Dumerils boa and caudal luring - say again? What?

[froot]

Never thought I'd post this but has anybody seen a dumeril's boa perform caudal luring? I have, while feeding today.

I have a female about 3 years old and she gets incredibly excited when it's feeding time. After feeding her one rat which she took instantly she became very excited, cruising all over the enclosure responding to any movement that caught her eye. Being a naughty bugger I teased her a bit by touching her from whichever end of the enclosure where her head was not. Her head would shoot over back and forth to wherever the activity was. It got to the point where the tip of her tail was wiggling violently while her body pose was motionless, of the waiting in ambush kind. She got her rat, in mid air.

Maybe it could just be that this is how a creature without arms and legs displays over excitement but then again, could it be caudal luring?

[MCD]

Very interesting, but please excuse my ignorance but what exactly is caudal luring?

[jka]

That is very interesting Froot, check next feeding time she might do it again

MCD: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RvmiRIWe5qs

[EDDY]

Our 4.5m burmese (Glenda) also does it. When you are trying to move her and you see her tail wiggling then you know there is a big chance of you getting bitten some time soon.

[Bushviper]

I have never seen this in any boa or python but I recently saw my adult black mamba wiggle his tail as well when I put in food. His food was dead but he still gets excited and when he strikes it the venom drips down like clear glycerine. Then next feed I was ready with the video camera and he did not do it. The next week he did it but not as much as the first time.

Froot I am going to "tease" him like you did and see what happens. Try video taping it next time and then we must try to upload it because I have never seen this documented anywhere. I will also see if I can capture it. Eddy try to get "Glenda" to wiggle her naughty parts on camera too.

[jka]

Bushvipe, I saw a woma, gtp and boa on youtube that was suppose be luring the prey.

[Bjorn]

My male madagascan ground boa wags his tail a lot when I touch him. I wouldn"t say it was caudal luring but more when they are excited or startled and fearful. Like a dogs when happy or an angry cat. I haven't seen if during feeding.

@ Froot was your boa using it's tail as a lure or was it just excited?

[froot]

I'm not sure Bjorn, I was wondering what everyone else thought. She was definitely excited but at one particular moment she froze in strike pose and her tail tip was going crazy. It defintely has something to do with excitement though, but weather it's instinctive or not I cannot say. I keep my hands out of that enclosure, anything that moves is potential food and I have to break the response with a hook first before I handle them.

BV I'll try to video when I feed her again, but my abilities fall sharply downward when it comes to taking a recording and turning it into something I can post. Think it's my outdated cam that's half the problem.

[Bjorn]

OK, well I just fed my Madagascan Ground boas and now I know what you mean. She ( baby monster) had her tail up right and it really looked like she was luring with it. Really amazing. I still think it's excitement but this has changed my mind a tad. If she brought her tail in front of her face and lured then I would definitely say that it is luring. Very interesting and awesome to see.

[Bjorn]

Thanks guys. Next time I will just keep my mouth shut. I was just making an observation. Maybe we should move this post to fun and games.

Point taken and offending posts deleted. BV

[Bushbaby]

Hi froot,

I have recently seen my female Dumerils Boa caudal luring on two occassions. I must admit the second time was funny, as I had just gone into my snake room to check on my snakes, and she was flicking her tail about madly... and then she caught it!! haha. Shame, poor girl! Will try record it when I get a chance.

[Hustler]

2 of my corn snakes do that alot but only when you irritate them then only they do the tail thing. I cant say I've ever seen them do it at feeding time though.

[jka]

@Hustler are you sure they are caudal luring? It sounds more like one of their defensive behaviors, they usually rapidly tap/hit their tail on the substrate to make a loud noise to warn you.

[Bushbaby]

2 of my corn snakes do that alot but only when you irritate them then only they do the tail thing. I cant say I've ever seen them do it at feeding time though.

As jka said, this is most probably a defensive mechanism and imitating Rattlesnakes. Ratsnakes, Cornsnakes and Kingsnakes (think Milksnakes too) and known to do this. Caudal luring is a little different to that.

[froot]

she was flicking her tail about madly... and then she caught it!! haha.

They're not the brightest snakes I keep, to put it mildly.