Starter Boa?

[Phanpy]

I have a ball python right now, and he is in good health. So I am thinking of picking up a new snake at the NC reptile expo, preferably a boa; but I would like/need one that would be about 4-6 feet I looked in the boa FAQs at the smaller boas, none interested me except for the hogg island boa really; and I don't know if I could find one at the expo. I would love a rainbow boa, but I am not experienced enough to keep one.

So what are some small, but not too small boas for a beginer?
Some prices would be helpful, as I am a 16 year old working at a grocery store.

[CherryBP]

There are a couple I could think of, The Rosy Boa, The Kenyan Sand boa. Ive kept both species and thought the kenyan was really boring. The Rosy was AWSOME!!! He had the best personality.

-Cameron

[Kagez28]

your basically asking for a ball python...

i have a BCI and he's about 1-2 years old and he's already 4.5 feet, so the length your looking at is a little small for a common red tail boa.

[Pork Chops N' Corn Bread]

I still try and steer beginers away from a Hog island. Most I have dealt with are like leaky tires, they just keep hissing away and when you get too close, they strike. Not saying that this is all but they seem to have more bad days than good. I on the other hand have a Nic that is the sweetest thing and has never bitten. I would expect her to stay under 6'

[Pork Chops N' Corn Bread]

Oh ya, Anything Mexican basically
Tarahumara
Sonoran
Honduran
Nicuraguan
Caulker Cay
Crawl Cay

Those are some of the most common dwarf boas although there are some less common and more expensive out there

[JimiSnakes]

All of my Colombian males are under 5 feet and barely 5-7lbs. They are lean mean breeding machines, lol. I'm a firm believer that a male colombian boa doesn't ever need to go off medium rats. Hogs are not a step up from BP's, they are fiesty little buggers and hiss and bite quite randomly. All of the above named Island and smaller locale boas are the same way. When you start to get locale specific, imo, they tend to get more and more intermediate level. Good luck!

psst..get a colombian...lol

[Skiploder]

All of my Colombian males are under 5 feet and barely 5-7lbs. They are lean mean breeding machines, lol. I'm a firm believer that a male colombian boa doesn't ever need to go off medium rats. Hogs are not a step up from BP's, they are fiesty little buggers and hiss and bite quite randomly. All of the above named Island and smaller locale boas are the same way. When you start to get locale specific, imo, they tend to get more and more intermediate level. Good luck!

psst..get a colombian...lol

I'll second you on the smaller locale boas - my Tarahumara is alternately a joy and a pain. He'll go for a long time being completely mellow and then have a good run of 4 or 5 days of utter nastiness.

[MelissaFlipski]

I have a ball python right now, and he is in good health. So I am thinking of picking up a new snake at the NC reptile expo, preferably a boa; but I would like/need one that would be about 4-6 feet I looked in the boa FAQs at the smaller boas, none interested me except for the hogg island boa really; and I don't know if I could find one at the expo. I would love a rainbow boa, but I am not experienced enough to keep one.

So what are some small, but not too small boas for a beginer?
Some prices would be helpful, as I am a 16 year old working at a grocery store.

Just wondering what you ended up getting. I have a BP and am thinking about a Rosy Boa (which someone recommended).

[uro1001]

as mentioned rosy boa would probably be your best bet. columbians are great but their size can vary. some can be 5-6 feet and others can be 7+. for example i have one male columbian thats 5.5 foot and another thats pushing 7 1/2

[jjspirko]

Don't mean to go against the grain here, however, I have seen quite a few very docile hoggs. All were captive bred and all where handled a lot as young snakes so I think the key with hoggs is shop around and take your time to find one with a good attitude and then handle it a lot as it grows up. They are also beautiful animals. I have also seen my share of mean and hissy ones too.

I think it is often more the individual snake or even the line rather then the species or sub species as a whole.

For instance I have seen some pretty mean Nicaraguan boas yet Pork Chops N' Corn Bread has found them to be a joy. I don't doubt that for a second either.

One caution though just because any snake is "calm" and "gentle" when you first handle it don't assume it will always be. As skip noted some of his are very chill then have a period of bad days, I can second this in not just boas but even some colubrids.

There other thing is often in shows the animals are very cold and there by are a lot calmer then they really are. Get them home and warmed up and the real attitude is displayed.