Quote:
Originally Posted by JCCS
I've personally found that when snakes are stressed to that point with human contact, the best thing to do is to limit contact with them to when it's absolutely necessary. Use aspen bedding so you can spot clean and don't have to remove the snake weekly. Just being around a person and not having negative interactions can calm down a lot of that. Basically a "less is more" approach. Defensiveness is caused by stress, removing as much stress as possible will, in some cases, remove the defensiveness as well. That being said, some animals never feel comfortable with human interaction, you have to be prepped for that possibility.
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This is the approach I've been taking. I haven't touched her or attempted to move her at all in over a week. I've opened the tub a couple of times to make sure that she has fresh water and clean anything that needs to be cleaned, but other than that I have limited contact. She's actually seemed "ok" with this, as far as she doesn't start hissing or striking at me.
Also Helen, I completely believe that animals inherit temperament. I started off breeding rats from a pet store and at least half of the moms would bite me if I got too close to them or their babies. After 2-3 years of selectively culling mean rats and breeding friendly rats, every single one of my tubs is 100% friendly. To argue that this wouldn't be the case for other species would be foolish in my opinion.
But who knows if this is a temperament thing with this boa or if it's just temporary? After a few months I'll know for sure but I don't feel confident making that decision after only a couple weeks of direct contact.
(phone is STILL broken, hoping that Monday I will be able to get things taken care of)