Behira - 2016 Female Ivory Ghost - First BCI

[dakski]

Thank you AbsoluteApril and Richardhind1972!

Yeah, I am not worrying about her becoming aggressive. Again, she's a total puppy dog when being handled. I just think she has a hyper food drive, which is a good thing. Just ask Shayna, my BP, who didn't eat for 5 months this winter!

I just wanted to avoid her getting hurt and make sure it was food driven. I don't want to scare her and that's why she is acting that way. Wait, scare Behira? She barely uses her hides! What am I thinking! She's a pretty bold little sweetheart, with a killer food response. That's all.

However, she already had one bent tooth from missing a rat and hitting the acrylic door, or her a hide. That took care of itself though.

I'll just keep chugging and handling her regularly. Funny, handling usually involves watching TV and her falling asleep on my chest. I may have mentioned, but I think I am the Boa Whisperer.

Katie holds and she is all over the place, nonstop! Me, she falls asleep.

[richardhind1972]

Most of mine just sit and chill with me


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[dakski]

Most of mine just sit and chill with me


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Lol .

You must be a Boa Whisperer too!

[Reinz]

Glad to see Katie enjoying playtime as much as Behira!

[dakski]

Glad to see Katie enjoying playtime as much as Behira!

Me too . Such a relief!

I was nervous for a while and got a lot of push back initially when I asked how she felt about Behira now and/or asked her to hold her. I basically left it alone for a while and continued to handle Behira, often when Katie was around. Sometimes it's better to leave things be. In this case, it worked, and they are good buddies again!

As I have mentioned, I understand Katie's hesitancy. She literally had never touched a reptile until she met me in 2016. 8 months ago I moved in and took over her basement with tanks, and added 2 dogs for a total of 5! I know it was overwhelming for Katie, even though she wanted me to move in, menagerie and all.

In October, Behira came home to live with us and in December, 13 boxes arrived from Boaphile (the 6X2's ship as 2 3X2's and then are bolted together, plus stands, and thermostats, etc.)! That really worked out well though, because I had tanks all over part of the finished basement. Katie was really happy we were able to stack tanks and get some room back! I like that, but am just incredibly happy with the tanks and how much easier they are to maintain proper temps and humidity.

Then, after telling Katie, in years of keeping reptiles (mostly snakes), that I was only bitten once (by a BP baby in 1990 and it was totally my fault), Behira nails me hoping for dinner. Katie didn't see the bite, but saw the blood . It fed into all her previous fears about reptiles (her parents are not keen on them at all - but even though they do not understand, appreciate that I like them, and Katie's dad even helped me set up the tanks).

In any event, I am really happy Katie has embraced me, my dogs, and my reptiles! I couldn't be happier!

[richardhind1972]

Really glad Katie is starting to trust her again.it does take some getting used again,just keep up the hard work,
My wife won’t go in the snake room still after all these years except to possibly shut the window if she has put the heating on,
We are in Egypt at the moment and the was a cobra show on the hotel and she asked if my boas would get that pissed off if I was in there face ,I said probably but wouldn’t do that and they also wouldn’t hood up,on of the cobras was around 7ft the other was about 3ft really don’t know how he dare

Anyway keep up the good work


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[dakski]

Really glad Katie is starting to trust her again.it does take some getting used again,just keep up the hard work,
My wife won’t go in the snake room still after all these years except to possibly shut the window if she has put the heating on,
We are in Egypt at the moment and the was a cobra show on the hotel and she asked if my boas would get that pissed off if I was in there face ,I said probably but wouldn’t do that and they also wouldn’t hood up,on of the cobras was around 7ft the other was about 3ft really don’t know how he dare

Anyway keep up the good work


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Thank you! Yeah, I think Behira is going be just fine with us for a long time!

Too funny that your wife won't go in the snake room! Very good she supports your passion though!

Enjoy Egypt! Oh, and avoid the Cobras, if you can. I think their bite might be a little worse than a BCI .

[CloudtheBoa]

I would advise against handling her that much, 2-3 times a week is a good maximum. If you handle them too often, it stresses them out, even if you can’t see it. Of course, there’s no set line for what is too much, but you definitely don’t want to be handling them nearly every day. If she’s docile, she’ll remain docile, but a defensive snake will act in much the same way a dog with learned helplessness would. By overhandling, you’re telling her that nothing is on her terms, she has no escape, and she will effectively “shut down” to deal with it. Any defensiveness will resume if they go without being handled, and may actually become more defensive later on. I actually don’t handle my snakes more than a couple times a month, which is still enough to reduce feeding responses when handling or defensive behaviors. If a snake doesn’t come around, I simply cater my handling to them, I don’t really believe in handling a snake into docility, it seems a little cruel. If they’re meant to be handled, they will take to handling. If all you’re worried about is a feeding strike, your hook should be more than enough to snap her out of it.

It’s good Katie is coming around! A bite from a boa really isn’t very bad, and it seems like Behira just made a mistake once, so it would have been a shame if that had caused a permanent falling out.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[dakski]

Behira nailed a 60G F/T rat yesterday. Might be a tiny bit on the small side for her now, but rather that then too big. I have another 60-70G small rat and then some 70-80G small rats left in this bag. I'll feed them smallest to largest.

However, I fed figment his mouse first, and when I brought it in (soaking in hot water), and walked by Behira's tank (she's the second one down of 5 and Figment is the bottom) she struck the front of the tank, only once, but still. I don't know if she smelled it, or just knew it was food time, but either way, she bent a front tooth this time.

Ugh.

Doesn't seem to bother her and the last one fell out on it's own. I am going to see if it falls out next feeding, like the last one did. I can see it when I look in the tank, but since she just ate, I am not going to take her out to inspect until at least tomorrow.

Needless to say I didn't offer the rat long before she was all over it.

I usually feed Figment, Behira, and then Shayna. From now on, I am going to feed Behira first, then Figment, then Shayna. Maybe avoid needless strikes at acrylic!

Glad she is happy and eating; bent teeth and all!

[Reinz]

Sorry that you are going through this, I know how upsetting it can be.

If I’m feeding multiple snakes on the same feeding day as Punch, my big Boa, I always feed him first and as quickly as possible. He slams the glass so hard his mouth is all twisted, contorted, and he is stunned as well. Then I have to wait for him to adjust and realign it before I can feed him.


Punch