Intrigued with boas.....

Boas have been catching my eye and interest lately. I like the looks of redtails, and dumerils. I don't know much about any of the boas. I do know that I don't really have room for a great big enclosure to keep a redtail in. Which boas stay smaller, and which have the best temperment?

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Dumerils stay smaller and so do rainbows. Another option would be a male BCI - they don't usually get past six feet in length and can live happily in a 2 x 4 x 1 (L x W x H).

All of these have nice temperaments, although rainbows can be slightly snippy as babies but that usually gets better as they get older. :gj:

So I was reading a sticky on how to tell the difference between bcc and bci. But it seems there isn't a set rule. What about hog island boas?

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Quote:

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Originally Posted by DrDooLittle

What about hog island boas?

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My friends hog island is 7 feet, so I dunno if you consider that small. I just got my red tail a little while ago and I have nothing but good things to say about boas, eats like a champ and seems to actually enjoy getting out and being handled. Go get you a boa!

Yeah, we were looking pretty hard at them. I just don't want a 10 foot snake. Maybe a male bci. 7 feet would be good.

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What do you keep yours in??

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Pure 100% Hog Island is small and generally sweet. Mine is 3 feet long baby (female) and eat like a pig with one exception. f/t rat must be warm. Never hiss or bite but just very curious of everything. If not feak of nature, they will not pass 6 feet.

I have almost 20 boa's and not one of my boa's is even close to 10 foot long. My female boa's are around 6 foot long.

Here are a couple of my largest boa's from last summer:

This is a suriname, which is a BCC (Born 2005)
http://i282.photobucket.com/albums/k...110319_173.jpg
Same day with me holding her for size reference. I am 5'3
http://i282.photobucket.com/albums/k...110319_185.jpg

This is my albino: She is a BCI and about 3 pounds less than my BCC above (Born 2006)
http://i282.photobucket.com/albums/k...0110528_43.jpg

Snake Room Picture:
http://i282.photobucket.com/albums/k...20101229_1.jpg

Now, I will say, looking back, if I could have redone all those cages, I would have done 18" high instead of 11.5". My older snakes use to be in display cages that were huge and when I got too many snakes, I had to get more economical with my space. So, I went with boaphiles - 4x2x 11.5". I guess it is because I was use to the larger size myself but I wish I had some higher height.

I actually moved my females into higher height enclosures for breeding:
Extremely dark Surinames from the breeding season but as you can see, 2 snakes fit into a 4x2x18" cage just fine.
http://i282.photobucket.com/albums/k...20120329_3.jpg

Now, my largest male boa is a little bit smaller than the size of Ember. I feed him medium rats every 2-3 weeks. (Born 2005) My husband holding him:
http://i282.photobucket.com/albums/k...0110528_32.jpg

http://i282.photobucket.com/albums/k...0110528_33.jpg

http://i282.photobucket.com/albums/k...0110528_35.jpg

Oh, he is just a very pretty normal BCI. Nothing special but I still love him dearly. :D

Star

I also have an adult Brazilian Rainbow Boa:

http://i282.photobucket.com/albums/k...0120401_14.jpg

http://i282.photobucket.com/albums/k...0120401_12.jpg

For attempted size reference: I couldn't keep him still at all:

http://i282.photobucket.com/albums/k...0120401_22.jpg


Star

Quote:

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Originally Posted by weird_science04

I have almost 20 boa's and not one of my boa's is even close to 10 foot long. My female boa's are around 6 foot long.

Here are a couple of my largest boa's from last summer:

This is a suriname, which is a BCC (Born 2005)
http://i282.photobucket.com/albums/k...110319_173.jpg
Same day with me holding her for size reference. I am 5'3
http://i282.photobucket.com/albums/k...110319_185.jpg

This is my albino: She is a BCI and about 3 pounds less than my BCC above (Born 2006)
http://i282.photobucket.com/albums/k...0110528_43.jpg

Snake Room Picture:
http://i282.photobucket.com/albums/k...20101229_1.jpg

Now, I will say, looking back, if I could have redone all those cages, I would have done 18" high instead of 11.5". My older snakes use to be in display cages that were huge and when I got too many snakes, I had to get more economical with my space. So, I went with boaphiles - 4x2x 11.5". I guess it is because I was use to the larger size myself but I wish I had some higher height.

