Boa behaviour question - BCI

[funnynonsense]

I was hoping the BOA people on here could enlighten me.

Normally when feeding my BCI I defrost the rat pup and dangle it in front of her nose with a pliers. She strikes almost instantly, constricts it to make sure its dead and swallows.

Thinking about it, I decided that I shouldn't make a habit of dangling the food for her. When she gets big and onto jumbo rats, etc. I don't want to be doing that in case I make a mistake and get bitten.

When I had my corn I could just place the mouse in and she'd go looking for it and take it. So I thought I'd try that with the BCI today. No luck, she literally slithered over the rat and went to sit on the other side of the tank. So I gave her 20 min - still nothing. I opened the tank and went in with the pliers, she went nuts after the pliers, I picked up the rat and she took it immediately (off the pliers).

Question is this: Is it possible for her to associate the pliers with food, or is the movement what attracts her?

Do you guys have Boas that take food if it's just placed in the tank?

BTW - while typing this i realised I could just invest in one if those huge tweasers when she's bigger, but still curious about this behaviour.

 

[Kokopelli]

Well, it depends on the Boa.
BCI's are very different from one another when it comes to personality.
I have quite a few of them... and I can tell ya, every single one of them reacts differently to feeding, and as they mature these patterns tend to change as well.

For instance, my first BCI, Spiritus... he was a shy feeder. By shy I mean that he would NEVER strike feed, and only if you put the thawed rat in his viv and leave him alone for at least 30 minutes would he start eating.
It was so extreme that at times I actually saw him moving up, down and sideways with his head against the corner of the viv as if to make sure I wasn't looking. I am 100% positive that that's what he did- I was amused and amazed.

On the other hand... I have many other Boas who will never strike you-they seem aware to the difference. I try not to move my hand infront of them when I am feeding them but if I have to... they never try to bite it. Others will try and bite anything that moves... some want you to dangle the mouse in front of them(I always use tweezers), others prefer you just leave it there....

From personal experience, many prefer to strike feed a moving target but as they get older they usually become less picky and will eat anything, moving or not.

I suggest you give it a try, worse case scenario, buy yourself some tweezers(Hemostat).

It is hardly a big deal though, if you hold an adult rat from it's tail... there's no reason for your hand to be anywhere near the pointy end.

 

[bekers71]

I agree with Kokopelli that they are different.

One of mine, a 6 foot girl, can smell the rats when they are thawing. So she will begin to pace her cage in anticipation. I don't dare try to use my hand and dangle her food. She has lunged out at me before and came very close to getting me. Even if you hold it by the tail they might miss. I just open one end of her tank and throw it in.

There's one that only wants his food left on top of his hide. Just like Kokopellis boa, this guy is very shy. When I leave it he usually eats it some time during the night.

Most of mine are the kind that just want you to drop it and leave it. Once they come around and find it, they strike and coil just like as if it were moving.

If you want to try and break that habit try moving the mouse differently and decreas the amount of movement. Example: instead of dangleing put it on the bottom of the cage and move it slightly. Make sure the rat is really warm though. Mine like theirs steaming. Move the rat a little less each time until eventually your just leaving it. I had a guyana girl I had to do this with because the previous owner only fed live. So I switched her to f/t using this method and it worked really well. Now you can just take a thawed rat and toss it to her and she comes out and eats when she finds it.

 

[Kokopelli]

It now struck me as though Spiritus was no longer with me... which ain't true.
He is a yearling stud... and forgot that he was once shy.
He just wants food, get out of his way!

 

[Criosphynx]

All mine take food off large tweezers...I only have one male that will eat it if I leave it there.

Using a tool to dangle the food isn't really a big deal, its not hard to continure doin' it if thats what your snake likes

 

[Floof]

All snakes are different. If I drop his thawed rat pup into his feeding tub and leave him alone, my male BCI will eat no problem (in fact, this was the only way he ate for me for the first couple of months). My female prefers to have stuff dangled, but has become accustomed to eating it off the floor from the few times I've fed her in blue (when she otherwise refuses).

Maybe it's just me, but it does seem like snakes can associate a certain item with feeding... Just like they can a certain action. My Beauty rat goes nuts when tongs enter her cage, and she'll start sniffing at and even striking them, regardless of if there's a treat or meal on them. When I stick her hook in, she turns around and goes back into hiding.

Just some examples. Hope it helps. =)

 

[bekers71]

All mine take food off large tweezers...I only have one male that will eat it if I leave it there.

Using a tool to dangle the food isn't really a big deal, its not hard to continure doin' it if thats what your snake likes

That's true for the most part. But like my 6 foot girl, some times they are over eager or over shoot their aim and head for what ever is warm, which was my arm. LOL

 

[Kokopelli]

All snakes are different. If I drop his thawed rat pup into his feeding tub and leave him alone, my male BCI will eat no problem (in fact, this was the only way he ate for me for the first couple of months). My female prefers to have stuff dangled, but has become accustomed to eating it off the floor from the few times I've fed her in blue (when she otherwise refuses).

