Too small for a boa?

[Ash]

For my last birthday I got a 2 foot by 3 foot boaphile plastics enclosure that was intended for my big female ball python. I had been thinking she looked crowded in her little 20L tank. However, after putting her in her new, beautifully furnished enclosure, to my dismay she stopped eating. After a trip to the vet, I reluctantly moved her back into her 20 gallon and she started eating again right away. So now I have this giant, brand new enclosure with installed heat just sitting in my garage unused. It's apparently too big for a ball python (and any other snake in their size range, corns, milksnakes, womas etc) so I was hoping I might put my first boa in there instead. I did some research and found a few people recommended floor space for a full-grown boa to be 10 square feet, but the info was inconsistent... Do you guys think that a boa could be housed comfortably in a 6 square foot enclosure? If not, what kind of snake would be well-suited for that size? I can't think of anything :-/ All input is appreciated!

[SpiderBP]

Any of the smaller boas (Hogg Island's) for instance should do fine. Even a male Columbian would work. I had a 4 year old Male Columbian in a custom made enclosure of 2X3....he was fine....and he was about 5 1/2 to 6 feet long.

Good Luck,
-SpiderBP

[Ash]

Excellent. :-) I was thinking that a male boa might be better-suited since they tend to run smaller. But I didn't want to run myself into a situation where I would have to go buying an even bigger enclosure than the one I have.

[SpiderBP]

If you are worried...I would look at the Hogg Island Boas...they pretty much look the same for the most part...there are color morphs and so on...but they GENERALLY stay anywhere between 3.5-5.5 feet....
I don't know what morph this one is, but I love it!

[Bo_]

My two year old male Hog Island is 4ft long and he has slowed alot in the growing department, he is in a 90qt tub and is doing great so i would think a 2x3ft cage would be ok

also my Hog Island has an amazing personality at 4ft it takes 1 person to hold him and 1 person to watch where he is going because he wants to go everywhere

[olstyn]

Assuming you're willing to deal with the higher humidity requirements (which shouldn't be difficult in a boaphile cage), a Brazilian Rainbow Boa should do fine in that size enclosure as well.

[DarkComeSoon]

Caulker Cay BCI's are a beautiful dwarf boa that stays between 4-5 feet long.

[Ash]

there's a few coral albino boas available that I had my eye on. They're just so pretty! if they're males maybe it will work. At the very least, he/she would be comfortable in the 2 x 3 cage for a few years. I'm wondering now if hogg's island boas have a coral albino phase. And rainbow boa is a good idea too... Oh, decisions.

[Aeries]

I agree with all the suggestions on boas made so far, but I figured I'd add in my two cents about cage size.
There's no such thing as a cage too big. The world is many snakes cage, and they do fine. The key is the hides. A giant cage with a hide on the hot end and on the cool end makes a snake feel insecure and stressed. Provide them with LOTS of hides (which should be done no matter what size the cage is.) Use things like foliage so the snake can feel like it's hidden even when it's moving around.
My BP is in a 4x2, my corns have 3x2. I have no problems with them whatsoever.
The biggest problem with large enclosures is they're going to be harder to heat properly, but if you're putting another snake in there, then you're going to have to deal with that anyways.

[Hapa_Haole]

If you wanted to get a colubrid, I don't think that enclosure would be too big for them. They tend to be much more active and adventurous snakes than BPs, and they might appreciate the extra roaming ground. On top of it, they are voracious eaters so I doubt they'd go off feed for ya. Just make sure they are given the proper hides and they should be golden.

And I believe some species of milk snakes can get to be around 6 foot.

It sounds like you already have your heart set on a boa, but I just wanted to leave the options open for ya.

Dennis