reason can not get away from this forum!!

Well last night I fed all of my snakes except for my largest female (she is only about 4 1/2 feet). I knew she was hungry because I had run out of medium rats the week before so she got a small (it was my last one as well). She had been giving me the eye all week as if to say "that was just an appetizer....when is diner?!?!" So I opened her cage (my new boaphiles) and started to dry the rat a bit, (I de-thaw in bottles and didn't want rat water dripping on the floor). Now just for some clarity she is on the top of my rack...about 5 1/2 feet up... and probably the friendliest snake I have ever been around...as soon as I started to dry the rat she comes flying out of the cage and freaks the crap out of me! All I saw was the pink of her mouth coming right for me, and I panicked....sending water EVERYWHERE!

When I say everywhere I mean IN MY EYE, all over the floor, all over my bed....it was a mess...and she didn't stop there...so she is now literally HANGING out of her cage striking at me trying to get the rat...like half of her body is out of the cage just endlessly striking in my general direction (I think she striked about 6 or 7 times in a matter of a couple of seconds) Luckily I knew that she was hungry and had distanced myself from the front of her cage so I wouldn't get bit!

At that point I just started laughing at how stupid I must have looked and at all the places that the water had ended up! So I ended up feeding her the rat...from a distance of course...and cleaned out my eye...

Lesson learned...never trust a hungry boa...but honestly it was a NICE reminder of how GREAT it is not having to worry about if my snakes were going to eat this week or not!!

[dart]

For that exact reason is why I don't have any boas at face level. All of them are my midsection high or lower. The feeding response from my boas and carpets is insane and I don't feel like getting my face ripped off.

[JLC]

... but for some reason can not get away from this forum!!

No need to get away! We love everyone and all critters! We're not just about ball pythons.

I can picture the scene very clearly! Sounds like much fun and mayhem was had by all! (Except the rat...not much fun for him. )

[Annarose15]

LOL! I'm glad the top two tubs in my rack have lids so I don't get surprises like that when I open them to feed!

[BigJ]

No need to get away! We love everyone and all critters! We're not just about ball pythons.

I can picture the scene very clearly! Sounds like much fun and mayhem was had by all! (Except the rat...not much fun for him. )

I can't lie Judy, you have a great thing going here!!

And yes it was quite comical...one of those things you wish you had a video of so you could laugh at yourself over and over again!!

[JLC]

I can't lie Judy, you have a great thing going here!!

And yes it was quite comical...one of those things you wish you had a video of so you could laugh at yourself over and over again!!

Awww thanks!

Hehehe...ohhhh for all the lost viral videos in our lives.

[boadaddy]

Lol that's classic too bad you didn't get that on video! That's why I thaw my rodents overnight and feed room temp, trying to thaw in water then dry them all is a major pain and messy like you found out haha.

[WingedWolfPsion]

Hate to say it, but it's not really a difference--some of my balls do the SAME thing.

I had one yearling last week who smelled the rats I was handing out, and became convinced that the FURNACE, 5 feet away, was food...and struck toward it repeatedly, lol.

I had a large female that a friend was feeding--she came barreling out of the bin toward him, causing him to scream, jump back, and throw the rat at her. She caught it in mid air. ^_^

[TheWinWizard]

I warm my rats in hot water, dab them on paper towels, and feed them wet. I'm sure the water helps lube the rats and they get a drink as well. The boas that is. LOL

[Emily Hubbard]

HAHA! Classic! It really is amazing how the sweetest of snakes can turn into a complete psychopath on feeding day. They become a completely different animal, I swear!