Vote for BP.Net for the 2013 Forum of the Year! Click here for more info.

» Site Navigation

» Home
 > FAQ

» Online Users: 2,940

1 members and 2,939 guests
Most users ever online was 6,337, 01-24-2020 at 04:30 AM.

» Today's Birthdays

None

» Stats

Members: 75,031
Threads: 248,490
Posts: 2,568,448
Top Poster: JLC (31,651)
Welcome to our newest member, isismomma
Results 1 to 5 of 5
  1. #1
    Registered User Psyfox's Avatar
    Join Date
    11-20-2017
    Posts
    1
    Thanks
    0
    Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts

    Red tail rehab help?

    I just adopted a 5 year old red tail named Midnight and was told she had a rough past by the store owner. the previous keeper housed her in a 20 gl tank her whole life and her growth is stunted. I'm trying to work with her and help her adjust to a new life though even after several weeks if I enter her room she stares me down and hisses as loud as she can jaws wide open teeth bared and everything. It makes me a bit nervous to try any handling or even get close enough to hook train. I never had to train much since my dumeril boa Athena is so calm that she hangs out in the windows with the cats and wanders my second floor with no issues. I'd like to let Midnight wander as well but I'm not sure how I can help her get there or if it will even be possible.
    Thanks for the help
    Athena (dumeril)
    Midnight (redtail)

  2. #2
    BPnet Lifer Sauzo's Avatar
    Join Date
    11-26-2014
    Location
    Seattle Washington
    Posts
    6,011
    Thanks
    2,064
    Thanked 6,341 Times in 3,220 Posts
    Give her time to settle in. I wouldnt bother her for at least a month. Just change water, spot clean, feed and let her get used to the new surroundings and you. Eventually she should feel secure enough to get curious and see what the rest of the world is about.

    If she had that rough of a life, she is probably very defensive. Dottie, my pied girl had a rough start too from Petsmart but i've had her for just over 4 years now and she has mellowed out a lot and explores all over instead of just cowering. Give the snake time to find out that it has it ok in the new set up.
    0.1 Rio Bravo Pokigron Suriname BC-Gina
    1.0 Meltzer/Lincoln Peruvian Longtail het anery BCL-Louie

    0.1 Biak Green Tree Python-Pat
    ​1.0 OSHY Biak Green Tree Python-Alex
    0.0.1 Super Reduced Reticulated Gila Monster-Dozer
    0.0.1 Utah Banded Gila Monster-Tank
    0.0.1 Super Black Beaded Lizard-Reggie

  3. #3
    bcr229's Avatar
    Join Date
    03-18-2013
    Location
    Eastern WV Panhandle
    Posts
    9,494
    Thanks
    2,888
    Thanked 9,842 Times in 4,771 Posts
    Images: 34
    If she's five and displaying this behavior it will take a lot of time and work to bring her around. I'd also bet she was like this with her prior owner (not the rescue) and she learned that when she hissed and threatened she was left alone.

    After giving her a few more weeks to settle in I would start to tame her down. Obviously make sure her heat/humidity are on point and she's well fed but not overfed. I wouldn't be surprised if she was underfed so she wouldn't outgrow the 20-gal tank. Much of her attitude may simply be hunger.

    There are a few tricks you can use to teach her that you are not a threat, and that hissing at you doesn't make you go away. One is to put a shirt you've worn into her enclosure. She'll figure out that the smell of you in her home doesn't hurt her.

    Another is to bring a chair along with a book or your phone into the room, sit down next to her enclosure, and spend an hour or so quietly reading next to her enclosure. Ignore any displays or striking. The goal here is to teach her that no matter how much she threatens, bluffs, strikes, etc. you are not going to react and you are not leaving. Try to only get up and walk away when she's calm.

    For day-to-day maintenance you may need a hook to keep her head away from your hand while you spot clean or change water. One trick I've used with my retics is to rub the hook with a bit of lemon scent hand sanitizer and let it dry. It's a strong and sharp enough smell that when they encounter it they want nothing to do with it. I also use a bit on my hands, especially if the snake is stupidly foody, but even a defensive one backs off when it smells that.

    She may never settle down 100% but if she gets to the point where you can maintain her without bleeding then consider that an accomplishment.

  4. The Following 2 Users Say Thank You to bcr229 For This Useful Post:

    AbsoluteApril (11-27-2017),Team Slytherin (11-27-2017)

  5. #4
    Banned
    Join Date
    03-16-2017
    Posts
    338
    Thanks
    41
    Thanked 46 Times in 37 Posts

    Re: Red tail rehab help?

