Handling My New Boa

[Hayman]

In the past I have been told to wait 3 weks before handling any snake that was just purchased. Well in a few days I will be picking up a baby boa that I already put a deposit on. How long does anyone suggest I wait until handling it cwm4.gif Also if it is nippy what should I do cwm4.gif
The more advice the better!
Thanks,
Hayman

[drthsideous]

Hayman,
in General, I usually only wait a week to let my new snakes get settled in. Then I start gently handling them. If he is nippy you will just have to endure and hope that he calms down. If he dosn't calm down I personally wouldn't stress him out by handling him. On the other hand I have never come across a boa that bites. My boa only stuck at me once, and that was because there was a mouse in her cage. Also with some snakes i.e. my roomates, he has a pair of leather gloves he uses to take him out of his enclosure, but once he is out he calms down right away.
good luck with your new baby
jeff

[Hayman]

Thanks alot Jeff and once again any other advice would be greatly appreciated!
Thanks,
Hayman ;)

[bangbang]

i think that around a week is good. maybe a day or 2 longer. try to take him out at night when he is more likely to be cruising around the cage. i have a timer on my light that comes on at 8 am and goes off at 8 pm. generally by 9:30 she is out wandering around. so that is when i take her out for a walk around the house. as for the nippiness, you will just have to be general and persistent. it seems like juveniles are more jumpy than adults. maybe they just feel more vulnerable.but she will calm down.

[Larry]

With my latest addition....when UPS dropped her off, I unpacked her and picked her up. Held her for about 10 minutes before putting her in her cage. When I first picked her up, she looked like she was ready to strike but calmed down very quickly and started to crawl up my arm. After putting her in the cage, I left her alone for a week except to feed. I feed her in a different enclosure. After the week, I make sure to handle her at least every other day.

Keep in mind that if yours is "nippy" the only way to cure it is to handle it. A pair of gloves works until she calms down.

Good luck!

[tatdaddy]

Handeling your boa is a must to make sure that the become tame. The only thing that I can say is don't handle your boa for about 48 hours after you feed. Handleing them any sooner may cause the to cwm8.gif and, we don't want that to happen. Good luck with you new snake.

Joshua

[redtailboas]

Well as in every situation there is a thousand different opinions and there are certainly that many suggestions on this one alone.

From the extremes of handle immediately, to cover the cage completely for 1 month and don't even peek in, and everywhere inbetween,  it seems everyone's viewpoint is different.  So instead of adding my "time limit" here, let me actually talk about the intended results of the initial "hands-off" period.

1st of all, Handling your boa from day one may not cause any problems at all.  I have know people to do this very thing without any problems. However, I have not recommended this approach.

So remember the idea here is to allow a period of acclimation to reduce the stress levels.   Especially when your boa has been shipped to you.   Allowing the new boa to explore the new environment  or simply find the hide box and hide out for a while helps the boa acclimate to the new surroundings.

We should reduce stress situations as much as we can, and this acclimation period seems to help.

Don't confuse this with this acclimation time with the obvious "hands off" periods that should follow feeding and during shed cycles.

[Floyd]

I agree with Clay....
Sometimes, it's best just to leave it alone for a while to adjust to it's new home.  Sometimes it won't really make a difference, it depends on the animal...I had one extremely aggresive red-tail (big time biter!) at a young age (15), and I tried something that not too many people will agree with but for some reason it worked...I wanted the animal left alone but at the same time I wanted to be able to hold it... Being that these animals rely a lot on their senses, I wore a t-shirt to bed one night (not allowing B.O. to become a factor), but I put the shirt in the cage with the little guy...I did this for about 3 nights a week for 2 weeks.. Little by little the animal got used to my smell, and being that I was the only one that was going to be holding it, I figured it couldn't hurt.  Sure enough, after a few days of holding the animal I never had an issue until of course my parents found out I had a snake in the house!

Anyway, this all may sound extremely stupid to some, I've even had people laugh in my face, but it worked for me.  And after all of that, the animal never bit me again.  I had for about 3 more years before I had to sell it.  The bottom line is that it takes patience and a lot of attention.  If it gets way to out of hand, leave it alone for a while.  Try someone else's theories.  You are bound to find one on this forum that works, that's for sure!
~again...my two pennies!
Good luck!
Floyd