Maybe it's just me, but it does seem like snakes can associate a certain item with feeding... Just like they can a certain action. My Beauty rat goes nuts when tongs enter her cage, and she'll start sniffing at and even striking them, regardless of if there's a treat or meal on them. When I stick her hook in, she turns around and goes back into hiding.

Just some examples. Hope it helps. =)

I suspect that this has to do more with smell than anything else... The tool you are using likely smells like a rodent due to use....
I do believe that snakes CAN associate things, but I am not sure that it's the main reason why yours react the way they do to it

 

[funnynonsense]

Maybe it's just me, but it does seem like snakes can associate a certain item with feeding... Just like they can a certain action. My Beauty rat goes nuts when tongs enter her cage, and she'll start sniffing at and even striking them, regardless of if there's a treat or meal on them. When I stick her hook in, she turns around and goes back into hiding.

Just some examples. Hope it helps. =)

Thanks for all the replies guys. This is actually one of the things that was on my mind the most. I'm wondering how 'smart' boas are - in comparison to corn snakes anyway. It seems like it has a little more going on up there. But I haven't had it long enough to observe it's instincts in the same way i observed the corn I had.

With the corn the natural instincts were so obvious, but the boa looks like its thinking.lol I might be crazy.

That being said - just a thought on the smell being on the tweasers - Why does it attack ice cold pliers or tweasers with 1 week old smell on it, but will ignore a rat pup that isn't steaming hot? I'll never understand. sigh

I'll be buying some tweasers come pay day.

 

[Kokopelli]

IMHO BCI's exhibit far more intelligence than most colubrids I got to handle...
I don't know if they ARE smarter or not... logically though, the contrary is no less likely cause colubrids are technically more evolved...
And one could argue that Boas react slower, and that we think the slowness comes from an act of thinking...

However, relying on personal experience here, in my opinions. Boas have a far more defined personality, and each stands out as being unique while with colubrids I don't see it as much.

The snakes that left the deepest impression on me however were reticulated pythons.

I got a chance to handle a super dwarf Retic and.... let me tell you, they have an intelligent glint in their eyes and they seem to calculate every move. They act -fast- and seem to really be not even slightly intimidated by the situation of being handled by a far larger being... Not only that, they show no qualm when they move to you, from you, or at you... amazing creatures.

I do think however that they are a bit over the top for me... Boas are the perfect snake personality-wise, even if they leave me with the impression of being "not as intelligent" as retics. Heck, Retics seem Too intelligent to be your day to day pet... even the miniature version of them

 

[funnynonsense]

I do think however that they are a bit over the top for me... Boas are the perfect snake personality-wise, even if they leave me with the impression of being "not as intelligent" as retics. Heck, Retics seem Too intelligent to be your day to day pet... even the miniature version of them

I actually had a dream about Retics last night. I went to a snake show and thats all that was there. All squashed into huge cages, cause you couldn't get cages big enough - anyway I'm scared of them and yellow anacondas (really). Good with any other constrictor though. lol

 

[Kokopelli]

Anacondas have horrible personalities... they are not smart, they are simply mean. I swear, they sit in their vivs and PLAN on how to get you.

However, I talked about Super Dwarf Retics... they reach like... 6 feet, and are and as thick as a male Ball python...
So the size doesn't scare you... but those eyes... yish, I've seen crocs and monitors... nothing remind me of valociraptors as much as these fellas.

 

[Floof]

I suspect that this has to do more with smell than anything else... The tool you are using likely smells like a rodent due to use....
I do believe that snakes CAN associate things, but I am not sure that it's the main reason why yours react the way they do to it

That makes a lot of sense, actually. I only wash her hemostats every few feedings (meaning, every two months) or on the occasion that she rips a "treat" in half and gets them dirty. The beauty rat is the only one that reacts like that. It's funny how much smarter Old World rats seem to be compared to their New World counterparts... Thanks for the insight. =)

Funny, I think a lot of it has to do with movement. The steaming hot rat pup wasn't moving, but the rat-scented tongs (with which you usually offer prey) were. I wouldn't be surprised if it is a combination of the three factors... Smell, movement, and, possibly, association of the tongs with feeding. I truly believe snakes are a lot smarter than they look/act, so that sort of thing doesn't seem too far-fetched. Even my corn hatchlings will often aim for the tongs and my fingers instead of their food, when they'd rather "kill" me than eat... Lol.

 

[Criosphynx]

That's true for the most part. But like my 6 foot girl, some times they are over eager or over shoot their aim and head for what ever is warm, which was my arm. LOL

Lol I know the feeling...

Som'times if the snake is really eager I'll throw the rat at/on them and they will jump on it.

 

[MinLynn]

Our boa is a mix of both aggressive eater and shy. He was fed live before we got him and in order to trick him into f/t we had to dangle. That's the only way he'll eat. We dangle with really long tongs(he is on XL Jumbo Rats) he strikes and coils,however, he will then take it and hide it until he is positive nobody is around. It can take him up to an hour to decide to eat the rat. I can get him to eat faster if I cover his entire tank with a sheet or large towel.