My first Boa

Got this Red Tail Boa today (gender unknown) at a local reptile shop we found. They had a good deal on some nice yearlings (I think the guy said a few months, not sure on the exact age) so I decided to snatch one up. I've done some reading prior and know these become giants. Can't wait to build my own vivarium for it.
http://img88.imageshack.us/img88/878...800x6001hj.jpg

http://img134.imageshack.us/img134/4...800x6002xh.jpg

Right now he's chilling in the warm side (bought me a 25 dollar digi thermo-hydrometer, I hope it's more accurate) at around 92*F and 52% humidity. :D
Is there anything inparticular I should know about this species as far as handling and fedding is concerned? He seemed a lot more active than my ball when I handled him in the reptile shop today. :)

P.S. Disregard that heat rock you see in the first pic. That was given to me for some dumb reason. I know not to use those. ;)

Congrats on the new boa! :gj: Let me know if you need some links for some caresheets. They're pretty easy to take care of... they have a GREAT feeding response and are amazingly fast and strong compared to a Ball. They also seem to move around a lot more and are a lot less shy. He might enjoy a branch to climb around on while he's young, but when he gets older he probably won't use it too much.

Probably best to get this snake sexed as female columbians get a fair bit bigger than the males so you may as well know up front what you will end up dealing with. I don't believe they are actually classed as a "giant" like burmese pythons, reticulated pythons, etc. are. They do get to be a good sized, muscular snake you need to respect for it's sheer strength. They are usually very aggressive eaters that easily take live, f/t or p/k prey and are not extremely prey specific. They do have quite a long strike range so plan for safe feeding procedures. Start good habits now and you'll be fine when this snake is larger.

Rock on! Hot boa there...They definitely don't qualify as giants, even the biggest females. But they can become large and a handful. Do your research and you'll be fine. Welcome!!

Boas Rock! You'll love him/her, they have an awesome personality. I've heard about males being smaller than females, but it isn't really a 100% thing. Don't worry too much about it, it might only be six inches to a foot either way. When they are that big, it doesn't matter anymore..lol. Take your finger and press from it's butt down to it's tip of the tail firmly. Do this a few times and if you feel a double bump or bulge...it's a boy. It will be one after the other type thing. This is really easy to tell with boas. Press firmly though, but not too hard. Good luck!

Defently not giants like everyone else said but a large female can be 9-10' and 50+ lbs although that would be an older boa. Most are tame as long as you handle them every once in a while. I usually hold my 2 1-2 times a week for just 10-20 minutes and try and get them out sides 1 time a week if the weather is ok. Nice boa and I hope you don't use that rock heater in the background in that first pic. If its a male you should expect to have a 4' by 2' cage MINIMUM as an adult and for a female, 6' by 2' is a minimum althought I would do 6' by 30" or something like that for an adult.

how nice is he. you take good care of it and you will have a great frind for many many years. if you have any questions dont hesitate to send me a pm
matt

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Originally Posted by fish21

how nice is he. you take good care of it and you will have a great frind for many many years. if you have any questions dont hesitate to send me a pm
matt

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:gj:

Quote:

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Originally Posted by fish21

how nice is he. you take good care of it and you will have a great frind for many many years. if you have any questions dont hesitate to send me a pm
matt

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Ya, what he said

As much as our first love is and always will be Ball Pythons I just can't imagine not having a Columbian Boa in the house. They are personality plus and at least in our limited experience, very easy keepers and not as easily stressed as the BP's.