My Boa Seems Moody

During the last month or so my female boa seems to be on edge, almost like defensive when I try and remove her from her cage.

Two weeks ago I moved her from a glass enclosure to a T8, I know a T8 won't last for long is it will not quite be long enough and of course, it does no provide enough height (she spends ALL her time in her hides). She is still young so I'm hoping I can get a year out of the T8 before going to something bigger. The thing is I noticed the mood swing before putting her into the T8.

I'm having a feeling she is being underfed. She is my first boa, (started will balls). Until just recently she has been on a med rat, 70-80 grams, every ten days. I have no problems providing her with the appropriate size food, I just want to be careful not to overfeed while not underfeeding. The temps are cool side 78 degrees, warm side is at 91 degrees, and humidity is at 55-60.

I was able to take some pictures before cleaning her cage, but at the moment I feel if I just reach into the enclosure she will try and tag me. Maybe I'm just being a wuss, but I have definitely noticed a mood change. Any thoughts?

http://i1250.photobucket.com/albums/...psa4178bd7.jpg
http://i1250.photobucket.com/albums/...ps720e9be8.jpg
http://i1250.photobucket.com/albums/...ps879576e6.jpg
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http://i1250.photobucket.com/albums/...ps40326d2c.jpg
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another pic

http://i1250.photobucket.com/albums/...pscae74c14.jpg

Also, once I do get her out, she is just fine. It's only when trying to take her out she acts this way.

Some boas can be touchy when you first get them out but settle quickly once in hand. So that part is fairly normal. Your feeding schedule sounds fine. I wouldn't feed her more than what you are or any more often either. Your temps are a teeny bit high though. I have found that boas tend to prefer slightly cooler temps than balls do. I keep my boas at 77 ambient with an 88 hotspot. My Argentines are even lower at 76 with an 86-87 hotspot. Doesn't sound like much, but to a snake a single degree is a big difference. :gj:

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Originally Posted by Evenstar

Some boas can be touchy when you first get them out but settle quickly once in hand. So that part is fairly normal. Your feeding schedule sounds fine. I wouldn't feed her more than what you are or any more often either. Your temps are a teeny bit high though. I have found that boas tend to prefer slightly cooler temps than balls do. I keep my boas at 77 ambient with an 88 hotspot. My Argentines are even lower at 76 with an 86-87 hotspot. Doesn't sound like much, but to a snake a single degree is a big difference. :gj:

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Thank you very much for the reply.

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.

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.

I noticed something similar with my 1st and so far only boa.
It seems I was just reading her totally wrong though. She spins around to check me out when I reach in her enclosure and appears ready to strike but never has (except for one instance on feeding day and that was my fault entirely, spot cleaning with warming rats and mice in the room ='s bad idea).
I think she is just deciding if I am food, a threat or something to be unconcerned about so, I let her get a good smell of me and continue to pick her up as if she isn't in the perfect position to tag me and have yet to have her react with either fear or aggression.
I have a male BP that with the same body language let's me know he isn't in the mood for handling and will talk to me if I continue and is eager to return to his enclosure. With him it seems to relate closely to when he is about to leave me a stinky present in his enclosure.

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Originally Posted by Raven01

I noticed something similar with my 1st and so far only boa.
It seems I was just reading her totally wrong though. She spins around to check me out when I reach in her enclosure and appears ready to strike but never has (except for one instance on feeding day and that was my fault entirely, spot cleaning with warming rats and mice in the room ='s bad idea).
I think she is just deciding if I am food, a threat or something to be unconcerned about so, I let her get a good smell of me and continue to pick her up as if she isn't in the perfect position to tag me and have yet to have her react with either fear or aggression.
I have a male BP that with the same body language let's me know he isn't in the mood for handling and will talk to me if I continue and is eager to return to his enclosure. With him it seems to relate closely to when he is about to leave me a stinky present in his enclosure.

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Thank you I might try that next time when getting her out, putting my hand in the enclosure, letting my hand lay there for a minute before picking her up, verse just trying to reach in and grab her.

She looks good to me. And your feed schedule sounds great. I would lean towards smaller meals rather than over feed. My hypo thinks whenever you open his cage its food time. But once he's out he settles right down and is fine. Trustworthy enough I will give him to my daughter then go about what I need to do. She even handed him over to our neighbor/friend and I had no worries about him biting. Once out I trust him over my albino. She comes out fine but is a spazz once out for awhile. They all have quirky personalities. Try a hook if your uncomfortable. Sounds normal to me. :)

you know its kinda funny but im not sure if its something in the air so to say. I have 2 boas a 5yr old 7 foot pastel male and a 1 1/2 year old 42" Female anery and in the past 2 weeks they have both been on edge. normally they are the sweetest snakes I have but like I said they both have gone really aggressive. Earlier this week I did my normal feeding of my male ( I bin feed him due to his size) I have feed him the same way for years so he knows the routine but for some reason this time I popped the top and surprise he instantly went into a double hard S flattened out and struck twice! ( missed both times) then proceeded to follow me when I backed up luckily I had my snake hook in my hand and used the handle to touch his nose and that straightened him right out but he still seems "on edge" as we speak. female struck at the glass once when I walked by ( never done that before either) So I find it funny you brought this up. I wonder if something in nature is causing unusual aggression in snakes lately? My Ball pythons are all normal though!

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. ;)