hooray ive just managed to get my boa out and handle him for the first time however i got him out and handled him wearing gloves (pussy eh lol) he seemed very calm and got intrested in smelling/tasteing around me and seemed to like it and he wasent jumpy or anything.

however i did notice that every once in a while he kept on like making his throat inflate a bit and when his air expelled it mad a slight noise but this was not all the time (i am not the most experianced snake owner and i have never noticed my other snake or my old snake do this)

was this either hissing? or a R.I.? or neither please could sombody please let me know and if it is a R.I. what to do

cheers

You don't say how old your boa is but larger snakes do tend to make a noise as they exhale.

__________________

oh sorry i have posted other threds i supposed stupidly of me that every one had read them (idiot lol)
it is a male about 7 years old i was told and abut 6 foot in length

does this sound normal then?

Yes as long as it's not actually wheezing and there is no discharge from it's mouth. It can be quite scary if you're not used to it as the bigger the boa often the louder the noise but it is quite normal.

__________________

Don't forget that snakes can make these noises as a verbal warning.
I have had larger boas do this when they are a little grump and want to be left alone.
But every snake is different.
Just something to be aware of, if your not used to the snake in question.

i only got the boa last monday night and his viv was in a sorry state and the heat lamp was broken and id been told he had not been handled for a a bit but he used to be handled a lot and that he was calm.

i do understand that they can make audiable warnings but he did seem very steady and not in a strike position so i was more concerned about R.I. i have had a garter and now have a royal but have never owned a large snake but have had a fair bit of experiance handling burms which imo ar a lot more docile than my boa but i cant say i remember any noise (was about 6-7 years ago)

Well done you on a successfull first handling session! Hey!, it doesnt matter bout gloves, more people than will admit to it have used them at one time or another. After a few more handling you wont need them keep it up!!

__________________
2:2 Royal ball pythons.
1:1 Childrens Pythons.
2:0 Rosie boas.
1:2 Corn snakes.
1.1 Orange Tangerine Honduran Milksnake
1.0 Orange Albino Honduran Milksnake

As has already been said, larger boas/pythons do tend to make hissing/exhaling noises every so often...

BUT...if the heat lamp was broken in his previous viv...was he getting any heat at all?? i.e - from another heat source?

I would be slightly concerned to be honest as a sudden or prolonged drop in temperature can bring on an R.I...

I had a young snake couriered to me fairly recently that was sent overnight with no heat packs...and she developed an R.I within a day or two...obviously I got her down to the vets asap for a course of Baytril, but there's no doubt in my mind that it was the sudden drop in temperature for that period of 15 odd hours that bought it on...

I guess this is one of the risks of transporting reptiles via courier (other than reptile taxi etc)...where an overnight stay occurs... Although when packed properly there should be no problem...

Just keep an eye on the boa would be my advice...

If he had another source of heat, then I wouldn't worry too much...as he would have been at room temperature anyway...but a prolonged length of time even at room temperature would be a cause for concern in my opinion...

Hope this helps

__________________

i have managed another two handling sessions both for about 20 mins each both successful and i haven't heard that hiss again he seems a very steady snake actualy but still dont like him coming to close to my face with his.

the lamp was the only sorce of heat and was as far as i know off all night at least so i have a new lamp and got him a heat mat as well just in case

as regards the R.I. i will keep an eye on him but i have not noticed any foam/discharge or anything from his mouth and is hopefully nohing to wory about