Moody Snake?

[jmont12]

Question mark is because I'm not sure if I'm just overthinking it, or if theres actually something going on.

So my boa, Dharma, is very kind and has always been a people-lover. She always objects to being put away early, and loves to curl up next to me (when she could be anywhere else) and set herself up to watch what I'm doing.

Recently, I started having these weird dreams about her biting me. They weren't scaring me, but they became recurrent and turned into an every-night ordeal. I've been feeding her rabbits - a step up from rats - and part of me thinks this is a contributor. Sorry to all the skeptics - most of my concern is based on dreams and weird feelings being taken seriously because I've been right about it many times before.

Anyway, more recently, she's been a bit touchy. I took her to a class demonstration and she struck at someone's phone for videotaping (no flash), and she just seemed a bit stressed to me. She didn't want to be around anyone else, and I was glad to get her home. At this point, she had still never bitten anyone or anything, and her strike was very short and more of a threat than an actual attempt.

It's been over a month since this happened, and every time I've wanted to get her out, she just seemed a bit tense to me. Then recently, I set her on the floor for just a second (it's carpet, and she was doing really well - super happy and relaxed). My dog, who she has been around for a year and always been fine interacting with, had been sleeping but saw her and ran up excitedly to greet her, scared her, and Dharma responded by biting her in the eye. Dharma immediately dropped off, but my dog had a puncture wound on the white of her eye, so we took her to the vet and got antibiotics. Dharma still seemed really tense after, so I put her away for the day. I was sure it was just a scared incident, since she normally is VERY hard to provoke. Just to emphasize how gentle and laid back she is: she's been whacked in the face by a declawed cat when I wasn't looking (she did not react at all), and my little sister once tried to pat her on the head (which she allowed). She's very kind and tolerant, but I still try to prevent what I can. She's always very relaxed and happy around me, but even for a couple weeks before this incident she seemed a bit oddly stand-offish.

Ever since that incident, she's seemed even more tense to me, even when I'm the only one around. I'm not sure if the dog accident just scared her badly, if it's all in my head, or if something is actually going on. I can't tell if she's unhappy and I'm worried about her. Plus, she hasn't been wanting to get out as much either (which is VERY out of character for her). Hopefully I'm just overthinking it and she's fine, but if any of you have experience with snakes being suddenly tense and unsocial (especially females), please put it in the comments below!

Not sure if I should give it time to watch it closely or maybe even take her to a vet. Any advice will be much appreciated! Just want to be sure that my girl is okay. She's sitting on me as I'm typing this and insists on putting her head on me. She seems to be mostly okay at the moment - only a little tense. I just have a weird feeling that something is going on, and her suddenly withdrawn personality is extremely out of character for her.

[jmont12]

Having trouble editing the original post.

Disclaimer:
I know this post makes me seem like an irresponsible snake owner, but keep in mind that I'm only outlining the worst events I have EVER encountered while keeping her. Otherwise, we have had no accidents and she's been perfectly fine. I've had her for over a year now as well and I'm very cautious with my animals when need-be. If you have any concerns about the safety of my pets, please leave it out of the comment stream and message it to me personally.

[tttaylorrr]

yes, dogs/cats + snake is always a risk, and your dog paid the price of your risk-taking. i hope the pupper is doing well and you learned something from the incident.

now, i don't own a boa but there are some things i feel comfortable enough to answer here:

i think you're dealing with a bit of anxiety and it's affecting your relationship with the snake. i have dreams where i'm basically neglecting my animals, forget i own animals, or sometimes the animals are maimed or dead. these dreams are essentially nightmares and take time to shake off. i think this nervousness is affecting how you view some of your snakes behaviors; i think you're reading too much into some things.

NOW, this isn't to say you're just imagining everything: an uncharacteristic strike out and the incident with your pup are definitely something to be concerned over. i'd double- and even triple-check husbandry as step one. could the snake be grumpy because their home is uncomfortable?

since you just upped prey size, is it possible the snake is still hungry/not full from their meal? again, i don't own a boa so i'm just making guesses.

i hope boa owners will chime in, and i hope i helped in any way!!!

[zina10]

How big/old is your snake ? How big are the rabbits you feed ? How often do you feed her?

I'm not sure of course, but I wonder if she just isn't feeling quite as comfortable after the food change ? Is she now perhaps more "full"? Perhaps digestion is taking longer, bigger bones to break up, etc ?

How long after feeding did you handle her on the occasions that she seemed moody?

Is there anyway you can downgrade back to rats for a few feedings and see if she goes back to being "happier" ??

Since she is a female, I wonder if she is building follicles and just plain grumpy ?