    Quote Originally Posted by bcr229 View Post
    After giving her a few more weeks to settle in I would start to tame her down. Obviously make sure her heat/humidity are on point and she's well fed but not overfed. I wouldn't be surprised if she was underfed so she wouldn't outgrow the 20-gal tank. Much of her attitude may simply be hunger.
    .
    Sadly I have seen many underfed boas by pet shop owners or breeders in shows and by private owners in online advertisements. They are treated well or not bad but underfed. They underfeed them on purpose so they won’t outgrow their small tanks. This is worst than overfeeding in my opinion. You are forcing the boa to become another small snake not what it’s suppose to be. Boas belong to the category of the largest snakes in the world. It’s the sixth or seventh largest snake in the world. Yet everyone talk about overfeeding and very rare when underfeeding get mentioned
    Last edited by Dutti; 11-27-2017 at 05:43 AM.

  6. #5
    BPnet Lifer Sauzo's Avatar
    Join Date
    11-26-2014
    Location
    Seattle Washington
    Posts
    6,011
    Thanks
    2,064
    Thanked 6,341 Times in 3,220 Posts

    Re: Red tail rehab help?

    Quote Originally Posted by Dutti View Post
    Sadly I have seen many underfed boas by pet shop owners or breeders in shows and by private owners in online advertisements. They are treated well or not bad but underfed. They underfeed them on purpose so they won’t outgrow their small tanks. This is worst than overfeeding in my opinion. You are forcing the boa to become another small snake not what it’s suppose to be. Boas belong to the category of the largest snakes in the world. It’s the sixth or seventh largest snake in the world. Yet everyone talk about overfeeding and very rare when underfeeding get mentioned
    Overfeeding is worse on a boa than underfeeding by far. Underfeeding wont shorten their lives like overfeeding will and i dont know how long you had boas for but like i have said many times to many people, it is hard to underfeed a boa. They are designed to go months without food and in the wild, in winter they do go months without food every year.

    And while boas are a large snake, that size also takes years upon years to be reached. They dont grow as fast as a python unless...you guessed it...it has been overfed!! A boa should have a squared shape, not round like a python.

    There is a reason you see large BCC going for thousands of dollars. It takes years to achieve those sizes. You see large retics all over the place and you also see large BCI all over because both those snakes can be power fed into large sizes in short time. BCC cant be done like that as they will regurgitate and if it happens too much, they can actually get regurgitation syndrome where they cant hold food down and they will die.

    And breeders dont underfeed their snakes. They feed them conservatively because most boa experienced boa owners know what a healthy weight looks like and they arent going to buy a fat baby boa from a breeder as they would be starting in the hole with it. And most chain pet shops, just dont care and the wholesale companies they buy from dont care either so those could be on the thin side.

    I think in the past year of seeing boas on all the boa FB pages i am a member of, i have only seen probably 2 or 3 boas i would actually say looked on the thin sid

    And everyone talks about overfeeding because that is the number one problem with most boa owners. They feel their snakes need to eat like a cat or dog. And they say 'but my boa is always hungry so it must need to eat'. WRONG! Yes boas are always hungry but that is because they are opportunistic feeders who will eat as much as you give them unless you give them a HUGE meal and literally pack them like a sausage. Like i've said, it seems the norm now is to power feed a boa and see how fast you can grow them big. But then you got the experienced boa keepers who know slow grow with smaller food on longer periods will produce a much healthier snake that will also be much more active. All my boas are out and about nightly cruising around. Climbing the shelf, wedging themselves in the litter dam and crawling up and around the door frame lol. A fat lazy boa is an overfed boa.

    And you dont see many mention of underfed boas because...well...its next to impossible to underfeed a boa. I mean an example would be an anaconda which is a boid. In the wild they can go 4-6 months inbetween meals AND have to work to acquire the next meal on a daily basis. Now take that snake in captivity. It sits in a 8x3 cage doing nothing all day and gets the largest food item it can fit every 2 weeks like clockwork from an unexperienced owner. Now tell me how that doesnt create a fat snake. That would like you sitting in front of the TV all day and eating McDonalds every day. Think you are going to stay fit?

    You have no idea how many times i have read on the FB pages of people who ask why their BCC regurgitated and then they show a pic of this huge puked up rat. I find it funny when people say BCC are harder to keep than BCI because they arent. It's just that BCI are more forgiving to incorrect husbandry than BCC are.
    Last edited by Sauzo; 11-27-2017 at 07:37 AM.
    0.1 Rio Bravo Pokigron Suriname BC-Gina
    1.0 Meltzer/Lincoln Peruvian Longtail het anery BCL-Louie

    0.1 Biak Green Tree Python-Pat
    ​1.0 OSHY Biak Green Tree Python-Alex
    0.0.1 Super Reduced Reticulated Gila Monster-Dozer
    0.0.1 Utah Banded Gila Monster-Tank
    0.0.1 Super Black Beaded Lizard-Reggie

  7. The Following 3 Users Say Thank You to Sauzo For This Useful Post:

    bcr229 (11-27-2017),Codil7 (11-27-2017),PokeyTheNinja (12-26-2017)

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •  
Powered by vBadvanced CMPS v4.2.1