Nervous to pick up

Hi everyone, my wife talked me into buying a 3 year old redtail, the owner said she was a pet and breeder and they handled everyday. I held her alot when I bought that day, and the next day setting up her tank no issues. Now it's been a week and she ate a day and a half ago, and now I'm to nervous to pick her up. I tired this morning but she was balled up on one side of our tank and since it's glass sliding doors I can only open from one side and her head is always there. She dousnt hiss or anything but when I tried to pick her up she started moving and quickly moving her head to look at my arm. With her neck curled up and it's just freaking me out. Any ideas to help me pick he rupture and play with her or should I wait longer.

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I give my adult boas 3-4 days to digest after eating to handle them unless then need to be cleaned out, because they usually eat XL or jumbo rats, or rabbits, so it takes them a while to digest. Since they eat monthly giving them half a week to digest doesn't cut down on handling opportunities.

You've had her less than two weeks. Give her more time to settle in to her new home before doing a lot of handling. She's in a new place and doesn't know you well yet.

When I want to handle mine I open the door and rub them for a while before picking them up. I also try to slip a hand under and lift rather than grabbing from the top.

I feed her a large rat, I'll give her another week maybe put a worn shirt in her tank so she gets used to my sent. I haven't handled her at all since the day I got her, I didn't know if I should give her a few minutes out with me if that's ok or not

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The only time I actually feel iffy about handling her is when she is balled up on one side of the tank resting, I came home today and she was moving around and was able to grab her upper and lower midsection with her head away from where I put my arms in and no problem pulled her out. She does seem like she dousnt want out, as I'm pulling her out she is trying to crawl back into her tank, after I got her out and had her whole body except her head resting on me she had a defensive strike position looking at her tank and slowly tried to make her way back into her tank so I just let her crawl through my arms back into her tank. I am in no means so scared that I shouldn't have her or anything like that soon please keep them comments away I love her to death. I am not intimidated when handling her. I just want to avoid her biting me at all cost as big as she is. I don't mind if my ball bites me that's no big deal. I just want to know any precautions for getting her out when she is balled up and the only way to get her is to reach my arm over her head since she always has her head under the glass opening when resting. And any husbandry comments are much apreciated. New to the redtails.

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Stop messing with her. Leave her for a week to digest and acclimate. Youre going to piss her off.

Ok so give her two weeks in total. I've had her for a week, she has ate for me. Aghhhh it kills me lol. The only part I hate about been a snake owner is the first few weeks when you get a new one haha I sure everyone can agree. I'll let her be till next Saturday giving her 2 weeks of settle in time before I try to handle her unless suggested other wise.

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She will settle down with time. Don't rush things, I have a female that I got under similar circumstances. She acted just like yours. However with time she settled down just fine. In fact she is one of my most favorite snakes in my collection. When I open her cage she barely takes notice of me. She's just one cool customer. So don't worry it will work out for you with time. Let us know how things work out for you.

Thank you trigerhawk!

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I would let her settle in for 2-3 weeks before attempting handling and then if you are worried, have a drink first ;) put a glove on the hand you reach in with, you can also just drape a towel over the snakes head and then grab. What I do is tap a little with a hook or the hide if they have that hungry, looking for food appearance or show my closed fist, boas seem pretty smart and not strike first, ask later like my short tails. Once they get the idea, oh, just coming out for handling you can slide a hand under the middle thick part and start pulling out, the squirming away, mine does that too and just as bad when I try to get him back in the cage. I got an adult male redtail a few months ago and he was fine out of the box but the first week struck at the cage door a few times at my husband, who now refers to him as "the mean snake". I let him settle in and he's been nothing but calm, no hissing or striking. It always sucks not being able to see and touch new additions but it's better for them to just wait it out and go slow.

You don't need to put a shirt in there with your scent, and you definitely don't need to wait a week after feeding to handle. 2-3 days is plenty. After changing enclosures I have found they really only need a week or so to settle in, provided they have sufficient caging and hides as babies. Don't put a towel over the snakes head, all you are doing is initiating a negative interaction every time you are attempting to hold her.

Also, I don't really see what the problem is. If the snake isn't hissing, which is usually a bluff anyways, and hasn't struck at you, then why the hesitation? I understand that you don't want to have the snake bite you, but honestly that's part of this game.

Just calmly and confidently reach into the cage and pick the animal up.

I had a female I was nervous of. She hissed and bit me a lot. This caused me to be hesitant to pick her up so I got tagged more often. Since I just started reaching in with confidence and picking her up, she stopped hissing and striking at me. I think they can sense if we are not dominating an interaction and then they decide to dominate it by biting. You just have to reach in and do it. If you pause for a second, it's too late. Good luck!!


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So how's it going? Has your boa settled down some what?

Boas tend to keep their neck in an "s" position when just checking things out. This is different than BPs.

Most people recommend letting them settle in for up to 1 month or more after bringing them home before handling. I personally like mine to eat for me at least 2 times in a row before I try to handle. I give all my boas 4 days after eating before I handle them.

I suggest using a hook to condition her. Her previous breeder might have done this. You stroke them with a hook every time you open the cage to clean or interact. Do not use the hook when feeding. They learn to associate the hook with handling / cleaning and will go out of food mode after you stroke them. You can also use the hook as a barrier between you and their head, or to push their head aside before reaching in.

Both my girls immediately perk up when I mess around in their cages. Mostly they wander over and check out whats going on. You will learn the signs of when your boa wants to be left alone or is just curious.

As Artgecko said, they do "S" neck to check stuff out. There is 2 forms though, if the "S" is tight and the snakes head is off the floor like its getting rdy to strike, then prolly rub its head with a paper towel roll or rolled up newspaper or whatever to let it know its you and not dinner incoming. If the "S" is more loose and relaxed looking and the snakes head is more or less on the floor, then it is probably just relaxing.

Again after a while you will learn to read the snake. Give it time to settle in and get used to its cage as that is the "safe" zone in the snakes mind and you need to let it get used to that. Also i'd wait until it has fed 2-3 times with no problems etc before I would work with bonding with it.

Also something like a snake hook can work too. Me personally, I have never used them. My snakes get handled a lot so they are used to me and I can reach in head first for them and they don't care. Half the time they will come forward when I open the cage doors and crawl out onto me but again I've handled them a lot since they were babies so even my 6' girl is like a giant puppy dog when she comes out.