I actually moved my females into higher height enclosures for breeding:
Extremely dark Surinames from the breeding season but as you can see, 2 snakes fit into a 4x2x18" cage just fine.
http://i282.photobucket.com/albums/k...20120329_3.jpg

Now, my largest male boa is a little bit smaller than the size of Ember. I feed him medium rats every 2-3 weeks. (Born 2005) My husband holding him:
http://i282.photobucket.com/albums/k...0110528_32.jpg

http://i282.photobucket.com/albums/k...0110528_33.jpg

http://i282.photobucket.com/albums/k...0110528_35.jpg

Oh, he is just a very pretty normal BCI. Nothing special but I still love him dearly. :D

Star

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They are all very beautiful, thank you for sharing. That makes me want even more. :D

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I too have been looking at boas. I have zero experience with them so a lot of the questions I had were answered here already. :)

How fast do the hatchlings grow?
Like, when do babies reach adult size? I know each snake grows at their own rate, but a general ball park figure would be? (w/i a year? two years? more?)

Yeah, I would like to find a care sheet, that shows temps and humidity, as well as feeding guidlines for them as well. All though I would imagine once a week for little guys?

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I have 2 3 and a half year old Hog Island Boas, a male and female. The female is 5 foot max, the male is 3 and a half foot. These are pure Hog Island, not hets.

Maybe we could get more pictures of cage/tub/tank set ups????

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Quote:

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Originally Posted by DrDooLittle

Maybe we could get more pictures of cage/tub/tank set ups????

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I plan on going with a 6' boamaster cage when he grows a little bit more.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Rob

I plan on going with a 6' boamaster cage when he grows a little bit more.

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Where did you get boa?

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Quote:

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Originally Posted by DrDooLittle

Where did you get boa?

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Actually a buddy of mine, he's not a breeder or anything. It was first first litter and he knew I wanted one.

I keep a couple dwarf Bci - Sonoran Desert Boas... The female is girthy (she is gravid though) and around 4.5 ft, while the male is much skinnier (still very healthy) and about 1/2-1 ft shorter in length.

They are both over 3 years old (adults), eat f/t medium to large Rats biweekly, and live very happily in a 40 gallon breeder tank. They have a big water bowl they like to soak in every so often and a hide - that's it. They are both very comfortable and can stretch out just fine... they look small in the 40 gallon.

As mentioned, all dwarf locales of boa stay pretty small and have that typical Bcc look to them. You could also go with Epicrates or Candoia, for something different that is still a boa and stays small - or Coralus hortulanus.

Yearling Sonoran in a 10-gallon (it likes to climb at night)
http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5348/7...9d7fab8492.jpg
http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7083/6...7e5a501314.jpg



Adult Female
http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7177/6...a7f444f8dc.jpg

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7187/6...1e9b8105d6.jpg


Adult Male
http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7193/6...93ef3f29db.jpg


Some coloration
http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7207/6...9f1fb7235b.jpg

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7192/6...583a7b0f3a.jpg

Very pretty!

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Quote:

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Originally Posted by Rob

Actually a buddy of mine, he's not a breeder or anything. It was first first litter and he knew I wanted one.

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I need a buddy like that.... :rolleyes:

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Quote:

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Originally Posted by DrDooLittle

I need a buddy like that.... :rolleyes:

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Few and far between he's good people.

I had to wait til I got home from work before posting again, but it seems like everything else I was going to say has been said! :gj:

A Hog Island or other "dwarf" locality would be another good choice for sure and not likely to exceed 6ft.

I recommend a 4x2x1 or maybe go 18" on height for any species of boa except for a large female BCI or any BCC - I personally wouldn't use anything less than a 6'x2'x18" for them.

I have gotten all three of my boas from Tim at Special K Reptiles. He is fantastic to work with!! Not sure if he has the dwarf localities or Brazilian Rainbows though. But if you want a nice and healthy young or baby male BCI, there's no one I can think of who'd be better. But there are some other excellent breeders out there - just thought I'd mention one off the bat. :gj:

Welcome to the world of boas! You won't regret it! :D

Quote:

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Originally Posted by DrDooLittle

Boas have been catching my eye and interest lately. I like the looks of redtails, and dumerils. I don't know much about any of the boas. I do know that I don't really have room for a great big enclosure to keep a redtail in. Which boas stay smaller, and which have the best temperment?

