Columbian Red Tail Boa.

[Shawn]

A boa my age wouldn't do anything if it started constricting around my arm -- you'd definitely feel pressure, but no pain. Boas/pythons are very, very strong. Chris' snakes would be another story entirely, though, especially Jafar. She could easily kill you if she got around your neck and felt like constricting.

Westech, this boa is one of the kindest I've seen. It's very active, but no sort of aggression at all -- its never snapped at me.

I could feed it frozen food, but I'm going to see how he reacts to fuzzies (r2d2: small live mice) first -- I'll let you know Wednesday how well of an eater he (or she) is and how it reacts to live prey.

[r2d2]

Still havent heard any backup plans if one should escape

[James]

How is one to know whether a Boa is a male or female?

[Chris]

There are physical characteristics that can give you a reasonable guess. The only sure way though (and even then on young snakes its not 100% sure) is probing (exactly what it sounds like). Its best done by a vet though since it can injure the snake.

[James]

Or by an alien.

What do you do, though, (besides **** yourself, Mike) if a full-grown Boa starts constricting? Start punching?

[AndyH]

Not a snake person...

[Shawn]

If you're handling (letting them crawl on you) a full grown python or boa, you should have another person there just in case the snake starts constricting you. If you're by yourself, you're going to have a very tough time stopping the snake.

[Westech]

Most owners of large snakes keep a mirror in the room to help them see what's going on if they need to disentangle themselves.

[Dorson]

Hello everyone i have acouple of pets and i have 2 lizards 2 snakes and i have sharks and stuff.i have a columbian red tail that makes me very nervous i just bought him i think he's gonna bite me is there anything i could do for him to get used to me.he was never handled before just fed he is 32 inches now.he has really nice colors i left him alone in his tank for 3 days so he could get used to his new home can someone help me.

[Chris]

Heh... snake advice on a webmaster forum....

kingsnake.com is an excellent resource (Though hard to use and cluttered). The most popular snake site on the Internet probably.

Most snakes need to be conditioned when young to be friendly. My only advice with yours would be to handle it every day and eventually it should cool down.

[r2d2]

...and i have sharks...

You have pet sharks!? I think thats the craziest pet I've ever heard! I thought a pet Lion/Tiger was crazy, but sharks! I take it your fish tank doesnt fit on the coffee table ?

Sorry, I can't help on the snake though - hopefully someone else can!

[James]

The spined bygmy shark is only 8-10 inches long. It could probably fit on a good-sized coffee table.

Dorson: if you didn't feed it for those 3 days, and they didn't feed it at the store for 5-7 days prior (IE they were expecting to feed it the day after you bought it), you know it could become agressive.

[r2d2]

Yes, I guess there are small sharks - you (or I do anyway) just think of sharks being big and dangerous

[Shyflower]

My husband and a partner raise snakes and also build snake cages.

I don't even want to start talking about all the snakes we have around the house -- and dragons, and geckos, and tortoises, and frogs .... etc.

I'm glad to see there are other reptile lovers here!

[Chris]

What kind of cages?

My female snake has outgrown the largest premade cage I can find. So I'm building a custom one out of some industrial shelving and pieces of plexiglass. It won't be anything nice to look at though.

I've looked for larger premade ones but they're always overpriced IMO.