BBCI vs BCC (apologies if its been covered)

[dkatz4]

First of all, i know this topic must have been covered at various times and on various forums, but i thought its a good enough topic to start a fresh thread (i hope).

Basically i've become super interested in BCC's (i know, i know its just BC now, but i like to kick it old-school) It seems the predominant opinion is that they are both harder to maintain husbandry-wise and not as "tame"/amenable to handling and human interaction. My question to all you lovely boa-folk: is it true??? As much as i love the look of BCC, i am not a collector, i want a pet, so if they are not going to be shoulder-able, its just not going to be a match. I mean, i heard that central americans were feisty, but my Irwin is a puppy. Also note - differences in care between babies and adults; i'm mostly looking at adults/sub-adults. Also, regarding husbandry, i have no interest at all in breeding, so the special treatment that it may or may not require is of no consequence to me, i just want an awesome bright red-tailed pet.

Thanks everyone!

[GoingPostal]

Far from an expert, I don't have any BI but my BC is incredibly calm and tolerant of handling, I let my ten year old niece hold him by herself. Recently he had a vet visit (missed a meal and struck the cage door causing some facial swelling) and he was restrained, mouth opened, nose poked around in, calm as a cucumber. I got him last year and he's 3-4 years old right now, hasn't hissed or struck at me so far.

[Gio]

Far from an expert, I don't have any BI but my BC is incredibly calm and tolerant of handling, I let my ten year old niece hold him by herself. Recently he had a vet visit (missed a meal and struck the cage door causing some facial swelling) and he was restrained, mouth opened, nose poked around in, calm as a cucumber. I got him last year and he's 3-4 years old right now, hasn't hissed or struck at me so far.

I think you'll see answers like this more frequently than most people expect.

The "stories" of old stem mostly from wild caught boas that came here in shipments with dozens of other reptiles and animals. Care during shipping and health of the animals were not a priority then.

Many snakes arrived here very sick, with parasites and diseases and others were so stressed they became ill.

Some keepers were able to nurse these snakes back to health but the process was long and not much was known about their care.

The wild caught animals were often defensive, but with decades of captive breeding and increased knowledge about care, they have become an easy keep.

They typically grow slower and end up larger in as adults, typically and not all BCC are huge.

Guyana and Suriname BCC were the boas that were noted as being harder to care for. They still need to be fee more conservatively, and a bit more attention is required on the husbandry end of things, but nothing difficult.

BCC from Peru are some of the largest boas out there, and they are said to be more hardy than the Guyana and Suri boa but are also harder to breed.

Brazilian BCC are also supposedly more tolerant of changes in husbandry.

If you like BCC don't be put off by some basic care strategies that are easily attainable for most responsible keepers.

I'm tossing between a Suri and a locality coastal carpet myself.

I say get yourself a BCC if you like them!