My Boa Seems Moody

She looks great. How old and how big?

I would not worry about the mood. Try the hook training method. My male is pissy at times and I for sure think he'll tag me if I do a reach and pull. I rub him with a hook and he still hisses and tries to flee, then I hand grab his back end and keep the hook up by the business end. After I lift him he gets all nice and then we are good.

Temps are a funny thing. I keep mine a bit warmer and have seen an even use between warm side and cool side. I have an 80-81 cool side and a 90-92 warm side. He uses both daily and I've NEVER seen him soak.

One thing I do however is use my Herpstat and I have a pretty nice night drop. My night temps go down to 76 on the cool side and 86 on the warm. I run humidity at 70-80%.

As long as you get good sheds, good feeding and not much soaking or any, you should be OK. If you want to limit growth, lower the temps.

The no soaking aspect may shock some people and some may disagree, but from the mouth of Gus Rentfro, Rio Bravo Reptiles, he states soaking usually means temps are a bit high, possibly mites, or humidity is low. He goes on to explain a lot of "issues" can occur if a snake is constantly in water.

Sorry, that was off topic a bit, but I know if my fella started to soak the 1st thing I'd do would be to drop temps.

As for the grumpy boa,,, I'd only get a bit curious if she was still like that after you handled her for a while.

I need to shut up now LOL!

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Originally Posted by martin82531

As of right now, the only way I can see decreasing the ambient temps or the the cool side is be shutting off the florescent lights all together (currently 12 on/off). The only other heat source I have is my UTH and RHP. The RHP has yet to turn in as I have it set not to turn on until 80 degrees. If not, I could move the enclosure into another room were the ambient temps are slightly lower, 69-71 degrees, verse 74 -75 were the cage is at currently.

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I would get rid of the lights. Boas don't need them and it's more important to get your temps to where your snake is comfortable than it is to have lights.

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Originally Posted by martin82531

When she seems defensive when I go to pull her out, do you think she is bluffing or do I run the risk of getting bit? Not that I will mind, I guess I'm just not in a huge rush in getting into the boa bite club. :) I'm sure it's maybe a little of both, just curious of other boa keepers and their experience.

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Most likely, she is bluffing. Most boas are all huff and puff than bite. But if you do get bit, you'll just be a part of the Boa Bite Club - which is the COOLEST club in BP.net!! :D

Once she figures out that you don't go away when she huffs at you, she'll adjust. But, yes, the hooking can help with this a lot. Reptile Basics has some nice hooks. :gj:



You should see my female Argentine when I go to get her out. She rises 1/2 way out of her tub, S-coils, and does a first-rate imitation of a King Cobra. But as soon as I pick her up (and I just reach in bare-handed and get her), she is gentle as a kitten. ;)