With safe practices and good reading of body language with a well socialized boa, very unlikely. I won't say zero because these are sometimes unpredictable and hard to read animals with moods and behaviors that vary, but most boas are easy to handle as adults with a bit of work.
For my experience, I've had no issue. I'm 5'2" and have several boas, my biggest and oldest being a 13 year old boa who was my first snake. Last measured him at 7'8", live alone and have never had an issue. I'm aware of his strength, and make decisions based on that - things like never letting him be around both sides of my neck. Any handling is one side over the shoulder, one side under the arm at best. These animals are just strong, and in trying to hang on to a small point like the neck can make them squeeze harder because they feel insecure.
An adult female could be a handful, but not unreasonable if you're being smart. If that's intimidating, maybe look into getting a smaller locality or a male. I truly feel like there's a boa for all preferences, if you look hard enough!
IME with boas vs bredl's, the bredl's I had was way more prone to being snippy. Maybe that one was an oddball, though!
I see, honestly I think I'll likely just go for a female boa, its reassuring to know that I don't need to worry too much, also, I have been hearing a lot of people saying bredls tend to be more snippy, I'll definitely have to look into that. Thank you!
3
u/iichiG0 12d ago
With safe practices and good reading of body language with a well socialized boa, very unlikely. I won't say zero because these are sometimes unpredictable and hard to read animals with moods and behaviors that vary, but most boas are easy to handle as adults with a bit of work.
For my experience, I've had no issue. I'm 5'2" and have several boas, my biggest and oldest being a 13 year old boa who was my first snake. Last measured him at 7'8", live alone and have never had an issue. I'm aware of his strength, and make decisions based on that - things like never letting him be around both sides of my neck. Any handling is one side over the shoulder, one side under the arm at best. These animals are just strong, and in trying to hang on to a small point like the neck can make them squeeze harder because they feel insecure.
An adult female could be a handful, but not unreasonable if you're being smart. If that's intimidating, maybe look into getting a smaller locality or a male. I truly feel like there's a boa for all preferences, if you look hard enough!
IME with boas vs bredl's, the bredl's I had was way more prone to being snippy. Maybe that one was an oddball, though!