My Boa strikes at me during feeding time??????????????

[Erica_Ann]

Allright guys you helped me with my last q. and it is really appreciated. Now I got another major question. As of 2 months ago my snake sometimes mistakes me for food during feeding time and strikes at me! First mistake I made was I was feeding her in the same box with the smell of her last meal still on it. So I got her a plastic tub to feed her in which I clean out every time. But she was still striking at me. So at the vet, the vet mentioned she looked skinny and should be eating 2 to 3 mice at a time. So instead of 1 mice, I have been feeding her 2-3 mice. The first time she ate 2 mice, after she was done she was chill and didn't look at me like I was food, so I figured she was just letting me know when she looked at me like I was food that she was still hungry but thats not the case. I think this has a big part to do w/ it- my vet wants me to feed her dead mice cos it doesn't have as much parasites so she told me to heat up the dead mice in hot water and then dangle it infront of my boa with tongs. So the Boa has the smell, heat, and movement of the prey. Allright so I do that. But I'm starting to question if its a good idea. My Boa won't eat the warm mice if they just lay there so I need to move it around for her. Last time I fed her, which was on Sunday, I fed her 6 fuzzies because the pet store I buy her food at was out of mice. So then I walk by her feeding box after shes done eating all six and she strikes at me. I'm thinking shoot what am I going to do when she is 10 feet long, thicker than my leg and shes hungry? I love her. I want to keep her. Shes tame besides feeding time. How could I possibly remove her from her cage to her feeding place to feed her and bring her back to her cage after shes done eating when she gets bigger? She is already about 3 feet long. I always feed her in a different room than her cage, with no other animals around besides her food and me. =D how do you guys do it????? Thank you I look forward to your replies

[Erica_Ann]

I should add that she is a female S. American Red Tail Boa =D

[Stormyva]

What you describe is normal... the snake is in "feed mode" and will be aggresive.
Simple way to solve the problem.... get some frozen rats from one of the places online and feed one prey item that is the proper sized once a week. It will be easier on you and it will be easier on your snakes system as well. After it has taken and coiled the rat leave the snake alone. Leave it in the tub for at least a half hour after it has finished eating to give it time to settle down.

[Wrasse]

Make sure you put your snake in the feed box before you get the rats out to defrost, so the snake picks up no rat scent on you at all.
Then defrost the rats and pop them in with the snake, use tongs when you put them in.
Then follow Stormyva's advice above.

[CC]

When feeding ,if at all possible, you should just feed 1 appropriately sized prey item, not six. You should also go with rats instead of mice. Rats are much better for the snake.

[lethargiic]

Tongs are a good thing!!

lol someone should tell brad to use em when we feed our ball pyths..
he was holding the rat by the tail (f/t ofcourse) and Emily struck at the rat and coiled caught both of us off guard, making me jump...lmao of course brad's all "i think i should use the tongs next time"

oh and of course me picking up the dead rats by my hand...(who cares if there's a 4 ft boa in the tote! ) yeah i know im glutton for punishment someday.

oh and lots and lots of patience!!!

[pathfinder36]

6 mice!!! NO NEVER!!

ONLY 1 APPROPRIATE SIZED FOOD ITEM PER WEEK. The girth of the food item should be slightly larger or the same size as the girth of your snake at its thickest part. How big is your snake??

[pathfinder36]

Good luck! BTW, here is some advice:

Buy frozen rats. Put one well thawed\warm rat in feeding tote. USE TONGS to do this, so you don't smell like dinner. Then put your snake in the tote and close the lid. WALK AWAY. leave it be for a while. When your critter is done eating:
-Pop the tote top
-Distract critter with a hand moving slightly just out of striking distance
-Reach in swiftly, but not "jerky" and pick up your critter as close to its middle as possible.

Once out of its feeding tote, it should be fine. Just make sure you put it back in its enclosure right away, and let it be for 48hrs or so.

[Kent K25]

Good advice from pathfinder. Another method I use to get mine out of the feed tote without gettin bit. I just tip the tote slowly encouraging my boa to slither out (since he has to do that or fall over, he chooses to slither out) and once he is exiting all he thinks about it where to go and what's around him. Then I just pick him up like normal, all his aggression has turned to curiosity and he's just like normal.

[lethargiic]

hmm distract the snake with one hand? hmm must be my snakes dont give a crap when i take em out of their feeding tote. they're usually all 'hey whats up??' lol and i just pick em up..give em a mooch and put them in their tanks. Especially Cookie, the minute we open the tote, she's knows we're going to take her our so she just sits and waits.

I think my snakes have been around my dog too long. of course i wont worry until they learn to bark =/

[Wrasse]

Every snake will be different. Heaps of ideas here and heaps of help. The best thing for you to do is try the methods mentioned and find the one that works for you and your snake.

[Silvermoonfox]

I've never had a problem of any kind with aggression. My kids must just be strange. Of course I don't reach into the cage at feeding time, I open the top and drop in the mouse and watch. Merlin, and now Luna only get live feeder mice. I watch to make sure the mouse doesn't hurt my snakes, this has never happened btw. The mice I use are purchased from a local vet college and are all healthy w/out parasites. I feed live because it's better for the snake gives them some sport, if you will and that was what the breeder feeds his without any problems.

[Sunn]

Silver.....I can't agree with you on the part that it is better to feed live....no one that understands parasites and possibilities of being bitten by the prey...even one in a thousand feedings will agree that live is better. BTW....once the prey has them you can't help quickly enough even if your watching very closely.

I also don't agree that just because your food items comes from a vet college that it is parasite free.....are you saying every breeder and every baby is tested? Of course not.....they speculate that their conditions and sanitation are better than average most likely but will not guarantee parasite free rats or mice......

As for sport for the animal.......it's a sport they really don't need....
I've found its the sport some owners need.....