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I'd look into CAs and Nics, they tend to stay a lot smaller than other BCIs and still come in nice morphs. Hogs are also "dwarf" boas, but some females have gotten just as large as Colombian females.
If you don't have the room for a larger enclosure (I'm look at at LEAST a 4' cage for my male and 6' cages for my females when they get larger) then I'd shoot for a smaller species to start out with. I doubt you'd end up with a monster boa but better safe than sorry!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by satomi325

How fast do the hatchlings grow?
Like, when do babies reach adult size? I know each snake grows at their own rate, but a general ball park figure would be? (w/i a year? two years? more?)

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Hatchling growth depends on the snake. Some have BIG spurts, some are slow growers. For example, my jungle male I got back in May of '11 was at 217 grams when I got him and of April 8th he's up to 1400 grams. Big spurt IMO. But the little albino girl I got in November of '11 at 132 grams is only at 214 grams as of April 8th 2012.

Adult size is on personal opinion, I think when the snakes becomes three+ years old it's considered an "adult" - my 5' male right now I would still consider a "subadult" as he was born in June '10.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by DrDooLittle

Yeah, I would like to find a care sheet, that shows temps and humidity, as well as feeding guidlines for them as well. All though I would imagine once a week for little guys?

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I do once a week for the younger ones, then move to 10 days when they get on mediums (though 2-3 weeks is good too) and will probably scale back feeding even more when they get on larges. Good to avoid obesity in boas: they easily get fat via overfeeding.

I keep their humidity at the standard 50% with perfect sheds, and give them 88-90 hotspots. I noticed my boas tend to like cooler temps over warmer ones like the BPs.

And because I can....some pics of my guy and girls :)

http://i68.photobucket.com/albums/i3...h92012body.jpg

http://i68.photobucket.com/albums/i3...Jaidabody2.jpg

http://i68.photobucket.com/albums/i3...DiOrabody1.jpg

http://i68.photobucket.com/albums/i3...rch1320125.jpg

The three boas that I got as neonates seemed to have their first big growth spurts around the 9-12 month mark.

I personally love the BCI's and BCC's. Let me just say, I was concerned about size when I first got Prometheus. Now Prometheus is in the picture with my husband. However, here is his baby picture back in 2005:

http://i282.photobucket.com/albums/k...rometheus4.jpg

http://i282.photobucket.com/albums/k...rometheus6.jpg

Now I don't have pictures of him growing up because unfortunately, they are not digital and my scanner isn't working right now. Those baby pictures I scanned a while ago.

As for size, I purposely got male because I didn't know if I could handle a larger female. I was nervous for my first snake. No lie... now I am pretty confident...lol

Prometheus took years to get large. I remember when I bought this house 3 years ago, he could hang out around my arm pretty easily as sorta seen here:
http://i282.photobucket.com/albums/k...eus/Normal.jpg

So at 4 years of age, he was probably only eating small rats getting ready to move up towards medium rats. Ball Pythons move up in prey size quicker than boa's. (From my experience).

Personally, the dwarf boa's are beautiful but they are not as diversified with morphs as the BCI's.

Here is a sunglow that was born in 2008:
Baby photo:
http://i282.photobucket.com/albums/k.../Arizona/1.jpg

Here he was 2 years old:
http://i282.photobucket.com/albums/k...na/Arizona.jpg

This picture was taken just a few weeks ago (4 years old):
http://i282.photobucket.com/albums/k...0120316_57.jpg

Another 2008 snake, hypo cyclone:
Arrival pictures in 2009:
http://i282.photobucket.com/albums/k...irage/cyc4.jpg

http://i282.photobucket.com/albums/k...irage/cyc7.jpg

In 2011: (3 years old)
http://i282.photobucket.com/albums/k...110319_166.jpg

http://i282.photobucket.com/albums/k...110319_147.jpg

The end of 2011 before I put him in with my albino for breeding:
http://i282.photobucket.com/albums/k...0110119_16.jpg

