• Responding to email notices you receive.
    **************************************************
    In short, DON'T! Email notices are to ONLY alert you of a reply to your private message or your ad on this site. Replying to the email just wastes your time as it goes NOWHERE, and probably pisses off the person you thought you replied to when they think you just ignored them. So instead of complaining to me about your messages not being replied to from this site via email, please READ that email notice that plainly states what you need to do in order to reply to who you are trying to converse with.

  • IMPORTANT! PLEASE READ!! About the Google Adsense ads being displayed

    =====================
    Posted 08/15/2025
    =====================


    Yeah, I know. They are a pain in the butt. But they pay the bills to keep my server running. Just a fact of life, I am afraid.

    Want to get rid of them? Simple. Just become a Contributor level member or above and they will be gone. -> Please click HERE."

    Is that too much for me to ask of you to keep this site running? Well, sorry about that. I too wish I could get everything for free. But alas.....

    =====================
    Addendum: 01/10/2026
    =====================


    Google Adsense ad revenue for December, 2025 was just $30 over the cost of the lease for the server running this site. So, in effect, the money providing the incentive for me to continue running this site is coming SOLELY from the paid memberships and sponsorships here. Which honestly ain't much....

boa bite question

E

EPTSchris

New member
Joined
Oct 10, 2009
Messages
12
Reaction score
0
Points
0
Location
greensburg pa
I have a question for the more experienced large boa and large snake owners. How would the bite from a big (8ft +) BCO, BCC, BCI compare to the bite from the other large snakes (retics, burms, anacondas, etc) of a similar size? The reason I ask is I just recently saw a very aggressive Argentine boa (around 9ft I would guess) in the back room of a pet store. I guess they were boarding it for someone for a period of time. They also had a large 12'+ albino burm. I wouldn't want to get bit by either, but I think just by looking at those two up close, that boa would do twice the damage. I'm just basing this on muscle mass, and maybe because the burm was friendly it didn't appear as intimidating. Just curious to see what others have to say.
 
I have been bit by both ( boa around 7 ft and burm around 9ish ) neither were super painful ( or pleasant )but they were just tags. If they constricted then it would have been a different story. Not sure if that helps. Also, I have some 3 ft boas that strike harder then my 5 footers.
 
Yes that does help. I wasn't really looking for an exact answer. It was just seeing a big aggressive boa for the first time had me wondering. YOu said now constricting would be a different story. Which one at that size do you think would be more powerful? Again these all just random questions I thought up. I have no intentions of pursuing this any further then that, or owning any snake that will get bigger then my female bci.
 
I've never been bitten by a burm, conda or retic so I can't really say. I'd always heard retics were kinda of a 'slashing' bite and can really mess you up.

I've posted these before, but what the heck. Here's a photo of the bite (which was followed by constriction, not fun) from when my 8'+ gal laid into me (SFE)

329BiteAutumn11_07b_blood.JPG


cleaned up:
329BiteAutumn11_07c_teeth.JPG


the next morning:
329BiteAutumn11_07d_nextday.JPG


swelling went away in about 2 days and couldn't really even tell after about a week and a half.
 
the bites don't really hurt it's more the shock of it happening, at least, to me it is. Keep in mind that is a bite with constriction, just a regular bite/tag from a 5-8' boa isn't nearly as bad.
 
I have never been constricted by a large snake but the two tags I spoke of earlier were nothing compared to a four to five foot burm thinking I was food. Its not like a crying pain but it just sucks to sum it up. But I love this hobby and you have to take the good with the bad.
 
This was from about a 6 foot boa who just kept striking. There was no attempt of constriction. I was taking her out to the other room for better light and after the first bite I didn't even notice it until I looked down lol.
40263_83372_Large_203O3hueix8igoG.jpg

40263_83373_Large_rmdipvz7oTRUfel.jpg

40263_94968_Large_CmcKtHtjMDfl.jpg
 
I've only been bit once when I was spot cleaning, but he was only 3' or so at the time. It happened so fast I didn't realize it until I saw my fingers bleeding. No hissing or anything, just a quick strike from inside his hide box. Well back to my OP thanks for the input.
 
Eleanor, my 7ft normal BCI, tagged me pretty good once, like everyone has said, it doesn't really hurt it is more what actually just happened that makes the situation suck. I was feeding my male 6ft BCI Ivan, with no tongs, he caught my pinkie finger and constricted. In fear of ripping out his teeth, I relaxed and let him realize what had happened. After about 30 seconds, he released and allowed me to untangle him from my arm. I bled pretty good, but you couldn't even tell after a few days. So I have always taught my brothers to expect a bite every time they are attempting to feed a boa, clean a cage or remove a boa from an enclosure. The most tamest of snakes can bite at anytime if they are in a bad mood. If you are expecting a bite, when it happens, if you stay calm and relax, it minimizes the damage. The first time my brother got bitten by one of my larger boas (5ft+), he pulled back really hard and had a few teeth embedded in his skin and had a lot of damage from the bite. It can also damage the boa if its a really bad bite. They can loose teeth, which can become infected at times.

I have only been bitten by a boa a handful of times in the last 10 years.
 
I have had a pet snake of some sort most of my life, so I know it happens from the best of them. Like you were saying, I kind of expect it to an extent... I should of done a little research on you tube first. I found a good BCO bite video on there. Search Argentine boa bite. I also found a couple retic and burm bite videos on there. I would have to say the retic bites look the worse. One guy from Thailand had a nasty cut on his hand that probably should of had stitches. All the burm ones don't look too bad, or at least not any worse then a boa. Good ol' You tube. Pretty soon there won't be a need for books, forums, magazines. lol.
 
K.Barnett told a story of an Aru that bit thru his thumb nail,all the way thru !
Personally I dont get bit,my protocol doesn't allow for it :NoNo:
Plenty of strikes and near miss' but nothing over 4' has had a taste of me in years.
 
I went through my first couple of years owning snakes without a bite (nearly 20 years ago). Of course back then, I didn't have more than 3 or 4 snakes. But the thought of a bite was just always really intimidating. Finally one afternoon while I was holding one of my boas, I felt something "bump" my forearm. Sarcastically I said aloud, "I think I just got bit". When I looked at my arm, I was bleeding like a stuck pig! lol

Like Jeremy said, pulling back hurts the worst. The scariest thing about a bite is how badly it might hurt my snake. I realize there are some bad ones (break bones and whatnot), but those bites seem really rare, especially with boas.
 
Back
Top