BCI: From Rage to Playful in Eight Months

I got my baby BCI about eight months ago. He was 3 or 4 months old at the time. He's my first boa. When that bag arrived and was opened up, he was in total rage mode and he stayed there for a full week. We're talking the type of rage where he would hiss and carry on and repeatedly strike his doors before I even got into the room he was in. Just approaching that room was sure drama.

It took a lot of patience and time but he finally is showing signs of being sweet and even playful. It was a very slow progression to this, but finally today I can say that he was being playful. He was in his boaphile cage and we were just watching each other. He kept poking his little head above the edge to look at me, I would lean closer, and he would pull back down or behind a leaf. I would then pull back and wait a few seconds, and he would pop his head back out and look at me. When I leaned back towards him he would hide again. This repeated over and over again. He can also be handled with ease now.

It's so nice to have gotten to this point. In other posts I had described his behavior, and in fact just two months ago I made posts expressing genuine worry because he was still so aggressive. The general response was one of surprise, and there really wasn't anybody who had encountered a baby BCI that was so aggressive for so long. I verified my husbandry just to be sure.

I guess the main reason I'm posting this is to anyone else who comes across an unusually aggressive baby BCI, keep working with it! It may be slow progress but it is worth the effort. I love my little boy so much, he's great.

There are some pictures of him here, I do need to get some new ones.

http://fire-eyes.org/gal/v/ob/n/rep/sn/spb/fy/

I’m glad to hear that he has calmed down for you. All of my BCIs are total sweet hearts. I do have a few Nics that snap at me, but most are calming down now. They are starting to get used to me cleaning their cages, and handling them on occasion. The first one that comes to mind is one of my super motley Nics. She lunged at my buddy Tom’s face the first day I got her. She was pretty aggressive for a few weeks, but lately has been pretty chill. I do use my hook to get her out of her tub, but once out she doesn’t mind to be handled at all.