Update about Kona's aggression...

[Rakshasi]

If anyone remembers, I have a baby Colombian boa. He was born July of '06. I had posted a thread seeking help in calming his little butt down. I've been following the helpful tips kind people here have given me, and I've made just a little bit of progress, but it shows that there IS hope!

Before, he would strike at me madly and flail in my hands as if I were just about to put him in my mouth and chomp him to bits. Last handling session (about 5 days ago...he goes off feed and gets stressed if i handle every 2-3 days, as someone suggested somewhere), he only struck at me ONCE! Then he just worked at trying to escape my hands. He hasn't hissed at me at all, and does not strike at me through the tub anymore!

I moved him from the smallish enclosure he was in, as I've been told boas can get "territorial." That seems to have made a difference, too. When he was in the smaller enclosure, he'd strike at the glass, and hiss whenever I opened it. Now when I open the enclosure, he'll stretch up to look at me as if to say, "C'mon. I DARE you." Yes, he's still trying to seem intimidating, but after only being struck once this last handling session, I must say, I am becoming less and less afraid of him...NO WAY will I take off those gloves, however. I don't trust him THAT much.

I just wanted to say a huge THANK YOU, to all that gave me suggestions.
I'm working hard at taming this little beastie, and it's so rewarding, I'm glad I'm putting forth the effort. I promise pictures just as soon as he stops being so testy! I currently cannot snap a photograph with a snappy snake just waiting for me to let my guard down. I can't wait until I can get some nice shots of him, though. He's a gorgeous little guy.

I'm still praying he mellows out before he gets 6'+! I do have people to help handle him when he gets that big, but I do NOT have heavy enough gloves/clothes for those teeth, and I don't know where to find 'em, either!

Take care for now!

[sweety314]

They'd be awkward for handling, but leather welders' gloves/gauntlets would work.


congrats on your hard work paying off.

Wrigley was the same way. He eventually grew out of it and w/the handling was still "wrigley" but was safe to handle.....but a few days ago he whipped around and nailed my arm at the elbow. I don't know what set him off, either.

But keep up the good work.

[frankykeno]

Sounds like it's going along slowly but well Raven. I know from settling down a very aggressive adult BP that it's all about routine, routine, routine and a lot of patience. Also gloves and gentle but firm handling. I know that one thing that seemed to work was paying particular attention to my own instinctive reaction to an aggressive snake. If I made sure I was calm and unafraid, it seemed to help Brannagh. I can only assume snakes can pick up this sort of thing coming off humans so it seemed to help having a little talk with myself before I went in to take Brannagh from her enclosure.

I admire your persistence and I'm sure it will pay off in the end though that may take a long while. Snakes don't change quickly but I can attest to the fact that when they do it's VERY worth the work put into them.

[Rakshasi]

sweety314 -
Thanks for the glove suggestion! Let's hope that I won't have to take it that far, though. Hehe. That's crazy about Wrigley suddenly doing that, however. Have you come to any conclusions as to why he may have done it, yet? Or was it just one of those "freak" things? How big/old is Wrigley, and how bad did it bleed and hurt? I'd like to hear input because I want to be prepared just in case it ends up happening. I've only ever been bitten by a kingsnake, but that was nothing.

Joanna -
Yes, it definitely is going slow, but it's totally worth it. Thank you for the self-counselling suggestion. I try to keep the mindset of "I am not afraid." I mean, he isn't that big, but what I fear the most is if he ends up getting my arm and I instinctivly pull back. I would feel so terrible if I ended up hurting him by doing that. That is one thing that I have to keep in mind, too. I usually wear longsleeves, but it's getting very hot here, so I've been finding it hard to put up with it. Are you able to hold Brannagh without the gloves, now? Will it be my choice to keep handling with/without gloves, or will this be a lifelong thing? I'd love to touch him without the gloves, but currently that just isn't an option. I'm glad to hear your hard work paid off, though! That gives me more hope! I know it will all be up to Kona in the end, how things go, but I really hope he decides that we're much better as friends, rather than staying nervous of eachother.

