Getting Over Fear

[MasonC2K]

I was going to put this in the Boa forum but I tihnk it can apply to all so I am putting it here.

About 6 weeks ago I had an incident with my almost 6 year old female boa. I got here out to clean her cage. She was super flighty about it. I managed to get her out and in to a temp tub so I could clean. After cleaning I went to put her back in a she hissed and struck at me. She hasn't stuck at me since she was 6 months old and only did that once. I had to use the hook to get her back in her cage. She struck at me 2 more times.

I know some folks are like "No big deal!" But for me it was.

I was so freaked out about it. And it put a fear in me. I tried to rationalize it. Maybe she was in shed? She's an albino and it can be hard to tell. Maybe I hadn't been handling her enough lately.

I gave her and me a couple days. She showed no further signs of aggression to me since. But I couldn't get over that feeling. That fear it had put in me. It's one thing to get nipped by a ball. It would be something else for an adult boa to grab you. In an effort to get over it I started sitting at her cage almost daily. I'd slide the door and put my hand on her. But every time I saw her head turn at me all I could think was she was going to strike at me. Even though I knew better.

So I started watching handling videos. Bite videos to see when things go wrong. All in an effort to understand the signs, get my confidence back and reduce that fear. Slowly I left my hand on her longer. A couple times she would start to come out of the cage, sniff me out, and look around before going back in. That did a lot on it's own.

Yesterday. Yesterday, I opened her cage and she came out. Half way out and let me grab her. NO aggression. And no fear from me. She let me take her completely out. And it was like before. Like nothing happened. I felt so happy! We hung out for about 15 mins before it seemed she wanted to go home so I let her.

I just thought I'd share that in case anyone else has something similar happen to them.

[ckuhn003]

That's a good read. I've been a BP owner for a week now and fear has definitely been on my mind since I started thinking about getting a snake. It's probably silly to most but until you feel comfortable around a snake you never really know what to expect. My BP seemed super docile and submissive when he arrived. After his 1st feed, he struck at the glass which made me jump a little and that's been in the back of my mind since. I have a small boy who wants to hold the BP but not until I myself feel comfortable around the snake. I'm sure all these thoughts will change over time (at least I hope)

[tttaylorrr]

that's awesome you were able to work through your fears on your own. that takes a lot from a person!

i only have beeps but when my newest girl Coffee Bean struck at the side of her tub it really startled me! i had to laugh at myself because she's a whole 90g, but she was still able to spook me.

thank you for sharing, i can't imagine how it looks on the wrong end of an angry boa.

[Zincubus]

Yep ... That's great to hear you conquered your fears ..

I have quite a few snakes ( twenty ) and whilst I trust the Royals , Corn snake , King x Milk Hybrid , Sand Boa , TransPeco and the Rhino-nosed Ratsnake completely- the others including all the King snakes , SD Retic , Dwarf Burm are all controlled by a snake hook - just to keep their heads ( teeth) away from my holding/supporting hand .

I don't attempt to handle the Thai Red Bamboo Ratsnake these days as it takes too long to put the chain-mail suit of armour on and off ..


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[L.West]

I also took my first bite a couple months ago. It was from my 1,600 gram boa. He is about 5.5 feet long and getting big. He had never showed any aggression before so I was shocked and freightened when it happened.

I still don't know what went wrong other than he may have been hungry and I reached over his head for something and he tagged me in the forearm. Left a pretty good wound but it healed quickly.

The next time I had to get him out it was definitely on my mind. I think I sort of took it personally like "how could my baby do that to me - I take such good care of him" but had to remind myself that snakes don't bond with you nor do they really know you perse'. We interject all the human emotions into the equation - not them LOL

He hasn't struck at me again thank god but it is something I will never forget. I have also started hook training now while they are still pretty small in size.

[distaff]

A similar thing happened to me, and it was due to a tiny bite from my cornsnake about eight months ago.
Yeah, a cornsnake bite made me fearful.
Lame, but it is what it is.

I used to drape this animal around my neck. He would run up my shirt sleeve on a chilly day, and wrap around my waist. Sadly, no more of that.

It's been some work, and I'm still not over it. I handle the snakes daily, but an approaching head still makes me jumpy. I keep my hands clear of the head. Oddly, I have no problem hand feeding holding the mouse tail. That strike doesn't bother me at all. Go figure.

[Craiga 01453]

I was a little leery with my King after he bit me. He's a little over 4 feet and 676 grams as of last weigh-in, so clearly didn't do much damage at all, a few little droplets of blood dripping down. and some teeth marks after cleaning it....

But, yeah, it was still a bite and it surprised me.
He always handled extremely well and would always give me a heads up when he wasn't in the mood to be out and wanted to be left alone. A quick jerk of his body when I touched him, a little tail rattle if he was REALLY in a mood, and I just left him alone and figured a shed was coming because he's a real jerk when he sheds, hahaha.
Anyway, after I replayed the event in my head, I realized that I must have spooked him. His head was hidden behind his tree and I put my hand in front of his face rather quickly. So, I must've spooked him and he reacted in his natural way. Luckily, I saw it coming and it turned into one of those slow-motion things that happens and you can't do a darn thing to stop it, so he just held on, no pulling away on my end to make the injury to me or the animal any worse. So that was good at least, hahaha.

Still, handling him after that was a little different for a little while. It took a little time before I was able to handle him without the thought of him biting somewhere in the back of my mind. Now, I am 100% comfortable with him again, but a little more cautious.

Anyway, If my King could instill fear in me, I can understand the fear of a boa.
Thank you for sharing this story, it was a great, educational read. I like your technique of slowly gaining trust with your snake again. That was helpful to read and I'm sure a lot of people will benefit from reading it.

[Brixxart]

I got a new ball python 3 weeks ago and he's the bitiest thing ever, my boa has bit me twice but that was some mixed signals from us, during feeds lol

but man this ball python, he's struck sooo many times, I'm learning just to expect it /.\