Biting The Hand That Feeds You :: Bad Idea

Today I bought two chicks for my Boa Constrictor. I think it has been a month already that I last fed it due to the scarcity of chicks. I have always feared that the next time I will look at the cage, it will already be dead. Boas are known for surviving even if they have not eaten for a long period of time, you just have to provide it with adequate supply of water.

But they are also know for dying because hunger, because after a long period of not eating, they become too weak to eat. This is what I am afraid of, so I plan to feed him every week but the problem was not finding a steady supply of chicks.

Also last week, I had my 75 year old father customize a snake hook out of a thin stainless rod. This week I was surprised that he actually did it, considering his age and the cancer cells eating him up slowly.

Anyway, I was excited to test the tool, but I am not about to let loose a three year old snake that directly came from the wild. Yes, it was sold to me by two miners quarrying a few kilometers away, and even these two brutes are afraid of it.

I opened the cage slightly and used the hook to move the snake, as expected it hissed and attacked me. If not for the wire mesh, it would have bitten me with its long fangs. So much for my plan to clean the cage, the snake is now too agitate to be moved, so what I did was to put one of the chicks in the cage.

It chirped for a minute and then squeaked. I did not see it but I know that the snake already attacked it. After a few minutes, I placed the other chick in the cage, and like the other one, it just chirped for a minute then became quiet, signifying that it has already been attacked and eaten by the snake.

It was a real pity for the chicks, especially now that I really do not have any love for that snake because of its temperament. But the chicks that I bought were sold by peddlers on the street, and the maximum life that they have is just a week. These chicks are from a farm that sells chickens, and disposes the weak ones. Either way, they will be slaughtered. I just put them out of their misery.

It is a big question of what will become of this snake. With continuous feeding, it will grow very big therefore a bigger house is needed.

Another is can it still be tamed? What about my temperament? I have not been bitten by a snake before, especially the one that I saved from sure death. What will I do with it if it bites me and my instinct is to fight back and kill it?

Nah, I believe I am too educated to do that. The first time I acquired it, I spent hours and hours on the net on how to be a responsible owner of this kind of animal. I studied everything from housing to feeding. I would be a fool to kill something that I already invested a lot on.

If I will not be able handle it then I have to look for local government institutions that takes care of these animals, at least I know it will not end up dead or in other people’s stomachs. Tastes like chicken, as some described it after cooking and eating them.

Image Credit: http://travel.mongabay.com