Hissing at me!?!?

[}{ades]

I went to go feed my BCC a frozen then thawed mouse. I tried the normal dangling above him where he normally strikes at and eats it. Today though after a week and a few days of not being fed, he wouldnt strike at the mouse. I tried tapping his mouth with the mouse and he didnt go at it...i tried to act like the mouse was moving around and for him to get it that way. Then he started hissing at me really loud..is he pissed or what??? I tried taking him out of the tub to put him back in the cage and he would stike at anything i put near him..so i finally had to put a towel on him and grab him that way. Whats the deal here??

[lefty]

it sound like he doesnt want food at the moment. mine hiss to let me know they have had enuf. its best just to leave him alone for a bit. he may be about to shed, this is can be enuf to send them abit nasty when approached.
maybe you can help me. i have just bought a new boa but i am unsure of what kind he is. you say you have a columbian red tail, could you count the saddles on his back and let me know how many he has. iv been told that true red tails have less than 22 and mine has 21 but i dont know how true this is, so im asking everyone i find that owns one

[}{ades]

Well I was told that mine was not the true red-tail. BCI or BCC..i have a BCC. Although they look almost similiar theres still a difference.

He hasn't ate in a week almost two..so i dont know why he wont eat this damn mouse.

[lefty]

how many saddles does he have?

[DaemoNox]

This is a good example to why I prefer feeding larger snakes in the enclosure (its not about where you feed but how you feed). How would you like to have your food hitting your head when you have no interest in it? Its also very possible he's going into shed which would explain both the refusal and attitude.

True redtails and commons can be hard to tell apart, and saddle count alone wont distinguish the two. True redtails are Bcc. Hades if you were told hes not a true redtail then you have a Bci. If you dont know what species you have then 99% of the time its a Bci. True redtails, or Bcc, are harder to find and usually cost a good $100 or more then a common and are most often locality specific. Colombian locality Bcc I believe are pretty uncommon still. Basicly if your have a Bcc you know what it is because you bought it that way. If you dont know, then you have your plain common boa constrictor, or Bci (they are often called colombian boas because thats where they were mainly imported from).

Back to the main question, double check the husbandry; make sure it feels comfortable in his home and that his temps are right. Sometimes the drop in ambient temp alone from the changing of seasons can throw them off food. Also try leaving the rodent alone with him (thawed of course) for a few hours in the dark. If he was eating well before I wouldnt worry too much, offer once a week still and he will eat when he's hungry.

[Lychos]

It is a Bci, it's of Columbian origin as well. He was going into shed and wasn't interested in food at the moment. I know all of this because I have it's sister and I am the one who purchased the two.