I have 4 snakes in the house and they are all starting to get a bit more aggressive lately. I guess this probably belongs in the colubrid forum, but since the boa has been the most affected so far I figured I'd post it here.
First, some history. We've had the female boa for about 3 years. She's always been a complete sweetheart, even during feeding, never so much as hissed at anyone let alone bite. She's a bit over 6' and I keep her enclosure warm side in the mid 90s, cool side in the mid to high 80s, and humidity stays around 60% usually (except when she's about to shed). This has been the same for about 3 years.
She gets fed in a feed tote and it's always the same. I put her thawed rat in there and she ignores it for a while. She "sniffs" around the tote, inspects the rat, observes her surroundings for about 10 minutes, inspects the rat again, then starts swallowing the rat. I usually feed every other weekend.
The other day I got the big girl out to take some pictures for a report my daughter was doing in school. When I put the boa on the bed, she got very active, going this way and that, trying to get away. I snapped a couple of pictures and my wife took the boa to put her up since she was acting strange. The boa was a handful, squirming and trying to get away, it was a struggle just to keep ahold of her. Then she struck and latched on to my wife's forearm. I got the boa in her enclosure and tended to Laura's wounds:
A couple of days later was feeding day. I put the big girl in her feeding tote like usual then got her rat. Once she got scent of the rat and before I had even let go, she struck and struck hard. She's never struck at her food, but she hit this one like she meant it.
Now, normally I would think that this could just be kinda curious behavior and continue on with myself. But the odd thing is that the other colubrids in the house are doing the same thing. The timid little
corn snake who usually only eats every 3 weeks (and that's only if we give him privacy and let him take his time) is also striking and coiling his rats with a vengence, every time. And the Florida Everglades rat is doing the same. (The baby bull snake does too, but for him it's normal. He's a little eating machine!).
I would point out here that much to my surprise, the boa is the fastest thing in the house. I expected the rat snake to be the fastest. She hits lightning fast, then gets all hopped up and nippy after she eats. I've found that I'm just a hair faster than she is (so far). But the boa, I barely saw her move! It was just a blur! Amazing to watch something that big move that fast...
Anyway, could it be something to do with this time of year? The changing of the seasons? Old age?
There is one other possibility. My daughter, who recently moved in with us, has a pet rat. She is kept upstairs in my daughter's room with the door usually closed. The snakes are downstairs. I don't know exactly how good their sense of smell is, but could they be smelling the rat all the way upstairs and having a feeding response?
Dave
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