Striking the Glass

Hey There....

I'm guessing this has been addressed before so I apologize for asking it again. I think Daski was having this same issue early on but not sure if it's continued w/ Behira.

Anyways, my Boa who is very food driven like almost every other Boa out there has a habit of striking the glass if you get too close when the lights are out. They are set on a timer so he's conditioned to know when it's food time. Last night after feeding, he struck twice and then again this morning. My question is should I be worried about him injuring himself and is this something that will continue? He's a little over a year old and he's about finished his last round of adult mice so I'll be converting him to weaned rats so I'm hopeful the bigger size will help fill him and reduce the striking.

Any thoughts? Thanks.

They can remain foody for a while. I would just cover the front of the enclosure with a light blanket for a day after he eats, to give him time to settle down and start digesting.

Both my Boas do it, and not only when it's food time or after food time. I had to put a drape over Behira's tank (BI) permanently. It would probably be okay during the day, but at night, she goes after movement. Feliz (BCC) started doing the same thing a few months ago. Anticipating food.

Can he injure himself? Yes. Will he? Probably not. Behira bent a tooth once and that's when I put up the drape. Acrylic doors bend a little more than glass, but still, he probably/hopefully will not hurt himself.

I've heard as they get larger and do no need to grow as much they sometimes stop/grow out of it.

Like bcr229 said, if you are worried, cover the front of the tank.

This appears to be a Boa issue. I have spoken to Jeff Ronne (Boaphile) about it and he says some do it, some don't, and some grow out of it.

Yes, they CAN do damage to their faces if this continues...they can end up with an abscessed mouth that requires surgery, not to mention broken embedded
teeth, etc. So you want to minimize this...maybe locate the enclosure in a quieter place (so you aren't walking past?) or cover the cage (or use a room divider
folding screen) to block his view. (which defeats your easily observing your pet, unfortunately...) The BCI I had was quite food motivated but wasn't inclined
to hit the glass when it wasn't feeding time, & even so, it rarely happened. Maybe you need to avoid walking so close to his cage, & pay close attention if you do?

One way to quickly "change the channel" on an overly-food-driven snake is a quick spray of water to their face...it doesn't hurt them, just startles them & is a
complete let-down as it's nothing like prey. You might be able (translation: if I had your snake, I'd be inclined to try this) to "teach" him to back off & wait for
a more positive prey identification if you rigged up a little sprayer of water, with tubing so you could spray it when further away...as when you see he's tracking
your motion thru the glass & is in danger of striking the glass. Because one thing is certain: your boa's food drive will only increase, as will the force of his strike.
Boas are not shy like BPs, & I don't think you'll dissuade him from eating...you just want to slow him down, teach him not to chase every motion so much.

Thanks everyone! He didn't exhibit this behavior when he was smaller/younger so I'm 'hoping' the prey filled him up then and by offering something larger will help with this issue.

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Originally Posted by Bogertophis

Yes, they CAN do damage to their faces if this continues...they can end up with an abscessed mouth that requires surgery, not to mention broken embedded
teeth, etc. So you want to minimize this...maybe locate the enclosure in a quieter place (so you aren't walking past?) or cover the cage (or use a room divider
folding screen) to block his view. (which defeats your easily observing your pet, unfortunately...) The BCI I had was quite food motivated but wasn't inclined
to hit the glass when it wasn't feeding time, & even so, it rarely happened. Maybe you need to avoid walking so close to his cage, & pay close attention if you do?

One way to quickly "change the channel" on an overly-food-driven snake is a quick spray of water to their face...it doesn't hurt them, just startles them & is a
complete let-down as it's nothing like prey. You might be able (translation: if I had your snake, I'd be inclined to try this) to "teach" him to back off & wait for
a more positive prey identification if you rigged up a little sprayer of water, with tubing so you could spray it when further away...as when you see he's tracking
your motion thru the glass & is in danger of striking the glass. Because one thing is certain: your boa's food drive will only increase, as will the force of his strike.
Boas are not shy like BPs, & I don't think you'll dissuade him from eating...you just want to slow him down, teach him not to chase every motion so much.

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His enclosure is in a low traffic place and the strikes happened last night when I attempted to feed the BP who is situated on top of his AP enclosure and then this morning when I had to remove the F/T rat my BP refused :(

I've been tap training since Day 1 and it's working well. The strikes to the glass don't happen often and seem to occur when the prey size seems smaller then usual.

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Originally Posted by ckuhn003

His enclosure is in a low traffic place and the strikes happened last night when I attempted to feed the BP who is situated on top of his AP enclosure and then this morning when I had to remove the F/T rat my BP refused :(

I've been tap training since Day 1 and it's working well. The strikes to the glass don't happen often and seem to occur when the prey size seems smaller then usual.

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Well he was probably still in food mode with smelling the rat above him

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Originally Posted by ckuhn003

His enclosure is in a low traffic place and the strikes happened last night when I attempted to feed the BP who is situated on top of his AP enclosure and then this morning when I had to remove the F/T rat my BP refused :(

I've been tap training since Day 1 and it's working well. The strikes to the glass don't happen often and seem to occur when the prey size seems smaller then usual.

