If the animal is so aggressive that it gets totally mad when you try tohandle it, you have to abstain from handling it. There is no other possibility than to come to terms with owning an aggressive specimen that is not going to calm down.

Notice:

The aggressions may be a sign that the animal is afraid. If you fear dogs to death, would it be helpful to force you to caress them? No!If your Boa doesn’t loose it’s aggressive behavior, take it as it is (a wild animal) and leave it alone as much as possible. You expect your partner to accept you like you are, do the same to the Boa.

We have several aggressive boas, including some very nice ones, that are honest and straight-forward in their behavior and we therefore always know what to expect when we handle them.

I think this is a good base for a partnership.

My boa escaped out of the cage. What can I do?

Any boid keeper of many years, who claims to have never had an animal escape, is lying through his or her teeth. The day comes for even the most conscientious among the boa or python keepers, when the sliding glass doors of the cage will not be entirely closed.

Ungrateful, as our charges are, they usually use this opportunity shamelessly and bolt. The smaller the snake is, the more difficult it then becomes to find it. The dear boid keeper that has never been faced with that type of situation before is usually overcome with panic, once he/she notices the escape of the animal.

However, that is exactly the wrong reaction, because it is now important to keep a cool head and use a systematic approach.

Before turning the house upside down, examine the enclosure thoroughly to make sure that the snake has not just hid very well.

A superficial glance onto the spots that the animal normally occupies is not sufficient in this case. You should really search every angle of the enclosure (this includes the ceiling), before expanding the search. In other words, you should search the enclosure in such detail that you would be confident enough to offer your right hand if the snake still ends up being found there.

Well, we now trust your search and believe that the snake is no longer in the enclosure. Next comes phase two, in which you have a great advantage: Boas and pythons do not usually travel far, and the animal will most likely still be in the same room, in which the enclosure is located. In addition, the snake maintains its normal behavior, which means that the fugitive has hid and is at a spot in the room that is suitable for providing shelter.

The less accessible and tighter this hide spot is, the more likely it is that you will find your legless friend there. If you think that you do not need to search a particular spot in the room, since “the snake would never be able to get there”, you have already made your next mistake.

Especially popular among escapees is the bundle of cables by the enclosure. They like to climb in it and rest in it as well. Another popular spot is the space between the enclosure and the room wall. If these objects just happen to have the permissible weight of a commercial truck, then you are pretty much out of luck, hence our recommendation in the section about enclosures to seal that space with construction foam or wooden strips.

If the entire room (except for the space mentioned) has been searched without success, the cabinet or enclosure needs to be moved. There is no way around that, as bad as it may be.

But we are not there just yet, as everything else comes first. It is recommended to move every removable object after thorough examination temporarily to another room for the duration of the systematic search. That way, the room in which the fugitive is suspected to be in, becomes more open and easier to manage. In addition, this prevents the animal from hiding in such an object later, if it is not found during the first day.

This brings us to the recommendation to keep the door to the enclosure room closed at all times. This applies especially if there is a “loose snake”.

A place beloved by the snake yet hated by the keeper is the interior of the living-room couch. The snakes even get in there, which is something that should be kept in mind, if the enclosure is located in the living-room. Also, remember to look behind the heater and between its heating ribs (if applicable).

In case of a partially open window, it pays to take a closer look at it and its immediate outside vicinity. Also, keep in mind that our legless friends are excellent climbers and love height, and the search should therefore include the top of shelves, cabinets, etc.

In conclusion of the “search & rescue manual”, here a few more hints:

It is much easier to search with a pocket light

If the animal is not found right away, keep on checking during the following nights, as that is the time at which the animal is most likely to crawl around somewhere

A daily inventory check to ensure the presence of all animals after maintenance work helps to discover an “escape” early, thereby raising the chance of finding the animal before it retreats to a place that is really difficult for the keeper to get access to (such as behind a cabinet, inside the couch)  

When a snake has escaped, it is best to leave the enclosure door slightly opened (of course, this applies only as long as there aren’t any other snakes in the enclosure), which allows for your charge to return to its regular spot

During unsuitable climatic conditions, the room temperature should be adjusted accordingly (min. 23° C [73° F]), in order to prevent the snake from suffering while spending several days outside of its enclosure

Providing a bowl with water is also recommended if the animal was not successfully located right away

If the animal cannot be found in the enclosure room, the neighboring room has to be searched in the exact same manner, unless one wishes to abandon the search, and simply leave it up to chance

I want to buy a boa but I already have other pets. Will they get along with the boas?

No problem at all. We own a dog and a rabbit. Both often linger on in the living room where we have several cages with boas.

As long as the cages are locked (they always have to be, of course) there is no dangerous interaction between the boas and the other pets. 

Notice: When you put the boas out for handling dogs, cats and other critters have to leave the room temporarily.

Although dogs and cats do not correspond to the prey pattern of Boa constrictor it doesn't hurt to wash the hands before handling the boa in case the pet has got some stroke units before, especially if your pet is a rabbit, a guinea pig or a tame rat.

Cat Cinema  Thank you to our friend Joachim Layer

for the pic! His website www.big-snake.de is highly recommended

Don't crossbreed boas also exist in the wild? So why must the boas in captivity be purebred?

We have chosen the term "purebred" in context to Boa constrictor because it is brief and catchy. A more precise definition of our view is the term "unsophisticated wildlife form".

It is a fact that transitional forms of boas are found in locations where the distribution areas of two subspecies of boa constrictor are overlapping. However, these animals are also unsophisticated wildlife forms, because man wasn't involved in their emergence. Those animals evolved in the wild and their appearence is defined by local conditions.

These boas have nothing in common with the crossbreeds kept in captivity who evolved from the arbitrary crossing of boas from quite  different regions.

Here is a photo of my boa constrictor. Can you tell me whether or not it is a true one and from which distribution area it is?

To determine the subspecies and variant of a boa constrictor from a photo is guesswork with little value since also crossbreed boa sometimes look quite identical to a purebred specimen.

Those who don't believe that it is heedless to take conclusions as to the lineage from the appearance should take a look at a photo (just google it) of Anna Ermakova, the extramarital daughter of Boris Becker. Would you assume when you look at Anna that her mother is a colored woman? Surely not.

The only safe method to ID a boa is to trace back the bloodline of the animal step by step (generation for generation) to the specimens that were caught in the wild (in their natural distribution area) and exported to your country.

To achieve this you need to ask the breeder or previous owner of your boa about the origin of the parents of the animal. Often it is necessary to contact the pre- previous owner or breeder, the pre- pre- previous owner and so on (please note that this is valid in both for the mother and the father of your boa).

That is, you need to re-trace the pedigree of your boa step by step including grandparents, great-grandparents and so on.

If you can’t trace back both lines to the distribution area (where the imported animals previously lived in the wild) because one of the former owners of the parents can’t be found or is not willing to give you information you can’t never be sure what kind of boa you actually have.

In most cases it will turn out that it is a crossbreed or that the land of origin can’t be determined anymore.

What is the life expectancy of a boa constrictor?

As a rule, a boa constrictor in captivity lives for about 20 years. However, there are exceptions: The record age of a boa constrictor kept in captivity was 40 years, three months and 14 days. This specimen was in captive care in the zoo of Philadelphia/U.S. (De Vosjoli 1998).

This crossbreed boa was born in 1996 and is still in perfect health. In 2014 she has had 25 babies. Photo: Peter Kahler

Invoice for the boa; Photo: Peter Kahler

CITES - Certificate (at that time still mandatory); Photo: Peter Kahler