If you are particularly smelly/have been spending a lot of time around other animals, it is also advisable to change clothes. This gets weird scents off, and removes potentially harmful bacteria, viruses, or parasites from your hands. How to handle a boa constrictorīefore you get your boa out of its enclosure, wash hands with soap and water. Wait at least 1 week before you first start to handle the snake, or if it is hiding and defensive, wait until it is eating regularly before you attempt to start handling. Photo contributed by John Bazyk When you first bring your boa home… This is for the safety of the snake as well as the child. If handleability is important to you, buy captive bred (CB or CBB) and ask the breeder about the snake’s disposition, as well as its parents’ dispositions.Īs with dogs, cats, horses, birds, and other pets, never leave a child unattended with your pet boa. Snake personality is pretty much luck of the draw. If it doesn’t mind frequent handling and is tolerant of being shuffled around, it may make a great educational animal. If, despite your best efforts, it prefers to be left alone, then let it be a beautiful display animal. Respect the fact that the snake is an individual, and treat it according to its wishes. Some boas seem to genuinely appreciate handling, and others don’t care for it. And some, just as with cats and dogs, are safer than others. “My 3 year old son is more cause for concern!”īoa constrictors and larger snakes are active, intelligent animals with individual personalities that must be respected.“They are only dangerous if you intimidate them, abuse or neglect them, or don’t handle them.“I am more afraid of getting injured by a dog than the largest of boas.”.“About as dangerous as your average paperweight.”.“It’s a lot like a large ball python that knows how to eat.”.Here are some quotes from actual boa constrictor keepers on the subject: Regular boa constrictor handling, when done correctly, can also be a beneficial source of exercise and enrichment for your pet.ĭue to the fact that some boa species are capable of growing up to 10-11’ long, as well as the fearsome reputation created by media fearmongering, many people worry that boa constrictors are dangerous pets. Whether you prefer to keep it as a display animal, companion, or educational animal, getting it used to handling makes chores such as taking it to the vet and cleaning its enclosure a lot easier. “I’ve had snakes and lightning,” she said.Handling is an essential part of owning a pet snake. Tuesday, lightning struck a tree in her yard, causing some of the bark to fall off, and some of her sod to detach. If finding the snake Monday night wasn’t enough, atĢ:30 a.m. I won’t be swimming in there for a few months, at least.” “I’ve seen turtles, but this is like having a Loch Ness Monster in the lake. “We swim in the lake right off the dock but now, I am not so sure I will go back in,” she said, noting that she has lived there since 2005. Surviving the shock of finding the snake in her own back yard, so to speak, Spotleson said there will be one major change in her lifestyle now. Spotleson also believes it was someone’s pet that either got away on its own, or was set free because it probably got too big. “It is possible that (the snake) was not able to digest his meal properly (which could kill him).” Boa constrictors are native to tropical areas and our night temps are too cold for them,” he wrote in an e-mail to The Rep. Neither could boa constrictors, said Stephon Echague, wildlife rehabilitation supervisor for the Stark County Park District Sanders Wildlife Rehabilitation Centers, who identified the snake from a photo. “Pythons just could not survive (on their own) our winters.” “Considering it is not native to Ohio, if it was a python, I would assume it was a pet,” said Jamey Graham, a spokesperson for the Ohio Department of Natural Resources. State wildlife officials say it likely is an abandoned pet, since such large snakes aren’t indigenous to northeastern Ohio. Neighbor Kent Smith used a net to fish it out of the water. “Then, I went down to investigate.”įortunately, the snake was dead by the time it reached her home. “When I first saw it, I thought it was a turtle,” she said, surprised by the find. What she found was a 6-foot-long snake she believed was a python - turns out it was a boa constrictor. Monday when Spotleson went outside to investigate. Not after looking out of the window above her kitchen sink and seeing something floating in the water. After Monday night, she isn’t sure she will continue. Suzi Spotleson used to swim off her dock at Meyers Lake.
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