Ok, I know I am always coming here for advice......... but all of you give such great advice! So here is the problem I have a red tail boa that is an absolute hag! She is always striking at me or anyone to say the least. She is a rescue and as all of you know I do not usually keep the snakes that long, but I have hit a brick wall in placing them and now I am stuck with them, which is O.k. However how do I get her to stop striking? I handle her a lot, she hates me That is ok as the feeling is starting to be mutual! Lol I swear if she does it again I will make a belt out of her , Ok I am kidding, I have a twisted sense of humor. I have at least 7 bite marks on me in the last 10 days!
Please any good advice! I will be so grateful! I would rather wrestle one of the big male igs than deal with her lately!

Awwww not a belt LOL...I have a dumerils boa that has the same attitude. You just walk by the cage and he strikes...tho with time he is getting better. Be sure to feed always in a seperate container so she wont confuse you opening the cage with feeding.... I just say stick with it and eventually she may come around.. perhaps using a pair of gloves will save your hands from being struck....or she just wants to be that belt....I suppose there are some snakes who only should be display animals.....good luck!

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Warmest Regards from Lyn

Is there a pattern to the bites? For instance does she bite you while you are handing or while you are going into the enclosure?
Since she is a rescue there is no telling what sort of treatment she has had at the hands of humans and she may not have a very good view of two leggeds!

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Merlin,
What's Life Without A Little Magic!

I have always fed in a seperate container or enclosure (depending on the size of the snake).
There really is no particular pattern to it sometimes when I go in to get her out she strikes, other times she has been out for a while and then just does it.
I try to keep things calm, she is not around the kids, only comes out when they are out school in the morning and when they are in bed in the evening. Each time for about an hour.
This morning she was out and having a good time exploring, she was half on me and half on the carpet, I turned my back to her for a second (still holding her back half) she reached around and got me in the back of the arm and would not let go, my hubby had to put alcohol in her face to get her to let go. I thought he was going to pass out. LOL. She drew a lot of blood, the hag! This is the first time she has struck and not let go. Usually it is a quick strike and release. She also is known for hissing and showing her great set of needlelike chompers. I realize she is probably afraid and I dont back down when she hisses. The man who usually takes my snakes is supposed to come up and help me next week and show me some pointers on how to deal with her, but phew............next week is a long ways away!
I really have no great history on her other than she was pretty skinny when I got her and slightly dehydrated, I also believe she was passed on from home to home. I feed her two f/t medium to large rats once a week, do you think maybe more? she is close to 6 feet long.
I really need to get her tame before she becomes so big that she herself becomes a two man snake with the attitude of an Anaconda.

The bite and hold sounds like a feeding strike. And the fact that she is skinny may mean that she has been starved which, as people that have starved snakes trying to keep them from getting too big find out, creates an aggressive acting snake. Your feeding sounds good. How long have you had the snake?

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Merlin,
What's Life Without A Little Magic!

roughly almost 4 months, I have moved the bigger ones, and the ones with bigger attitude problems before her, now I have ran into a wall as the snake guy is full and have no choice to keep her until I can find an appropriate home for her. I get a lot of snakes in but I am not used to having to tame. The only thing I usually have to do is asess any problems they have medically and take them to the vet, start their meds if they need it, rehydrate and start feed and they move on. This whole taming big snakes is not usually my job.... LOL, but it is now. looks like I am in for a treat

Ok all I can say is when handling make sure your totally smell free in other words don't smell like a f/t rat (but you probally already know that) and my last bit of advice don't make any fast movements she might think ooh I got to grab that quick moving thing and thats when she gets ya.

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Wish list:I want to adopt a leo geko from a bad home.

Without pray we coludn't have predators Kill your rats with love!

Looks like the advice you've gotten is going to cure his "evil ways". not to dampen your spirits, but I had an Oakeetee named Sid (as in Sid Viscious) that I never could tame. I worked daily with him and my hands never seemed to heal. He just would not stop biting. Now 1 of my other male Okeetees was fine within 2 weeks, same with 1 of our baby boas. best of luck.

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Ken
"Some people spend an entire lifetime wondering if they made a difference in the world. But, the Marines don't have that problem." -- Ronald Reagan

Maybe she is just destined to be a belt She was a little better tonight as she did not strike, only hissed about 10 times in a 30 minute period! I guess I just keep trying! I have had a few people want her but they want her for their teenaged kids and I had to sadly decline on that I feel that she is only for experienced keepers only! Do you suggest putting her back when she acts like that? I treat her like my igs and never let her dominate me.

I would continue as you are doing. Take the hissing as a warning and be aware of what she is up to, be in a postition to control her, but don't put her down.

With the stupid things I have seen people do to snakes it may just be taking time for her to realize that YOU aren't going to mistreat her.

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Merlin,
What's Life Without A Little Magic!