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| Name: |
Samantha
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Age: |
Seven years old
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| Gender: |
Female
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Kind: |
Red-tailed Boa
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| Home: |
Sinnemahoning, Pennsylvania, USA
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I
would like you to meet my very special friend, my pet red-tailed boa.
Her name is Samantha and she is seven years old about two pounds and about four
feet long. Some people say she should be bigger, others say she is okay.
The point is, she's happy and healthy. She lives in a big regular-size
cage or tank that is suited just for her. She loves people and is very
people-oriented. She has a very bright red tail and very clear dark and
light markings too. Her tail is so cool because the white, red, black
brown, colors really stand out very brightly like fresh wet paint. Some
of her markings look faded as if they have been brushed to look smudged
or someone had taking paint remover and erased half of the markings and
that's one of things that make her cool. Her underbelly is all whitish
cream and very bright - in fact her hole body looks shiny at all times
even when shedding, as if some one buffed her to make her all glossy and
pretty. She does have a tendency to have the rainbow effect when she is
shedding or she sparkles, some people say.
The other reason is because I use her for education at my parents'
bait and take shop, to educate adults as well as the children. I also
preach with her in a way. Not like people in those snake churches. But
it's a great why to get someone to pay attention to you and focus on you
and what you are saying, because they are either afraid or enlightened
by her and they are watching her yet find that they have been able to
concentrate on what I'm saying. A lot of people that Samantha and I have
meet are very scared to death and run away screaming, but this is the
unique part. I have had many of people shaking and scared even screaming
while they dared to hold Samantha and she does not react - she just
lays there all calm. Like she is thinking "I know you are afraid of me
but it's okay, because I know you won't or aren't going to hurt me and
you know I'm not going to hurt you." Every year they hold a snake hunt
where we live In Sinnimahoning PA, and Samantha and I always go there.
Sometimes we run in to old friends meet new ones, and see people we have
not seen in a long time. We educate some adults and kids, bring a little
peace to those who are afraid of snakes when they are near or hold them.
I had gotten Samantha from my dad's work buddy named Hippy who raises
them. In fact she was my 2001 graduation present and dad wasn't supposed
to know about it yet. I didn't know that he found out. So here I was, my
mother and I, thinking of how to hide the snake and what were we going
to do when it got bigger and how to hid the mice in the freezer. Well,
my dad was on location working for Halliburton and his buddy came up to
him and told my dad "Hey, your daughter's snake is ready." Well, that
brought a shock to my dad because he's scared to death of snakes.
She was not a baby when I got her she was almost a year old. But my dad
- which we didn't know - played with the baby snakes that Hippy's boa
had, and was already thinking of getting one. Then Hippy had to explain
that he had mistaken me for my dad, because at one time my dad and I
used the same computer. I replied back because my dad's chat was always
on at that time so they could contact him for work, or need information
on how to correct a problem or whatnot because he's an engineer. Well, I
told Hippy sorry I was't Dad, he was still out on location. Hippie said,
"I know. I saw him before I left. I thought he was back at the apartment
with the guys and he got on line." Well, I remembered that Dad had said
Hippy had snakes, and I told him I wanted one, and some day when he was
off work and Dad was at work to run me down one, and asked how much it
would be. He said nothing, he had one he would give me.
I think it was his son's, who liked it but had no time for it, or to
take care of it and in fact had he had her feeding on live mice which
actually chewed her tail up so it looks a little deformed because she
was raised on dead mice. But she wasn't used to being handled too much.
Red tails are a very docile snake and she needed a home and I was
willing to take her. Hippy was not supposed to tell my dad but he
figured he had better in case he said "No," then the snake would be
homeless. Well, anyway, my graduation party was the day I received her,
along with a bird named Baby. My dad handed me a box, and I thought it
was a hamster or something and it was a bird, so I played with it a few
minutes and then put it in the cage with our other bird, Nipper. Nice
bird, just not nice to hold and Baby of course was gentle. So my dad
handed me a brown lunch bag, and I thought it was either food for the
bird, may be a burger or jewelry, but I opened it and just about died!
It was a snake! My snake! Dad explained that Hippy let him in on it to
make sure it was okay, because the other babies weren't ready to leave
yet and this one needed a home.
Dad said she wasn't used to handling, so to take it easy, she won't bite
but she may squirm a lot to get down, and if I scared her or held her
too long squirming, to put her down because then she might bite. At
first I looked at her and was scared to death, because she was so
brightly marked and my mind was like "bright-colored snake danger danger
poison" like our snakes here, her marking kind reminded me of theirs. I
was shaking and so nervous and like Harry Potter when he first talked to
the snake, he was scared but then got calm. She crawled right out of the
bag up my arm and around my neck. Even though she was small, I was so
afraid she was gonna choke me. But she massaged my neck. At first and it
was creepy, but then she settled and went to sleep. That's when I
realized that she was not scared of my fear, like most animals are and
will attack, she was calm and okay with it as if she knew I was scared,
yet realized that she didn't need to attack because I was not going to
hurt her because she was not hurting me.
I go swimming with her and usually scare some people out of that creek
but she doesn't leave my side - she stays right there with me, and
swims along side me or when I'm wading she swims circles around me. If
we go outside she stays in the grass by me in fact id I don't want to go
swimming she swims in our koi pond alongside the fish. She don't really
like to be put down in the house, because our dogs are not afraid of
her, but they have a habit of not watching were they step and they want
to play with her and she don't really know how to play like they do. So
in the house she wants to hide. She likes to climb my mother's small
trees or bushes, in fact half the time I let her climb them I can leave
her there go mow the yard eat supper take a bath and go back out side
way after dark with a flash light and she's still there, which then I
have to carefully pry her off the tree. I've heard of hugging a tree but
she goes way too far with it. I also wrap her around my hair scrunchies
and lots of people think it's a really cool scrunchy till she moves.
I've also put her around my cowgirl hat and everyone is like "I love
your snake skin. Hey, that's cool how you have the skin filled and not
flat ..." and then she moves and so do they! I don't know if boas or
pythons can hypnotize you like old wives' tales say or like the snake in
Jungle Book, but she has me hypnotized and I don't mind it a bit.
I also chose her name Samantha because I wanted something simple yet
beautiful and mysterious. A name for a girl snake that wouldn't scare
you when I said it like Fang or Poison, but would relax you. I also
wanted a name that had some kind fire to it, because of her red tail
which remained me of a redhead and I know a couple people that are named
Samantha that are redheads. They're lovable beautiful, fiery and they
have the womanly mystic or mystery to them and Samantha the snake kind
rolled off the tounge. And my snake seemed to like that name and she
knows it, too because when I talk to her, I say her name and she pays
attention. If I'm on the computer and she tries to climb off my shoulder
and on to the curtains, I say "Samantha get back here" or if she
squeezes a little too much, I say "Samantha, relax." She has never
squeezed me really hard to hurt me, I just say that when she tightens up
more than normal. I have had her on my shoulder and around my neck
while singing and listening to music and dancing, and if I yell at my
parents to ask them something or reply she doean't tighten. In fact, if
I sing or dance or go for a walk I have to actually support her because
she won't hold on herself - she's lazy. If I don't help support her
because she's so relaxed, she would fall - she has done it once or
twice.
I guess hope you like the picture of her. She loves the camera and is
very photogenic. I haven't weighed or measured her in a long while. I
usually do it twice a year spring and right before fall, because she
eats rapidly part of the spring and all summer long and usually getting
toward the late fall and winter she slows down, even though her
temperature is perfect in her cage. I guess at a certain time, even in
the wild when they live in nice weather all year around, they have a
winter dormancy period.
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