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  1. #11
    Bogertophis's Avatar
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    Re: First Snake (Colombian Boa Imperator)

    Quote Originally Posted by RZBishop View Post
    Yea, the low demand of a Boa as a pet, grouped with how fascinating they are to watch, how calming they are to handle, and the fact they they are silent and content to just be warm and cozy in their enclosure until it's playtime, kind of puts them WAY up on the perfect pet scale for me. I love dogs too, and currently have one. I love animals in general, but that checklist is just too compelling. Never knew I was a snake person until I got one, lol.
    I know exactly what you mean- neither did I, but that was many years ago now. And many snakes later, ha! Welcome! All kinds of animals always fascinated me too, but snakes were pretty low on my list until the first one came into my life & opened the floodgate.
    Rudeness is the weak man's imitation of strength.
    Eric Hoffer (1902 - 1983)

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    RZBishop (07-13-2022)

  3. #12
    BPnet Lifer dakski's Avatar
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    Re: First Snake (Colombian Boa Imperator)

    Congrats, welcome to the forum, and beautiful BI.

    My two cents on the hook training.

    Do it. Get the snake used to it. Then you can use if/when you have to or not. At least it's an option. At his current size it's not a big deal, but as he grows, he can do some damage. My boas, once settled in, often strike the doors demanding food. I've had to put drapes up so they don't hurt themselves striking at the doors. Occasionally, they will before I can get the door open and offer a rat, but we've gotten pretty good at that.

    I feed at night and handle almost only during the day. However, there are a few times when I've had to snap Feliz (BC) and Behira (BI) out of food mode to get them out. I would work on reading your snake. Sometimes, it's clear they are curious and ready to be picked up, and other times, maybe, while other times, it's a strong no until I tap them a few times. To be clear, I always take them out with my hands, the hook is just there to let them know I am there, I am going to pick them up, and NO FOOD is coming.

    Jeff (BI) is a little calmer and I often will use my hand to let him know I am there. However, the bigger he gets, the more I use the hook and the more attention I pay to his actions and behavior.

    If you are interested, I have a thread on here about hook training and I can share it, if you haven't found it.

    It doesn't hurt anyone to hook train, and my boas and carpet are all hook trained. To each his/her own, but a bite is never a good experience for anyone involved.

    I would at least consider it, even if you don't do it all the time.

    P.S. I love hypo boas. Keep the pics coming as he grows. He's going to be a stunner.
    Last edited by dakski; 07-13-2022 at 11:06 PM.

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    Homebody (07-13-2022),richardhind1972 (07-14-2022),RZBishop (07-14-2022)

  5. #13
    Registered User RZBishop's Avatar
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    Re: First Snake (Colombian Boa Imperator)

    Thanks for your comment! Homebody linked a thread of yours showing how you use the hook handle on Behira, and I watched it a few times. That definitely looks like a good system that would be very easy to implement. I really have no reason to not hook train like that. I guess the experience I've had thus far with Titus has made me comfortable just going with hand. But, I do understand that the he could end up tagging me one day, which would ultimately lead me to reconsider my approach on this matter. But I will say that with every passing day, he seems to get more and more comfortable.

    Speaking of, last night was a good bit of progress. I used to move his hide while he was inside when I wanted to pick him up, but I have stopped doing that. I never had any bad results as I would still give him time to realize I was coming. But as of the last week or so, I decided to wait until he comes out on his own, which is pretty much at the same time every night. I have a small desk lamp that shines a standard household bulb on his enclosure during the daylight hours for photo period purposes. Then when sunset is approaching, I switch that light off and turn on my bedside lamp, which dims his enclosure considerably. When the sun has set, I turn my bedside light off as well. When the first light goes off, he usually comes out and starts cruising around within 10 - 20 minutes. So I have started to wait for him to come out, which has seemed to be better for him. Last night, I was able to hold my hand out in front of him and let him climb right onto me himself. He did this at 2 different times last night, which was the first times he has done this. I got down where he could see me through the wall of his tub, and held my hand out. He came up to it and was trying to check it out through the wall. So I opened up the top and he stood up. I put my hand near him, palm up, and he approached it curiously. He licked it a couple times, and then slowly climbed right up. It was pretty awesome and exactly what I hope to make the norm.

    I still may end up adopting the hook training, but we will see.

    I will definitely keep the pics flowing (I can't wait to see how he grows and how his color ends up)! Thanks for the advice and the kind words.
    Last edited by RZBishop; 07-14-2022 at 09:15 AM.

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    Bogertophis (07-14-2022),dakski (07-14-2022),Homebody (07-14-2022)

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