I did something stupid...

[Evenstar]

Don't feed in a separate location. You are asking to get bit. Do you really want to try and pick up a boa in feed more right after it eats? Just change your substrate to a finer grain aspen. I use Sani Chips. It's so small I never worry about it.

I'm with Mason on this one. I never would have reached my hand in my boa's cage on feeding day. You called the pieces "splinters", but were they actually imbedded in her flesh, or just stuck to saliva? A few swallowed pieces of aspen weren't going to do any damage. I'd be more worried about her grabbing a mouthful of paper towel, which WILL kill a snake if it gets ingested, since the whole sheet would get swallowed.

I totally agree with this and with what Gio said. I would never in a million years move an adult boa to a separate container for feeding then back again. That is just asking to get bit and bit HARD. I'm not afraid to be bit by my boas, but I know what it feels like and I'll do whatever I can to minimize the chances. Moving your boa on feeding day is setting up for disaster.

The safest substrate you can use is newspaper or corrugated paper. This is stiff enough that your snake should have no issues swallowing pieces of it (like she could with paper towels). Coco fiber and sani chips are also pretty darn safe. Snakes swallow debris in the wild all the time with no ill effect. I understand that your snake actually appeared to have splinters embedded in the mouth, but this is extremely rare. But paper, coco fiber, or sani chips would solve that problem and would also mean you wouldn't have to move her.

Trust me on this one. When your boa is pushing 8 feet long, I don't care what kind of gloves you are wearing, you are going to think twice about moving her.