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  1. #71
    BPnet Lifer dakski's Avatar
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    Re: Behira - 2016 Female Ivory Ghost - First BCI

    Quote Originally Posted by richardhind1972 View Post
    Most of mine just sit and chill with me


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    Lol .

    You must be a Boa Whisperer too!

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  3. #72
    BPnet Senior Member CloudtheBoa's Avatar
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    Re: Behira - 2016 Female Ivory Ghost - First BCI

    Quote Originally Posted by dakski View Post
    I love Behira!

    She ate tonight. Hadn't eaten in two weeks, which is her schedule now that she is on small rats and weighs 690G empty.

    So I put the defrosted and warm F/T rat on tongs, dangle in front of her for a little, and nothing. She looked interested, but didn't strike right away.

    So, I did what I have done in the past, put it down in front of her.

    She spent 1/2 an hour watching me feed everyone else, looking out the front of her tank, sniffing the air and even the rat, etc.

    Finally, she bit into the rat, got really excited, half struck while biting it, bit harder, and coiled it! This time she didn't coil for, seemingly, ever, and started chowing down quickly.

    She's a goof, but I love her. Nice to have another snake who happily eats even when I don't shake it for a while to elicit a strike.

    My BP, Shayna is so shy, she almost never strikes, and wants the rat put down, and me to walk away. Figment, my corn snake, could care less. If I shake for 1 second, he strikes, if I drop it in, he strikes, etc. He eats anything anytime!

    Anyway, very happy she is eating regularly (which she always has) and seems happy. She is really settled in now.
    It doesn't surprise me she wants to eat every 2 weeks, all my boas on smalls eat every 3 weeks (though they'd eat more often if I let them).

    Quote Originally Posted by dakski View Post
    Okay, quick question, for the BCI/snake behavior experts out there.

    I have been hook training Behira for about 3 weeks now, and that is going great.

    I feed her at night with tank lights, and most room lights, off, so it's pretty dark.

    During the day/lights on is when I handle. Her lights are on from 9AM-9PM, give or take a few minutes.

    Lately, when I walk by the tank at night, she looks ready to strike/in hunt mode. She hasn't struck the front of the tank yet, but I wouldn't put it past her.

    I don't want her to get hurt, and I may be making a mountain out of a molehill, but should I be doing something differently?

    I always feed my snakes in near darkness/at night so they associate light with being handled. However, I have never had as aggressive a feeder as Behira. Even Figment, my corn snake, looks for food at night, but isn't ready to strike until he smells mouse. He does go completely APE once he is sure it's feeding time though.

    A couple other things.

    I only go by the tanks at night if I need to feed the geckos or it's snake feeding day. Otherwise everyone is left alone in the 5 tank stack (the tanks in the corner of my finished basement in a little nook so they do not get bothered unless I need to do something with them/the animals). Last night I fed the Gecko's and as soon as I walked by, she was out of her hide and in S/strike mode.

    Behira eats every 2 weeks, on Sunday, a small rat. She was 690G empty before last feeding (this past Sunday).

    She is a total puppy dog once stroked with the soft end of the hook, and completely mellow once picked up! Total sweetheart.

    Thank you for any and all thoughts!
    So long as she isn't actually striking, I likely wouldn't worry. My boas sometimes go through periods like this, I assume it's just them needing a little extra food. Depending on their body tone, I either increase feeding frequency by a week until the behavior stops, or I just wait them out. If they're of good body tone, and I'm not breeding, they eventually snap out of the mood after a few weeks or a couple of months.

    I also don't feed my snakes at any set time of the day, so I'm able to reach in whenever I want without a feeding response, though I'm not sure how much it would affect them if I did feed them at the same time every feeding day, as I've never been able to stick to such strict schedules with anything in my life. lmao

    Her weight, feeder size, and frequency seems pretty good, so it's doubtful she's starving, I'd probably just wait and see if she stops. If she begins striking at the glass, or her weight gain plateaus over 2-3 months time, then I'd try feeding her weekly for a short period to see if that helps. I wouldn't make it her regular schedule, though, snakes just seem to go through periods of heightened or lowered feed response.
    Last edited by CloudtheBoa; 02-28-2018 at 10:15 PM.
    8.3 Boa imperator ('15 sunglow "Nymeria," '11 normal "Cloud," '16 anery motley "Crona," '10 ghost "Howl," '08 jungle "Dominika," '22 RC pastel hypo jungle "Aleister," '22 pastel normal "Gengar," '22 orangasm hypo "Daemon," '22 poss jungle "Jinzo," '22 poss jungle "Calcifer," '22 motley "Guin")
    1.4 Boa imperator; unnamed '22 hbs
    3.3 Plains garter snakes
    1.2 checkered garter snakes (unnamed)

    ~RIP~
    2.2 Brazilian rainbow boa ('15 Picasso stripe BRBs "Guin" and "Morzan, and '15 hypo "Homura", '14 normal "Sanji")
    1.0 garter snake ('13 albino checkered "Draco")
    1.0 eastern garter ('13 "Demigod)
    0.0.1 ball python ('06 "Bud")

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    dakski (02-28-2018)

  5. #73
    BPnet Lifer dakski's Avatar
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    Re: Behira - 2016 Female Ivory Ghost - First BCI

    Behira left me a really nice, and big, present last night (I found today).

