Typical boa behavior?

[mamaodie]

Hey, so I have this 10ish month old boa and I just want to make sure I'm reading his behaviors correctly. I have been working up to about 30 minutes a day handling time so far(aside feeding and digestion days of course). He is calm and slow moving to explore my hands and the surroundings when out of the enclosure. He occasionally will shift his weight and startle himself but with a quick squeeze and a second of pause he's back on his way. It seems to me he enjoys (as much as is possible) his time out and he doesn't seem to be stressed in the least. Sounds good right? Any signs of malcontent I should be aware of that aren't present in a bp? I'm probably being silly, but taking the best possible care of my animals is my utmost priority and I always fear I may be missing something in the beginning.

Thanks!

[cletus]

That sounds about right. They all have different personalities. Some of them are very slow and deliberate and just kind of hang out. Some are runners and want to crawl all over you.
As long as you develop trust you should be fine.

[mamaodie]

I assumed he is just a really chill specimen. I just wanted to make sure they didn't have some super special sign of discomfort that I was unaware of... Before I got my bp (and came here) I thought that ball pythons were supposed to cruise their cages constantly and crawl all over you. There are so many misconceptions about reptiles in general based in ignorance.

[cletus]

I think it's all about putting the time in and learning to recognize your animal's body language. That's really all you have to go on. I have a female ball python that acts like she enjoys being handled. She is very relaxed and and will let you touch her head. She appears to be very trusting to a point. But she def lets you know when she is done being handled so I end it there and put her up. They are all different.

[Tigerhawk]

You will learn your boa's personality as you go. Just relax and enjoy the ride. I have one that is bullet proof. He crawls around for a few minutes and then he curls up for a nap. I have another one that I will not let anyone handle. My point is they are all indivuals. You just have to learn them. If they get upset you will feel it. As you will be in tune with them thru handling them. Just listen to them they will let you know what they like and don't like. Our job is to slow down and pay attention . The only problem with boa's is it's hard to keep just one.

[Gio]

All sounds good.

Boas are pretty close to the perfect handling snake IMO.

There is a really interesting study about certain species of snakes that climb. Boas were found to be the species that gripped the hardest to keep from falling. There are conclusions to be drawn from that, not worth going off topic, but it makes them fun to handle as you do get a nice squeeze.

Enjoy your BC.

[mamaodie]

All sounds good.

Boas are pretty close to the perfect handling snake IMO.

There is a really interesting study about certain species of snakes that climb. Boas were found to be the species that gripped the hardest to keep from falling. There are conclusions to be drawn from that, not worth going off topic, but it makes them fun to handle as you do get a nice squeeze.

Enjoy your BC.

Would you happen to have a link handy to that study? I'd love to read it! I've always been amazed by how grippy they are, and the docile nature combined is really what led me to purchase one. Thanks for the input!!

[Gio]

Would you happen to have a link handy to that study? I'd love to read it! I've always been amazed by how grippy they are, and the docile nature combined is really what led me to purchase one. Thanks for the input!!

I didn't find the exact study, I may have read it in actual text, but this seems related.

http://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-28853225

[Zincubus]

Oddly enough I was reading through a wildlife book today in the library , obviously skipped through to the section on snakes

Anyways it said that one of the favourite meals of Boa Constrictors was BATS !!!!

That's the first time I'd heard anything about Boas eating bats !


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[Zincubus]

Oddly enough I was reading through a wildlife book today in the library , obviously skipped through to the section on snakes

Anyways it said that one of the favourite meals of Boa Constrictors was BATS !!!!

That's the first time I'd heard anything about Boas eating bats !


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk