Is the Rosy boa friendly? Because my friend said that it is vicious and it bit his hand.?

Question

Is the Rosy boa friendly? Because my friend said that it is vicious and it bit his hand.?

Answer 1

You know it depends on the snake. I have meet mean ones and i have meet nice ones. I think it depends on if you get one as a baby and how much you handle it. I don` t think they have a mean predisposition.

Answer 2

Hello, I own/have owned three Rosy boas and I have never been bitten. Heck; none of them have ever so much as hissed at me. They are probably one of the calmest, most docile snakes I have ever worked with. For evidence that they can be easily handled, here is a picture of my male two year old San Felipe Rosy boa on my hand. :)

http://tinyurl.com/2ery38

Snakes as a whole really can't be vicious. They bite out of fear, they bite because they think something is prey, or they bite because they are in pain, but they never bite just for the sake of it.

Some Rosys have a very high prey drive; does your friend use a hook or tongs to remove it from its cage so that the snake realizes that your friend isn't food? Is it a baby and/or not used to being handled? Does your friend have other animals and not wash his hands before picking up the Rosy? Does he squeeze, pinch, or try to 'hold on' to the Rosy when it is being handled? All of those can be a reason for biting.

While it is possible that your friend just has a 'bad egg' Rosy that is terrified of people and will bite because of that; it is much more likely that your friend is inadvertently doing something to provoke the biting.

For further reading, here is a website that is a wonderful resource on Rosy boa general information, care, localities, behavior, etc:

http://www.rosyboas.com

I hope this helps, and if you have any further questions at all on the subject; please feel free to message me and I will be more than happy to assist you. :)

Good luck!

Answer 3

All I've heard about them is that they are the most docile cuties ever.  I have one, and she has /never/ bitten me.  Maybe he was hand feeding?  Or he approached the snake too fast.  Or the snake is a baby and doesn't know better.  

The snake is NOT vicious, they always have a reason for the bite.  I've been prey-bitten by my other snake, which is known to be nippy, and I was feeding him at the time.