If it is too large for you to do this, your assistant should be ready to help. If the snake is trying to constrict you, you can try to unwrap the snake. If the snake doesn’t release you, you can push into the snake or pour water or mouthwash near the bite to convince the snake to release you. Pulling away can injure you and the snake badly. If your boa bites you and will not release, the first step is to stay calm.
#BOA CONSTRICTOR SNAKE HOW TO#
Boas aren’t for beginner snake keepers, but you should start with a baby boa constrictor so you have time to learn how to handle the snake. There should always be an adult present until the teenage years, though smaller teenagers will need help for longer and with smaller snakes.Īnyone who isn’t experienced with snakes should have help for any snake that is over a year old. Once your snake is large enough that you can’t remove it by yourself if it tries to constrict you, it is time to always have an assistant with snake experience to help with handling and feeding.Ī post shared by Patrick Mitchell is typically needed once a boa reaches 8 feet, but if you are not very strong you should get an assistant once the snake is over 6 feet.Ĭhildren should never handle any snake by themselves. This can cause pain and serious injury to the snake and will result in the animal lashing out. Use your hands to gently guide your boa where you want it to go by placing your hand under its body just below the head.įinally, never grab a boa by the tail. Never grab the head since most boas are head shy and may strike.ĭo not squeeze or restrain your boa since this will make the snake think you are trying to eat it and result in a defensive strike. Always approach a snake from below, never from above since this registers as a predator. You should also know how to handle a snake without alarming it. A relaxed boa will have a slowly flicking tongue and will typically be eager to explore its surroundings.Ī boa that is ready to strike will have fast tongue flicks, be tensed up, and likely coiling its body into the classic “S” striking position. You also need to take the time to train your snake to be used to handling and learn its body language. You should always wash your hands and change your clothes if your snake crawls over your clothing. Salmonella can be transmitted to humans by handling reptiles.
The first step to safe handling is to wash your hands before and after handling snakes. Wild animals like snakes are more unpredictable than domesticated animals, but all animals can turn on humans and cause injuries. Any animal can hurt you if you don’t understand its body language and species-specific needs. Handling safety is important when you own any animal. There have been reports of snakes harming humans, but these are rare and are normally cases of defensive bites or even salmonella reported as an injury. Generally speaking, this is rare but possible if the person can’t get the snake off in time. Humans are a bit too large for this to work unless the snake wraps around the neck. Constriction kills prey by cutting off blood flow and causing a quick death from this.
If the bite is accompanied by constriction, that can be more dangerous. The biggest injury reported to an adult from a boa resulted in eye damage, but the snake was ill and bit to defend itself. These can hurt but are only really dangerous if the snake bites your face and risks hitting your eyes.Ĭhildren are a bit more vulnerable to bites causing major damage, but children should never be near a boa without supervision. This is a quick bite or several bites meant to drive off a predator or other potential threat. Most bites from boas are defensive bites.
#BOA CONSTRICTOR SNAKE FULL#
Can Boas Hurt a Human? Adult VS Juvenile, they can grow quite big 🙂Ī bite from a fully grown boa can hurt since they have a mouth full of backward-facing teeth meant to help force prey down the snake’s throat. Since most subspecies of boa constrictors rarely weigh more than 30 pounds, humans are well out of the range of prey size. Humans register as predators, even very young children. Most boas will view anything much larger as a threat. This translates to prey items that weigh around 10% of the snake’s weight.Īnything larger doesn’t register as prey. Both Boa imperator and Boa sigma are commonly sold as boa constrictors and neither snake gets much longer than 6 feet long.īoas typically can’t eat anything much wider than the thickest part of their body. Many of the common subspecies and the two other commonly kept Boa species stay under 8 feet.
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