I recently got my second snake, a Brazilian Rainbow Boa, and as someone who's only owned Ball Pythons I'm unfamiliar on certain behaviors. I ordered an adult male (didn't think I would be ready for a nippy baby) and he came perfectly healthy. I kept him in a tub for quarantine and just recently he's been moved to his permanent enclosure. Temps are 75f ambient, 83f hotspot (UTH controlled with thermostat). Humidity is usually ~75%, I try to keep the substrate decently dry to avoid scale rot.
He is extremely defensive. I've read in many places that BRBs grow out of their bitey phase, but it seems like he never did. I didn't even attempt handling until two weeks had passed, and mostly just to check over his body condition more thoroughly. Even just checking on him he'd strike at me through the tub and now his enclosure, has hissed quite a few times, and tagged my arm (pretty lightly, didn't latch on or anything). I do not handle daily, I've only handled him about six times in fact. I use a hook to stroke him before taking him out, turn his face away, touch and hold him from below, move slowly, pretty much everything that I've read and heard you should be doing when handling. The first few times were also choice based, he was up and about so I opened the door and laid my hand near it to see if he wanted to investigate, which he did for a while but still hissed at me once fully out. I do not put him back when he hisses or bluffs, since I don't want him learning defensive behavior=get put back, but I don't keep him out for long either. Any tips on getting him used to me? I have my suspicions he wasn't handled much at all where he came from.
He also isn't very active. I'm used to snakes sleeping in the same spot for days-weeks at a time, but he barely moves. I've only caught him exploring a few times at night, but otherwise never even hear too much movement, no interest in climbing either. He loves burrowing instead of using his hides, no idea why but I've read that BRBs will burrow. He also spends days at a time in his water bowl. I got him one big enough to soak in, but how much time he spends in it seems excessive. No mites from what I can observe, everything in his enclosure was sterilized, sprayed down with mite spray weeks before he moved in, and I've seen nothing on his scales. He's definitely fine in there as he switches positions and usually rests with his head out of the water on the edge of the bowl, but he just does not come out. I'm worried he could get scale rot (is that possible from soaking or just very damp substrate?) or an RI. He's currently in shed, but he's been in the water days before he went into blue. I've boosted humidity to 90% for his shed as well, but still no desire from him to come out of the water. He also has yet to take more than one meal, but I'm not too concerned since adult boas have such a slow metabolism. Other than the one he has shown no interest in food or the smell when my BP is getting fed.