New Red Tailed Boa :]

[hgaleshire]

I bought my first red tailed boa today. He is a light tan color with beautiful saddle markings. He was very docile and sweet when I handled him, and had no problem being handled all the way home. However, as soon as I got his cage set up and put him in, he curled up in the water dish and hissed whenever I tried to handle him. I know he should be given a few weeks to adjust, but is it normal for his temperament to change so drastically? I just want to take care of him the best way possible. :] thank you for any input.

 

[ChondroGirl]

It sounds to me like he is stressed. He should tame down with regular handling. I would give him a couple days to relax a little bit. After a few days you may try getting him out of his cage using a snake hook or something similar. Usually the ones who are just a little defensive become handleable once out of their cage. Try to judge his mood by his posture. If his neck is in an "S" curve, leave him alone a little longer. If he turns out to be nippy, handle him with gloves on at first. Once he is in your hands, he should calm down, after he knows you are not going to hurt him, then you can remove the gloves.

 

[Mushroom Spore]

He was very docile and sweet when I handled him, and had no problem being handled all the way home.

However, as soon as I got his cage set up and put him in, he curled up in the water dish and hissed whenever I tried to handle him.

I think you were mistaking "stressed out and mentally overloaded from being transported in a car (tons of 'loud' vibrations and odd smells) and handled by a strange human" with "has no problem being handled." Not all animals become hostile in such a situation, sometimes the stress just makes them shut down.

Give it more than a few days, I'd honestly suggest a few weeks. Nothing but water changes, maybe in two weeks offer food. NO handling. He needs time to relax.

 

[NastyNate]

seems like everyone already said what was needed to be said, but do you know if its a common boa or a true redtail, locality or his/her blood lines

 

[hgaleshire]

I'm not sure as to its locality, the pet store said columbian, but I'm sure they dont know. I'll post a picture soon.

 

[NastyNate]

if it was labeled as a columbian than most likely a common boas but dont get me wrong common boas can have nice saddles and bright tails

 

[hgaleshire]

Here are some pictures of him.

 

[NastyNate]

looks like a very nice common boa to me, how much you pay for him/her? make sure its got some humidity looks like in a couple days it will shed

 

[hgaleshire]

189 for a full set up with him. What do you mean common boa? I did some research to see what he looked like and the closest I found was the Trinidad BCC. The pictures they had very much resembled my boa.

Site can be found at http://www.boa-constrictors.com/com/constrictor/Trinidad/trinidad.html

 

[NastyNate]

check out the book call boas, its a barron book, it talks about the differences of "common" boa and red tails, goes into locales and what not, barron also has a book strictly on red tails and really goes into the whole species and sub species, locales etc. i got mine at borders, and believe or not petco offers the red tail boa book,i recommend both