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Ah! I'm a glass tank fan, so I don't have stacking cages: my BCI (like many of my current snakes- large rat snakes+) was very aware when I was feeding snakes, & many others have noticed this too...that their snakes pick up on the scent. I think as long as you have stacking cages (or any other cage in close proximity to your boa) you may have this problem. Most snakes have extremely acute sense of smell...only a few molecules need to get picked up with their tongue flicks for them to identify & get excited. You'll likely be trying to feed your BP far more often than is good for your boa...I think you should reconsider the BP's location (or the boa's).

Does he do it when there’s not prey in the room? You said he did it while you were trying to feed your boo which is on top of him?

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Originally Posted by Waterman

Does he do it when there’s not prey in the room? You said he did it while you were trying to feed your boo which is on top of him?

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Yes, he's done it when there's no prey in the room. Not often but it has happened. I think he's smart enough to realize when it's getting close to food time and that when the lights are off he 'might' get fed. My guess, in the year I've had him, he's don't it 6-8 times.

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Originally Posted by ckuhn003

Yes, he's done it when there's no prey in the room. Not often but it has happened. I think he's smart enough to realize when it's getting close to food time and that when the lights are off he 'might' get fed. My guess, in the year I've had him, he's don't it 6-8 times.

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bp* not boo. Lol. Autocorrect. Anyways. If he’s only doing it with the lights off maybe try covering the front before you turn the lights off.

Boas can be highly responsive to food and quite a few of mine strike the cage front on feeding day (and one strikes anytime he sees a shadow or movement which is super annoying). I wouldn't really worry about it. The only thing that can sometimes happen if they strike badly, they can catch a tooth on a lip, normally I'll (with help) open their mouth to fix it for them, however this doesn't happen very often thank goodness.

Here's the part in Behira's thread where we talked about it: https://ball-pythons.net/forums/show...70#post2601470

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Originally Posted by Waterman

bp* not boo. Lol. Autocorrect. Anyways. If he’s only doing it with the lights off maybe try covering the front before you turn the lights off.

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The lights are on a timer which makes it difficult to cover when they go off.

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Originally Posted by AbsoluteApril

Boas can be highly responsive to food and quite a few of mine strike the cage front on feeding day (and one strikes anytime he sees a shadow or movement which is super annoying). I wouldn't really worry about it. The only thing that can sometimes happen if they strike badly, they can catch a tooth on a lip, normally I'll (with help) open their mouth to fix it for them, however this doesn't happen very often thank goodness.

Here's the part in Behira's thread where we talked about it: https://ball-pythons.net/forums/show...70#post2601470

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Thanks April for the link. I'll check it out!

Sounds like he's still a bit hungry CK. Are you doubling up on those mice? Hopefully the larger prey items will mellow him out a bit.

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Originally Posted by EL-Ziggy

Sounds like he's still a bit hungry CK. Are you doubling up on those mice? Hopefully the larger prey items will mellow him out a bit.

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What's up Ziggy...... No, I've never doubled up on the feeding but I believe you're right that it might not be enough for him. Luckily, I think I only have two more adult mice before I order a bigger size.

to add - i shouldn't say "the ONLY" thing that can happen is the tooth issue, as yes, repeated may cause other mouth issues as Bogertophis brought up. Just that the tooth thing is the worst thing I've had happen.
I've had the mouth injury that required surgery related to constant rubbing or pushing, not from striking. I should have clarified that above.

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Originally Posted by bcr229

They can remain foody for a while. I would just cover the front of the enclosure with a light blanket for a day after he eats, to give him time to settle down and start digesting.

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I have to do this with one of mine. She is in beast mode for about 24 hours after getting a whiff of rat. if I don't, she will tag the glass anytime she senses movement in the room.

My big jungle female is like this, too. It's gotten worse as I've had her, but I do notice a positive impact if I spend more time going into the snake room and just walking around or interacting with her vs staying out of the snake room. Even if I just come in the room a couple times a day and walk around without food, that seems to help her to sit, wait, and see vs strike at the first sign of movement. I always have a hook on hand, and she quickly drops her food response once I actually get my hands on her, but even the vibrations of my foot steps can set her off, so covering her enclosure wouldn't help.

Feeding a responsive snake more food is not the way address their behaviors, as they could easily become obese which will cause a whole host of health issues, and more often than not, won't even impact their behavior. I've had 2 snakes (including my jungle girl) who are always ravenous. One was one of my garters, and he would actually jump out of the tank and latch onto my finger sometimes. I tried for a year to give him as many pinks as he would eat in one sitting as often as he would take them, and even after all that time, I noticed zero improvement. So on a diet he went because he was almost as heavy as my other garter half a foot longer than him. lol With the boa, I tried feeding her two jumbos to see if more food would help, and she just continued hitting the glass wanting more. She's a breeder, so I don't want her fat, so that was the end of that. She's definitely not starving, either, she's maintaining her body structure and has even gained weight. So guess it's just something I have to deal with. lol

Kinda like my mom's cat that will eat everything and anything, and even chase the other cats out of their food. It's like some animals just lack that part of the brain to tell them they're full.

"The lights are on a timer which makes it difficult to cover when they go off."

Just cover the front for now. Paper an tape are cheap. My Boas eat at ten days an the BPs at seven. I get the glass tapping when the Boas smell food an think I forgot them.

Boas, the only snakes that have tagged me because I fed an smelled like horses.:O

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Originally Posted by 303_enfield

...Boas, the only snakes that have tagged me because I fed an smelled like horses.:O

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Never heard that one before but I sure don't doubt it either. :rofl: