general question

Question
well i have two baby red tail boas... from the same mother and father. my first question is can the breed... i have one that is extremely aggressive and i was wondering if there is anything i can do to calm the snake down... and finally i have them both in a 20 gallon take how long should i have them in this and how big should i let the snakes get before i change their habitat

Answer
Hi Tim,

You can breed the two Boas although it isn't recommended since you will be inbreeding them. like with humans, if inbreeding occurs there is a higher probability that there will be problems with the offspring. this is due to the fact that the two baby boas share a lot of common DNA and genes. this results in a higher chance of genetic mutations occurring.

it is possible that your boas breed and all the offspring are fine but it is also possible that you will get some stillborn or malformed babies. so i advise you breed them with caution and if successful do not inbreed those offspring.


there are a few different tactics that you can try to tame your aggressive boa. before trying anything it might be an idea to leave it alone for several weeks as this might calm it down.

the first one is a bit weird and isn't as successful as the others but is the easiest.

1) leave an item of your clothing - (preferably an old one and one that has been worn recently and not washed) inside your snake's vivarium for a few nights. this lets the snake get used to you scent and stop seeing it as a threat, hopefully allowing you to pick it up.

2)i recently devised a new method of taming my male boa down. hes a grumpy git and is about 5 foot now which makes it a lot harder. i used to try going in his tank and taking him out as quick as possible as usually he would be fine once he was out of his tank and off the ground. but this didn't allow me to confidently go into his cage. so now i go in slowly and put my hand on him. this will make him start hissing at me so i don't move any further and let him go quiet. at which point i move my hand under his belly, let him hiss himself quiet again and then gently lift him up and do the same once more. and like i said once he's off the ground hes OK. you could try that with your aggressive boa - depending on whether you can touch it without it straight out biting you.

3)You can get try ahold of a snake hook if its possible, and attempt to take it out using that first. some snakes tend to prefer being taken out on a snake hook first before being placed in their owners hands. also it keeps you out of biting range =) so try that. take it out on a snake hook and when you feel confident, slowly and gently lift her off the hook and into your hands. if this fails consistently with no improvement, move to the next option.

4)Wear some gloves. these will protect you from being bitten to some extent. go into the boa's cage and try and take it out. if it becomes aggressive and starts to hiss or bite, continue to take it out regardless of whether its hissing or biting (if possible) and try to get it off the ground and into your hands, at which point it should calm down a bit. This contradicts any common sense but the logic here is that the boa will realize that hissing at you or biting you wont achieve anything and it will hopefully give up after a few weeks. if you do back down when it fights back it will feel that by doing so, it can gain control over you and will continue to do it. eventually though, it will hopefully stop biting and you can attempt to pick it up using your bare hands.

This option does require a lot of confidence, so use this as a last resort. luckily baby boas have small teeth and their bites don't usually hurt ;)

Hopefully with a bit of time and persistence, your Boa will get used to being handled and will make a great pet.


As for the tank, basically the optimum tank size would be a tank thats width and length is equivalent to the length of the snake. if two snakes are in the tank together then the tank generally needs to be slightly larger but an adult 6ft male and 10ft female boa would happily share a 6ft X 3ft X 2ft tank.

you don't need to change their habitat at all as long as the tank is large enough and there is always a large enough hide box for each snake and a suitable water bowl

I hope this helps,

Andy