Either way, we have instincts for a reason, to many people have just forgotten to pay attention to them or listen to them. If you feel something is "off", be on guard for now, esp. with other people, kids, pets being around the snake. You've had warnings and been fairly lucky so far (although the dog may disagree..). If she seems "tense" and stressed, lay off of the handling for a bit until you can figure things out..

Goes without saying, double check husbandry, temps, humidity etc etc ..

Good luck and let us know how things are going

[jmont12]

Thank you! Super helpful. I almost feel like maybe its an actual physical discomfort, since her home is very nice she she seems to be fine... But I'd also like to implement some branching towards the top and dont really have a way to do that. She'd probably like to be able to climb more. I'll look into that! Thanks!

[jmont12]

She's a 2 year old, 5 foot boa. I'm feeding her extra small rabbits from rodent pro every other week, though she often chooses to eat more irregularly. She's been taking them perfectly fine. I normally wait a day or two days to handle her after eating, sometimes even 3. And no, unfortunately I cannot since I just had to spend $200 on ordering in bulk and don't have anymore room in my freezer - a problem I don't normally have but this time around had to do.

And she might be... I feel like its a female-snake problem, hence why I hinted at it in the description. Just a gut feeling that something is going on with her reproductive system. Not sure.

[zina10]

She's a 2 year old, 5 foot boa. I'm feeding her extra small rabbits from rodent pro every other week, though she often chooses to eat more irregularly. She's been taking them perfectly fine. I normally wait a day or two days to handle her after eating, sometimes even 3. And no, unfortunately I cannot since I just had to spend $200 on ordering in bulk and don't have anymore room in my freezer - a problem I don't normally have but this time around had to do.

And she might be... I feel like its a female-snake problem, hence why I hinted at it in the description. Just a gut feeling that something is going on with her reproductive system. Not sure.

Well, listen to your gut and listen to your animal. They actually have a lot to say through their body language, one just has to listen You seem very in tune with her. If she is just not up for the usual handling and hanging out, just dial it back a bit until she is passed her "phase"

[Albert Clark]

Well, I would have to say that the one thing that all of us need to remember is these are captive animals with wild instincts. There is really no way to tell definitively when or what will be a trigger for a strike at a given time. Sure, we can read our animals most of the time, and know that there are a few things we can avoid to keep them from striking out. However there are those times that a seemingly unprovoked strike will happen. We need to try and always be on guard for this bc again the "wild instincts" phenomenon is a real one. So, if we prepare for it more routinely maybe that will help with the avoidance and reduction in occurrences. Remember too, these animals are individuals with their own personalities and they all deserve a certain amount of space and respect. Some are more tolerant than others but at the end of the day they are exotics and not domestics.

[zina10]

Well, I would have to say that the one thing that all of us need to remember is these are captive animals with wild instincts. There is really no way to tell definitively when or what will be a trigger for a strike at a given time. Sure, we can read our animals most of the time, and know that there are a few things we can avoid to keep them from striking out. However there are those times that a seemingly unprovoked strike will happen. We need to try and always be on guard for this bc again the "wild instincts" phenomenon is a real one. So, if we prepare for it more routinely maybe that will help with the avoidance and reduction in occurrences. Remember too, these animals are individuals with their own personalities and they all deserve a certain amount of space and respect. Some are more tolerant than others but at the end of the day they are exotics and not domestics.

Absolutely agree. We can "read" them and we can tell when they are grumpier or not, but we can NEVER be 100% sure of what will happen.

That is why I would never, ever allow my snakes and other pets to "interact". Not even if neither shows much interest. Because it only takes once...and can leave the snake or other pet hurt and traumatized. There is just no good reason to risk this.

Heck, we can't even always predict what other humans or even our friends will do, LOL. Much less a exotic animal..

[Aedryan Methyus]

I agree with tttaylorrr. I would be willing to bet that a combination of your dream and the couple of isolated incidents that happened are causing you to have a bit of anxiety and the snake is picking up on it. I also agree with what others have said about allowing your other pets to interact with the snake. Aside from the obvious reason that the snake or your other animals could get seriously injured (as you've learned), who knows what kind of parasites your other animals could pick up outside and pass on to the snake. I would say there is a very good possibility that the other animals could be stressing her out as well...

I'm curious why you're feeding such a young, smaller size Boa baby rabbits... I have a 2 year old male Boa that is between 5 1/2' and 6' that has only been eating small to medium size rats every 7 days and he even started to show signs of getting a little overweight, so I recently cut him back to a small to medium size rat every 14 days. I have to wonder if you aren't over-feeding your snake... Can you post some current photos of her?

Some people claim that over-handling can cause snakes to become stressed. I can't either confirm or deny how true that is, but that seems to be the popular consensus. How often do you handle her and for how long?