Costa Rican Boa

Considering it's WC I'd say about 2 yrs, they dont eat weekinly in the wild ;)

oh! i didnt think about that. i hope i can grow him to his full potential.

i was unaware that boas would eat other reptiles (cold blooded) on a regular basis. this guy in pavones told me that his boa was eating iguanas all the time. then on youtube, i see this video that was shot IN Costa Rica of a Boa eating a nice size iguana.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=ZfntSt9jTME

One of mine loves bats XD

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Originally Posted by Jakob

Ok, its been a while since i posted. i moved from texas to costa rica and have been enjoying it immensely! in the process, i had to sell/give away three Normal Balls before i left texas.

now that i am here living in costa rica, i am thoroughly missing my ball pythons. i havent spoken to anyone who knows about getting ahold of a ball pythons, but Boas are highly common. not for pets though. the laws here are very strict on owning wildlife. i have to go through quite a bit paperwork and problems to LEGALLY own my Boa. to me, this is ridiculous.

while i was in Pavones, i asked one of the local boys where i could get a Boa. he told me that he had one living around his house and he would be right back. for fear that he would be rough when he caught it, i asked if i could go, but he acted as if he was uncomfortable. the people here live in very 'humble' accommodations and i guess he was possibly embarrassed. so, he comes back with the snake, and i give him 15,000 colones (30 dollars) for his troubles. you cant imagine how happy he was.

here are some photos of the Boa and please let me know what type you think he is. he has grown a little bit since these pictures.

http://i51.photobucket.com/albums/f390/ebbylyn/Boa3.jpg

http://i51.photobucket.com/albums/f390/ebbylyn/Boa1.jpg


he has been fairly calm for being a wild caught Boa. i have been bitten now once. never have i suffered a strike or bite from any of my ball pythons. but, this bite from the boa was my fault. he was hanging out on my neck and started to explore a bit. he ended up slithering up on top of my head and when he lost balance, the tip of his tail went inside my left nostril. my wife is watching me and laughing and i am laughing because its tickling. as he/she fell, it secured a tight grip around my face. i was laughing through my nose trying not to open my mouth and was producing alot of hot air that was hitting my boa in its face. i noticed that the boa coiled back as if it was going to strike my face and i quickly put my hand up to grab it. i got tagged on my pinky. it took probably two solid weeks for the cut to heal.

http://i51.photobucket.com/albums/f3...yn/BoaBite.jpg

i have gotten the boa out several times since the bite and had no problems.

are there any suggestions i need to hear about keeping a wild caught Boa?

thanks guys!

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Im trying to figure out the same thing. I am ordering a pair of "costa rican" boas from lllreptile.com. The problem is that I only know that they are from costa rica. Ive done alot of research on them and so far havent seen anything that even thouched what they look like till I seen yours. So if you have found anything on them would you please let me know and i'll do the same. Thanks

The Costa Ricans will usually stay smaller as far as boas go, with the males averaging around 5ft and the females averaging in the 6-7ft range. Here is a photo of my Costa Rican male, who is just over 1.5 years old and right at 3ft long. He was CB from imported parents. I do not know if the parents were CB or Wild Caught.

http://i1019.photobucket.com/albums/...t/HPIM0694.jpg

Your friend might be the best source of information for your Wild Caught questions, but there are two of the most knowledgable boa breeders/importers in the States that may be able to offer some advice. They are Vin Russo of Cutting Edge Herpetological and Gus Rentfro of Rio Bravo Reptiles...

http://www.cuttingedgeherp.com/contactinformation/

http://www.riobravoreptiles.com/

Yep, Costa Rican boas are a locale of the subspecies Boa constrictor imperator. Though they are not actually "red tail" boas, they are within the same subspecies as Colombian "red tails" (not actually red tail boas, but that's beside the point), the boas you see most often in the pet trade. Costa Ricans are typically much smaller than Colombians and have darker, more beige markings.

And there is a good chance that he may have internal parasites (most wild snakes do), but as he is your only resident snake and I don't know how easy it is to find herp vets in Costa Rica, you could probably let him be and he'll be fine.

man i have some aquitances from an spanish spoken forum that are already buying captive breed boas in C. rica, please free the one you got and buy a CB, they have not pappers, but its better than a WC, if you are interested send an MP and i contact you with that ppl.