Hook question

[yankeeslover]

Kind of dumb question. Rtb roughly year old. Trying to hook train him since he is always in crazy feed mode lol. About month ago I went in to grab him after rubbing his head with the hook and he nailed me. Nothing major nor did it hurt. He is not aggressive at all outside his tank.
Since then I don’t know why I’m skittish. When I go to grab him I pull him out with the hook now, gently, is this practice ok? I rub him 1st and gently grab him with the hook. I’m just afraid of being nailed again by him. Is this ok, or should I just grab him next time and take the strike? Not sure why he is aggressive inside his tank, it’s like he is always hungry.
He is now on weaned rats. I feed a weaned rat every 2 weeks. Rats are around 40 grams apiece. Last time I weight him he was over 400 grams. He is growing good. I was feeding him a large mouse every 7-10 days so certainly never overfed him. Sorry about the dumb questions


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[dakski]

First, weaned rats are fine every two weeks at his size. That's what I am feeding my 450G male BI as well.

Secondly, the hook isn't magic, you also have to read your snake. All my boas are food driven, but Behira, my female BI, especially so. She sometimes needs a few taps/rubs, or even minutes of rubs, to get to where she is out of food mode and her body language is calm and she ready to be picked up. The later in the day, the more likely this is. If I take her out with her cage lights out (which I rarely do because she is always in food mode then), she needs some time for sure.

During the day is different, as she usually just needs a reminder and isn't in hunt mode.

I do not advise hooking your snake or pulling them out with the hook. At 400G, if you are gentle, probably not a big deal. However, as your boa gets bigger, the hook will become small and is more likely to hurt him than help him out. I encourage using the hook, or hook handle, to break the snake out of food mode, or keep from your hand scaring them of making them feel defensive. Then you pick them up with your hands.

Below is a link to a Hook Training Thread I started. Any questions just ask.

https://ball-pythons.net/forums/show...ead-with-Video

Good luck and keep is posted.

[Toad37]

A lot of snakes are "cage aggressive". If someone pulled you out of your house would you not be a little upset?!

What I do with all of my bigger animals is rub them (not tap) on the back half of their body to let them know I'm there. I then use the hook to gently pull the lower half of their body towards the tub opening and then I gently grab them and pull them out. Once they're out of the tub they calm right down and allow me to have my fun and handle them.

As far as being skittish because of the bite...get over it lol. I don't mean that in a bad way whatsoever! I just mean as a reptile owner it's bound to happen and it will definitely happen again. These animals pick up on our nervousness and react to it, which in turn makes you more nervous. It can turn into a really bad situation for everyone involved.

I was the same way for a bit, super nervous and jumpy when I handled my 6' bredli because she had tagged me once and because I was skittish when handling her she definitely acted different. I spoke to a good friend about it and he said the same thing I'm saying to you, get over it. You have to go into it with confidence and you'll certainly notice a difference in their behavior when you are confident in yourself. Sure I still worry about a bite but now I'm more aware of the animals behavior and know how to read them and in retrospect all the bites I've gotten (and there's a lot) weren't bad. Hell I'm more nervous around dogs and cats because their bites are way worse!

Try to gain confidence while handling and learn how to read your animals behavior. Be conscious of the fact that a bite can happen but don't let it overtake you. You got this.

[bns]

If you are mistaken for food they will usually bite down and may even start to pull coils. Boas almost always let go immediately if this happens. (I say 'almost always' because anything is possible but I don't know of a case where a boa had to be unwrapped from its keeper unless the keeper went in smelling like a rat -literally smelling like food...and even then boas seem to figure it out quickly). The defensive strike is just a quick hit. The boa doesn't bite down and the skin has pin holes where the teeth hit the skin. A keeper should avoid being bit but it is helpful if one has the mental fortitude to not pull back the hand with a reaction...pulling away allows those curved teeth to dig in and do damage. New keepers prefer to think they were mistaken for food...I'm 99% sure your bite was defensive.

Boas have a reactionary trigger. At first contact they will strike out of defense or to try to gain a meal...millions of years of programming at work here. Keepers use tools to stop this program (hooks and such). Every keeper learns quickly you are most likely to get bit at initial interaction. Don't forget to the use the tool between your ears.

I don't own a snake hook and it is very rare that I get bit. -Just bragging a bit but it proves my point about using your noodle. There is something about picking a snake up gently that ends their bite program and believe it or not that applies to wild snakes (gentle is important). The key is to get them picked up without restraining them. For young boa I open the door and shoot my flat hand down on their head...barely touching them. Keep my hand over their head and use my other hand to scoop them up. Then give them a minute to sort out they are off the ground...mission accomplished (this requires commitment and no hesitation). If they are stretched out I will often just reach in for the back third of the body and pick them up. All of this gets more challenging as they get bigger because they often come to the open door looking for food with their head raised off the ground. Often putting anything in front of their face like a paper towel roll will end the 'program' and I can do whatever I want. You keep the paper towel roll out of range until the boa checks it out.

Like I said, I wanted to brag a bit but the technique is sound. A hook is a good tool and most smart keepers use one. IMO a better tool to aid in picking up a boa is something like a paddle. An object that can break the line of sight between them and what your other hand is doing (picking them up).

Over 20 years ago I had hair (long hair) and I noticed that hair touching the face of a boa while holding it would sometimes trigger them to open their mouth and swing their head around looking to grab onto something. I'm certain this was reactionary...something to consider.

[bcr229]

A trick I use with the hook and my retics if they are being stupidly foody is to rub the end with a drop of lemon-scent hand sanitizer, then I give the snake a rub and let it smell the hook. Their food drive gets turned off like a switch when they smell it.