Enclosure for an adult boa

[LynnGunn]

This probably sounds like a stupid question but I have seen some conflicting answers, do adult boas generally like to climb? I know that Boas are arboreal especially as babies but I haven't seen many adults in enclosures that allow climbing. I just bought a baby Boa yesterday (he has a branch to climb on at the moment) and I want to figure out what kind of enclosure I will need in the future so I can plan it out now and save up the money overtime.

[bcr229]

Yes they do, and if you give them vertical space and things to climb on, they will use them.

Adult boas are heavy so make sure that their climbable cage furniture is sturdy.

[AKA Dave]

The will most certainly climb. The last boa enclosure I built was 20 inches tall for that very reason. Not a huge amount of head room, but enough.

Dave

[Gio]

Not a bad question.

Short answer,,,,, YES!

Even the big ones will.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oK9g0MyUEeI

Longer answer;

You often don't see cage setups with the climbing options because of cost and space. Many folks keep a lot of animals and are not able to reasonably able to provide caging that is "display style". It comes down to personal choice. My cages are typically stacked 2 high. I can't do much more because I run out of space due to the height.

Another reason is some, not all feel boa constrictors are very much terrestrial. The above video shows even very large boas will climb. People who don't see climbing probably have what I call a "fat happy snake". Why move when food is put inches from your face and comes every week to 10 days? They simply have no reason or drive to do anything and are also in a constant state of digestion.

Sure the really big ones will become more terrestrial, but that is sometimes because limbs heavy enough and big enough to support them are not available. From the research I've studied, wild boas, are seldom the girth of captives boas, and they will use all ground and tree hunting options to their advantage.

Keeping your animal (adult) in more of a feast or famine state will certainly increase it's activity which will include climbing.

This is my semi arboreal locality boa. He is 4 years old and 6.5 feet long.

He does this almost nightly when he's not digesting food.

Hunting and eating a rabbit. 20' tall cage with 3 dowel perches and a huge real tree limb.





Eating a quail. 80% of the time he is perched before feeding. It seems he knows how to hunt.



This is the latest version of his cage. The display aspect is probably one of my favorite things about the hobby.

[Reinz]

Pssst! Adult Boas love to climb.



Elenore








Punch



Punch, wants to go for a spin



Elenore's Green Tree Python impression

[CloudtheBoa]

Yup! Although I don't often see him in his little tree, I know he uses it because he leaves plugs hanging off the branches a lot, and I do catch him sometimes. He was only 5'-5.5' when I first put him in here, which is why the branch is so small. He still uses it with ease, so I've left it in there. It's an all-natural branch that I cut off a tree and let dry since it was green.

[Sauzo]

Depends on the boa really. Most will but some don't care. I have shelves in all my T10s and honestly, my BP uses the shelf more than my boas. My BP is out every night cruising around the shelf. My big Colombian girl uses her shelf too but then again, she cruises all over as well. My sunglow seems to care less really. She prefers to just stretch out on the bottom or prop her head on the litter dam staring out the front of the cage. I personally would offer something to climb on if it was me.