Enclosure upgrading?

[NYDragon]

Hi! I'm wondering when I should move my little guy up to a bigger enclosure. Right now he is in a 10g. I have a 40g that my beardie used to use that I could put him in until I have money to buy a nice custom enclosure for him. He was sold to me as a Central American Boa and he just shed out. The shed measured about 20 inches long. So I'm guessing he is around that length (tried to measure him but he decided it would be great fun to coil all over the tape measure, took me forever to get him untangled ) I don't want to move him up too soon and have him be stressed out. Any opinions? Do you think that a 36x18x18 enclosure will be big enough for a permanent enclosure? The guy at the expo said he should be about 4-6 ft. (Although I'm nervous that maybe he sold me a colombian instead of a smaller central amer., its so hard to tell though). Here's the little monster.



Thanks so much for any help. I'm pretty new at this and want to make sure I take the best care of him possible.

Erin

[BabysMomma]

36x18x18 will almost certainly not be sufficient for a fully grown boa constrictor. You'll likely need a 48x24x36, at minimum.

[NYDragon]

Ok, I figured he'll need something fairly large. I'm starting to research cages for the future (when he's full grown). I just wasn't sure how big of an enclosure a full grown central american boa gets. In the meantime, should I start moving him up to a 40g now until I get a bigger, custom enclosure? I don't want to move him up too soon and stress him out. But he is pretty active and goes back and forth across his cage and up his branches. So I'm not sure what would be best for him. Thanks!

Erin

[ScottyBoa]

Small adult males can do fine in 36x18x18 which is about the size of a 41qt sterlite. I know breeders who keep their females in 48x24x12s and I recenlty saw an 8 ft Guyana male in an enclosure that size. It sounds small but he had plenty of room.

As for the little guy in the pic, a 40 gallon tank will be fine for probably another year and you might as well use it if you already have it. I have a 2007 female and she's still in a 41qt sterlite with plenty of room. She is on the small side but I'm just sayin.

[Wh00h0069]

Small adult males can do fine in 36x18x18 which is about the size of a 41qt sterlite. I know breeders who keep their females in 48x24x12s and I recenlty saw an 8 ft Guyana male in an enclosure that size. It sounds small but he had plenty of room.

As for the little guy in the pic, a 40 gallon tank will be fine for probably another year and you might as well use it if you already have it. I have a 2007 female and she's still in a 41qt sterlite with plenty of room. She is on the small side but I'm just sayin.

I agree. If it is a male, then you should easily be able to house him in a three foot cage. Central American boas are also smaller than some types of boas.

I would wait until his body length is at least as long as the cage. He could comfortably stay in a cage that is 3/4 the length of his body.

[NYDragon]

Thanks! He's just about the length of his current enclosure so I'll probably be setting up the 40g breeder soon. It can be difficult finding this type of info on the web. So much conflicting information out there. Thanks so much for helping me out

Erin

[ScottyBoa]

General rule of thumb is the enclosure should be at least 3/4 the length of the body and use good judgement on the width. Height really isn't a biggie. 12" is MORE than enough but most tubs aren't even close to that and the animals do fine. IMO a 24" tall cage for a boa is a waste of space/money if you are breeding. If its a display snake then it all depends on what you want and your wallet.

[mechnut450]

igot a remale that about 7 ft long i keep her in a 4x2x2 cage (ft) with sliding doors with no trouble. i personal feel it small at timesfor her but she loves to just lat in there or if i let her roam push my bp tubs out and lay on their heat source.

[NYDragon]

Yeah, I'm not breeding. I have them as pets. Or should I say they have me as a maid, cook and climbing branch He spends his time half hang out and the other half climbing all over the cage, hanging from the top, pulling the digital probe of my thermometer around. He's a little monster. I've been looking through a few sites that sell custom cages and whatnot but I'm not sure who has decent products and semi-affordable prices. I don't want to spend more than $400-$500 and some of those companies are way too expensive. I just want a nice display cage that is affordable and is suitable for him. In the meantime, I do have that 40g breeder. I'll keep looking though. Thanks so much!

Erin

[Oroborous]

I got my boa when he was tiny like that and had him housed in a 20 gal long for the first year of his life. I then moved him into a 4 foot long, 2 foot deep AP cage. He's 4 feet long now and I'll house him in a 6 foot enclosure as an adult.