Quote Originally Posted by Aedryan Methyus View Post
My Boas are ravenous beasts on feeding day! I let the rats thaw out for a few hours in my snake room and I can't even walk past their racks without them slamming against the front of their tubs. Getting their tubs pulled out without them lunging out and biting me is quite a challenge. My Bloods, Sumatrans and Borneos are the same way... I have to use my hook to pull their tubs out with one hand while at the same time trying to keep the rat between them and myself with the other hand. As far as hook training goes, there isn't much to it. I use it with all of my snakes (even my Balls) from hatchling to adults. Basically, any time you get ready to reach into your snake's enclosures to pick them up, use your snake hook (or any object, really) to touch them or stroke them first (some people recommend touching them on the top of their head). Then just keep your snake hook between the snake's head and your hand as you pick them up. This helps ensure that they are awake and you aren't startling them and at the same time, it conditions the snakes to know that it's not feeding time.
That sounds easy enough. I’ll look into buying a snake hook this week. Until then I’ll probably use a paper towel roll or something similar. I think that’s what I’ve been seeing some people use online and it’s worked fine.

I’m sure since most of you all use rack/tub systems this question might not apply to you all as much, but have any of your boas been big into burrowing? My substrate is a combo of reptibark and eco earth. It seems like every morning I’ll wake up to a brand new system of tunnels she has created the night before with her sleeping in a new area. Very little use of her hide. Last night after feeding she used the hide/heat mat for roughly an hour then she went exploring for a while. This morning I woke to finding the entire cage rearranged with her body buried halfway under her water dish and the rest of her under some logs/plants in the middle of the tank. I’m assuming she’s probably still in feed mode waiting for something else to be dropped in?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk