A day with an Amazon tree boa?

Yes, I have heard the reports about the sheer and unbridled nastiness of Amazon tree boas' personalities, but are they all very prone to biting? Do they ever calm down to the point where you can handle them relatively safely? How bad are the bites?

Amazons are probably my dream snake as far as looks and size goes, but I don't want to get bit everytime I want to pick it up or do maintenance on the cage... Already had a kingsnake like that!

Thanks for any of your help-
Brenda

I have 1.1 Amazon Tree Boas. My female is around 7' and is nicer than the male who is approximately 6'. He is an all out nasty brute. I handle him with a snake hook, gloves and long sleeves. He doesn't ever bite the gloves or long sleeves, he is a meat eater and only goes for bare skin. LOL I've only been bitten once and now I treat him as if he were venomous. They have very large teeth and the bleeding doesn't want to stop. I've been bitten by tons of snakes and I don't jerk back any more therefore my bite wasn't as bad as it would have been if I'd have jerked away. But it still was pretty deep for something with a small head. Here's a pic of the nasty brute (but I love him anyway).

Beautiful... how "nice" is the "nice" one though, Karen? (nice as in she has never or no longer strikes?) Does she still hiss, pull back or otherwise act defensive around you?

I use a snake stick to get her out of her cage and I can free hand her but I still have my long sleeves on just in case. She is kind of jerky sometimes but I haven't handled her all that much either. She has never bitten me, just struck a couple of times.

One more thing. Mine have never hissed. Mind you, these are the only two I own and have even handled so others may be hissers, but mine don't.

i just got my amazons yesterday and even on the first day they didnt seem to bad.this is my second day having them and i love them.they are normally mean but mine are surprisingly nice.the garden phase is way nicer than the halloween phase.they are mean when you try to grab out of the cage.once i take mine out they are way better than in the cage.actually mine might even be gravid if interested.well any way they are very great animals and i love them.they are kinda diffucult to take care of .they have some specific needs.well if you get an amazon i hope you have a great time with it.

Thanks, but I'm starting to think it will be some time yet before I will be prepared to take care of some Amazons. I'm only interested in the reddest of the red for the time being. I think they will stay on my "to do" list of snakes to keep someday though.

OOOh I love the red ones. There was an orange one I saw on the net that I liked too, but red is where it's at. I think that if someone is careful they can care for an ATB just fine. I know that I can't just reach in and pick it up like I do my sand boas. I use a small snake stick for the first part of the body and can then tail them. The hardest part of getting them out of their cage is they are so long they wind their bodies around EVERYTHING. I'm getting new caging for them at the next reptile show in March. A cage that opens from the front. I think it would be easier to handle them from the front than reaching down into a cage. We'll see, it could be worse. I won't know until I try it.
Also my female could be gravid. I saw them mating in July and their gestation is around 150 days from what I've read. She is pretty fat (looks like I've fed her 2 large mice)and has refused to eat for the past 3 weeks. She just shed on December 30 so babies. . .maybe. [fingers crossed]

ATBs deserve their reputation.

It's all about instinct and genetically ingrained survival responses based on the stimulus the snake evolved in response to. In other words... they do what nature makes 'em do and nature makes quick striking a survival trait for arboreal snakes. there's the oddball animal that won't react as quickly or agressively. There's a few ways to kind of minimize the chances of being struck (how you approach any handling that needs to be done)... But handling them a lot (when it's not needed for maintenence) won't accomplish anything other than stressing them out. You can't train them to be more or less nippy the individual animals just are what they are.

if you want something you can hold and pet and wear as a fashion accessory... Corallus aren't it. If you want a diaplay animal that will be visible most the time in it's enclosure and some of the widest variety in terms of color and pattern of any species and are willing to get bitten once in awhile and/or take specific precautions against it. I get bitten a fair amount and have been bitten many MANY times and generally don't consider a nonvenomous species biting me as a deterent if it needs to be handled. I'll also use hooks on amazons at least for the initial contact about half the time because I KNOW they're going to nail me.

gotta love the amazons - attitude and all. yeah some of them are bitey, but that is the way they are. I agree that alot of that is just the individual snake, but your approach to things will affect your likelihood to get bitten. A calm, confident approach is best - don't make the animal feel threatened, and don't (if possible) p*ss them off. I currently keep 8 ATBs, imports and CB, and all are generally as handleable as they need to be (read: I can remove them to clean the cage, visually inspect them without getting bitten). with experience, you will be able to read the snake - know when it is going to bite, and when it is because you are bothering them - and then you can make your own decisions (do it now, or wait). good luck!