[snakedude56]

My 7 month old male colombian bit me about a month ago. He was in blue and it was feeding day, don't ask me why I even stuck my hand in there. But he caught me on my finger and I didn't even feel it. All it left were a couple pin pricks and a drop of blood at each hole. Now a full grown boa would probably hurt a little more if you were bitten by it.

[sweety314]

I haven't figured out the "why" of Wrigley's tagging me. Could have been an off day, or he's going blue and he's not there yet....or maybe PMS ...who knows? His temps and humidity are dead on...but that was was the first handling for about a week. He had some reluctance the last couple of Sundays (feeding day) so I wasn't handling him as often as I usu. do. He was very nippy as a baby, and seemed to grow out of it. That's the first I've been surprised, or had that happen, in many moons.


Since he'll be two in July, maybe he's doing the pi$$y teen thing? Or maybe he saw a shadow that startled him. ??? He was coiled around my arm, but I had let him have his head, stretched out, and he had enough length that he nailed me. Part of it bled bad enough to run down my arm, but some moist TP and it stopped. The top bits were just pinpricks and the bruising went away the next day. It's all gone now.

If he eats w/o my having to drop it in his lap again, then I'll start working with him again to try and calm him down more.

Depending on how big Kona is, the welders' gloves might be TOO much, so instead you could get some heavier gardening gloves that aren't as unwieldy as the heavy leather gauntlets. I suggested them b/c they go up higher on your arm than standard gloves.

[frankykeno]

Raven not only can we handle Brannagh without gloves, children can handle Brannagh now. Of course as with any interaction with snakes and kids, and considering Brannagh is now almost 5 feet long, we supervise everything but this once highly aggressive ball python is considered one of our best natured snakes.

I used to literally stand beside Brannagh's enclosure and talk to her and me LOL. The conversation sort of went like this (and you can all laugh but it did help me and I think in me being calm and determined, Brannagh could sense this)....."okay Miz Brannagh, you are coming out of the enclosure so I can clean it, we are going to do this you and I and we are going to do it easy or not so easy but it's getting done." Then I'd take a few deep breaths, get myself gloved and ready for the fast behind the head grab and off we'd go. At that time Brannagh was so aggressive we had to remove her and lock her into a transport tub just to change her water dish. She wouldn't allow any hands in her enclosure for any reason back then and would come out of her hide and across over 30 inches of tub just to nail you.

When we started trying to get her used to handling we would stay in the snake room with her, just holding her for 5 or 10 minutes tops. At first she'd spend the entire time fighting us and she was powerful! We'd wait patiently for her to finally stop fighting and then she'd get to go back in her home. I think eventually she got the point that she was only going back to her home if she calmed down. We focused on the removal and return to her home being a totally calm time. Eventually over many repititions the fighting time lessened and lessened until it just stopped.

Once it was stopped we started bringing Brannagh out of the snake room. Again if she fussed we just held her firmly, stayed calm with her and she didn't get to go back in her enclosure until she was calm. She seemed to have a lot of issues about her enclosure (her turf) so it was very important to deal with that first.

It seemed forever before we handled her gloveless or allowed anyone but Mike and I near Brannagh but really it was a few months which in the life of a snake isn't much. Touching Brannagh for the first time without gloves was one of my biggest joys in snake ownership. What a sense of accomplishment and joy to know this big female was finally allowing contact without fear or defensiveness!

Keep at it hon, establish routines with the snake and stick to them like glue, snakes can learn to recognize simple routines if they are done over and over and over again and seem to calm down when they know what is coming. Learn how to safely and very quickly grab your snake right behind the head so it can't nail you. We often found that gently placing a spare glove or a facecloth over Brannagh's head or wiggling a glove to direct her attention one way while we grabbed her with the other hand, gave us the seconds needed to get control of her (she was wicked fast!) Don't allow a lot of strangers around the snake or any noise and confusion when it's out for handling. Just a very calm, quiet environment with little stimulation for the snake to react to for now. If it's home is in a busy part of the house I'd suggest moving the snake to a quiet bedroom or suchlike.

Best of luck. I bet down the road things will be much better. I know I never figured we'd see such a change in Brannagh. We just hoped for a snake safe to manage, the gift of being able to handle her was something we never dared to hope for back then (feel free to look up all those old Brannagh threads).