    I weighed her empty, and she is now 715G.

    It seems she is putting about 30% of every meal towards growth. Again, feeding small rats every other week (every 2 Sundays).

    She is doing great with the hook training and everything seems to be going really well.

    I couldn't be happier.

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  7. #74
    BPnet Lifer dakski's Avatar
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    Re: Behira - 2016 Female Ivory Ghost - First BCI

    One other quick thing to add.

    Behira has not been overly interested/aggressive when I walk by at night the past week. It seems close to feeding day (soon after a meal when it's still on her mind), or if I recently fed someone else, she is a little more interested in what I am doing. am

    I'll advise if she ever strikes at the front of the enclosure, but she seems to have relaxed a little bit in that regard.

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  9. #75
    BPnet Lifer dakski's Avatar
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    Re: Behira - 2016 Female Ivory Ghost - First BCI

    Behira is doing well, and looking forward to eating tomorrow (I am sure). The hook training continues to go great and she relaxes more once she sees/get touched by the hook handle. I am getting better at reading her, and that's helping too.

    It's been over a month since the food response bite, and I am very optimistic. Katie is beginning to believe in Behira again as well. She has held her sporadically since the bite (to be clear - Behira nailed me, not Katie), but not for long (she has continued to spend time with Shayna, Figment, Frank the BTS, and the LG's). I take Behira out 4-6 days a week, even if it's for a short handling session, to continue to build trust and reinforce the hook training. She does not get stressed at all being handled and sometimes I'll hold her for 1/2 an hour watching TV and/or chilling out. Of all the snakes I have had, she does the absolute best staying calm and seemingly enjoys being handled and exploring! Shayna (my adult female BP) stays calm, but after 10-15 minutes, you can tell she wants back in her enclosure and in a hide! Figment (my corn) is so active, I think he just wears himself out after 10 minutes or so. Not so much stress as exhaustion!

    Anyway, I had Behira out tonight and Katie held her for an entire TV show! They did some bonding and had some girl time. Behira has always liked Katie, although she likes to explore a lot with her and is more chill with me. She especially loves Katie's hair! Katie is good at redirecting her, but recently, the feeling of admiration was not completely mutual. I am so happy that Katie had a wonderful time with Behira tonight and really seemed to enjoy her.

    She even did a photoshoot with her (excuse Katie's silly faces, she was having a great time).

    Without further ado, here are two of my beautiful ladies (I don't want to leave out Shayna, the LG's, or Big Bailey Dog)!




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    AbsoluteApril (03-11-2018),Kam (11-24-2019),Prognathodon (03-12-2018),Reinz (03-11-2018),richardhind1972 (03-11-2018),Sauzo (03-11-2018)

  11. #76
    BPnet Lifer Reinz's Avatar
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    Glad to see Katie enjoying playtime as much as Behira!
    The one thing I found that you can count on about Balls is that they are consistent about their inconsistentcy.

    1.2 Coastal Carpet Pythons
    Mack The Knife, 2013
    Lizzy, 2010
    Etta, 2013
    1.1 Jungle Carpet Pythons
    Esmarelda , 2014
    Sundance, 2012
    2.0 Common BI Boas, Punch, 2005; Butch, age?
    0.1 Normal Ball Python, Elvira, 2001
    0.1 Olive (Aussie) Python, Olivia, 2017

    Please excuse the spelling in my posts. Auto-Correct is my worst enema.

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    dakski (03-11-2018)

  13. #77
    BPnet Lifer dakski's Avatar
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    Re: Behira - 2016 Female Ivory Ghost - First BCI

    Quote Originally Posted by Reinz View Post
    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!

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  15. #78
    BPnet Senior Member richardhind1972's Avatar
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    Behira - 2016 Female Ivory Ghost - First BCI

    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
    Last edited by mlededee; 03-12-2018 at 05:05 PM. Reason: fixing accidental censor

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  17. #79
    BPnet Lifer dakski's Avatar
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    Re: Behira - 2016 Female Ivory Ghost - First BCI

    Quote Originally Posted by richardhind1972 View Post
    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 .
    Last edited by mlededee; 03-12-2018 at 05:05 PM.

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  19. #80
    BPnet Senior Member CloudtheBoa's Avatar
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    Re: Behira - 2016 Female Ivory Ghost - First BCI

    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
    8.3 Boa imperator ('15 sunglow "Nymeria," '11 normal "Cloud," '16 anery motley "Crona," '10 ghost "Howl," '08 jungle "Dominika," '22 RC pastel hypo jungle "Aleister," '22 pastel normal "Gengar," '22 orangasm hypo "Daemon," '22 poss jungle "Jinzo," '22 poss jungle "Calcifer," '22 motley "Guin")
    1.4 Boa imperator; unnamed '22 hbs
    3.3 Plains garter snakes
    1.2 checkered garter snakes (unnamed)

    ~RIP~
    2.2 Brazilian rainbow boa ('15 Picasso stripe BRBs "Guin" and "Morzan, and '15 hypo "Homura", '14 normal "Sanji")
    1.0 garter snake ('13 albino checkered "Draco")
    1.0 eastern garter ('13 "Demigod)
    0.0.1 ball python ('06 "Bud")

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