first boa! red tail

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Originally Posted by cehmz

:P Yeah I know it is a bit silly. Maybe if I show her this she won't be so worried.

Guys I know I should let my new snake settle in right now as I just got her yesterday but I have not handled her at all even when buying her and putting her in the cage. Is it ok if I take her out for just a few minutes today just to hold her for once?

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Confession, I had to laugh at that too. :P I have 2 cats and 2 sugar gliders (small furry critters with big eyes that run and jump and glide in tree branches and whose #1 enemy in the wild would be a snake!). While I would never take the snakes out while my suggies were out playing, I have no worries whatsoever of my boa harming them or my cats.

Many captive snakes tend to kind of imprint on a particular prey item and it can take a bit of work to switch them to something different when they don't recognize it as food. Use common sense and your kitties should be fine!

Not all boas are super big. Is yours for sure a female? If so, she will get a bit larger, but if it's a male, you're probably looking at more like 6-7-ish feet or so. Also, if you keep your boa on rats for it's lifetime, it probably won't get quite as big as it might if you put her on rabbits. Rabbits tend to spark a major growth spurt and they will really start to pack on the size if they eat rabbits.

And lastly, boas are NOT ball pythons. Many boas seem to truely enjoy handling. I handled mine from day one and she ate for me no trouble on the 3rd day we had her. Just be gentle and sensitive to her stress level and maybe keep it to only a few minutes at a time til her first meal with you, then handle away! :gj:

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Originally Posted by Evenstar

Confession, I had to laugh at that too. :P I have 2 cats and 2 sugar gliders (small furry critters with big eyes that run and jump and glide in tree branches and whose #1 enemy in the wild would be a snake!). While I would never take the snakes out while my suggies were out playing, I have no worries whatsoever of my boa harming them or my cats.

Many captive snakes tend to kind of imprint on a particular prey item and it can take a bit of work to switch them to something different when they don't recognize it as food. Use common sense and your kitties should be fine!

Not all boas are super big. Is yours for sure a female? If so, she will get a bit larger, but if it's a male, you're probably looking at more like 6-7-ish feet or so. Also, if you keep your boa on rats for it's lifetime, it probably won't get quite as big as it might if you put her on rabbits. Rabbits tend to spark a major growth spurt and they will really start to pack on the size if they eat rabbits.

And lastly, boas are NOT ball pythons. Many boas seem to truely enjoy handling. I handled mine from day one and she ate for me no trouble on the 3rd day we had her. Just be gentle and sensitive to her stress level and maybe keep it to only a few minutes at a time til her first meal with you, then handle away! :gj:

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Yay! I'm going to go get her out now, I'll take some pics. Since you are being so awesome about answering my questions I have one more for you! I do not want to pay 20 dollars for a branch of wood at a pet store so I was thinking for something her to climb and make it look more natural to find some branches outside and boil them(one side then the other if they are to big for the pot). Is this ok to do, any risks or advice?

Cats, dogs, monkeys, rug rats, and boyfriends or girlfriends aren't Boa food. Rodents are and probably birds, rabbits, guinea pigs.

And here she is my first time handling, just a few minutes ago.

http://i.imgur.com/qr7UU.jpg





http://i.imgur.com/4lv8l.jpg

She's very pretty. Lil boas can sometimes be defensive because they're so small that everything intimidates them. Don't let that bother you and just keep up with short handling sessions.

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Originally Posted by waltah!

She's very pretty. Lil boas can sometimes be defensive because they're so small that everything intimidates them. Don't let that bother you and just keep up with short handling sessions.

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Thank you, she hasnt acted aggressive at all so far and I just pick her up gently from the tank. I just added the found branch I got outside that I completely boiled so she has something to climb on if she wants and I am going for a sort of natural look. Hope thats ok to put in that branch, let me know if not and I'll remove it right away.

Thanks guys.

Awww.... She's really pretty! Congrats on your first boa - I adore mine and am totally happy I have her. They are really neat snakes.

The branch should be fine. I would've baked it in the oven for 20min or so rather than boiled it, but I think boiling works ok. I do know that you just want to make sure it dries out well so mold doesn't start. I am also not 100% positive that boiling will take care of any parasites deep inside the wood. I have heard that baking at 300 for 20min is the only way to be sure. But on the other hand, it seems like it would be ok. So I dunno... :confuzd: Maybe someone else will chime in on that one???

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Originally Posted by Evenstar

Awww.... She's really pretty! Congrats on your first boa - I adore mine and am totally happy I have her. They are really neat snakes.

The branch should be fine. I would've baked it in the oven for 20min or so rather than boiled it, but I think boiling works ok. I do know that you just want to make sure it dries out well so mold doesn't start. I am also not 100% positive that boiling will take care of any parasites deep inside the wood. I have heard that baking at 300 for 20min is the only way to be sure. But on the other hand, it seems like it would be ok. So I dunno... :confuzd: Maybe someone else will chime in on that one???

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If she will stop climbing on it(I think she really likes it!) I will take it out and bake it to be safe, better safe then sorry. I just checked on her again, I have to be careful my gf is sleeping in there. Shelby is hanging out on top of the branch like a boss looking cozy. I feel like I would stress her or annoy her to take her off of the branch right now to bake it so I'm hoping just boiling it was ok for tonight and maybe tomorrow till after I get out of work.

She is a beautiful little boa. I have a few different bp's and 3 boa's right now. I will tell you this. If I could only have one or the other I would get rid of my bp's in a heart beat and keep the boa's. They are just so much more interesting than my bp's are.

They do seem to need a bit more handling than my bp's to keep them calm, but this isn't really a problem. I love the boa's so much that I seem to take them out every day....lol

Cutie boa: love her peppering!