A jungle born in 2010:
http://i282.photobucket.com/albums/k.../391783058.jpg

Taken in the summer of 2011: (You can see how little he still is at 1 year of age)
http://i282.photobucket.com/albums/k...0110623_10.jpg

Taken this past winter (couldn't resist, he was coloring up so nicely)
http://i282.photobucket.com/albums/k...0111228_66.jpg

http://i282.photobucket.com/albums/k...0111228_81.jpg


Here are a couple of 2011 babies: (taken after it warmed up here recently)

A snow:

http://i282.photobucket.com/albums/k...0120314_14.jpg

http://i282.photobucket.com/albums/k...0120314_23.jpg

An arabesque:

http://i282.photobucket.com/albums/k...0120314_11.jpg

http://i282.photobucket.com/albums/k...120226_185.jpg

So, as you can see, I don't think they grow very fast. If you get a baby, it doesn't matter if it is male or female, you will be completely comfortable with them when they get bigger because you were there while they grew. :)

Just for show, a couple pictures of my BCC's:

A 2009 Suriname:
http://i282.photobucket.com/albums/k...0120316_13.jpg

A 2008 Suriname: (Breeding with my female in the previous post)
http://i282.photobucket.com/albums/k...20110821_7.jpg

When it comes to boa's, I wouldn't worry about size as much as a boa that just grabs your attention. A boa will be fine in a 4 foot enclosure. If you can go bigger, than that is great but it is not requirement.

If you do get a boa, please, please, please, shoot me a PM to the link. I would LOVE to see pictures and with my work schedule, I don't get on here as much as I would like to and I miss a lot of threads.

Star

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Daybreaker

I'd look into CAs and Nics, they tend to stay a lot smaller than other BCIs and still come in nice morphs. Hogs are also "dwarf" boas, but some females have gotten just as large as Colombian females.
If you don't have the room for a larger enclosure (I'm look at at LEAST a 4' cage for my male and 6' cages for my females when they get larger) then I'd shoot for a smaller species to start out with. I doubt you'd end up with a monster boa but better safe than sorry!



Hatchling growth depends on the snake. Some have BIG spurts, some are slow growers. For example, my jungle male I got back in May of '11 was at 217 grams when I got him and of April 8th he's up to 1400 grams. Big spurt IMO. But the little albino girl I got in November of '11 at 132 grams is only at 214 grams as of April 8th 2012.

Adult size is on personal opinion, I think when the snakes becomes three+ years old it's considered an "adult" - my 5' male right now I would still consider a "subadult" as he was born in June '10.



I do once a week for the younger ones, then move to 10 days when they get on mediums (though 2-3 weeks is good too) and will probably scale back feeding even more when they get on larges. Good to avoid obesity in boas: they easily get fat via overfeeding.

I keep their humidity at the standard 50% with perfect sheds, and give them 88-90 hotspots. I noticed my boas tend to like cooler temps over warmer ones like the BPs.

And because I can....some pics of my guy and girls :)

http://i68.photobucket.com/albums/i3...h92012body.jpg

http://i68.photobucket.com/albums/i3...Jaidabody2.jpg

http://i68.photobucket.com/albums/i3...DiOrabody1.jpg

http://i68.photobucket.com/albums/i3...rch1320125.jpg

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Thank you, and yours are all very pretty!

Oh, also, you can get a really great care guide on redtailboas.com forum. Found at this link: http://www.redtailboas.com/f110/down...ion-3-a-31312/

If it is inappropriate for me to link to another forum mods, please remove this post. It is not meant to advertise another forum but to allow this OP to see the care guide for boa's.

Star

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by weird_science04

I personally love the BCI's and BCC's. Let me just say, I was concerned about size when I first got Prometheus. Now Prometheus is in the picture with my husband. However, here is his baby picture back in 2005:

http://i282.photobucket.com/albums/k...rometheus4.jpg

http://i282.photobucket.com/albums/k...rometheus6.jpg

Now I don't have pictures of him growing up because unfortunately, they are not digital and my scanner isn't working right now. Those baby pictures I scanned a while ago.

As for size, I purposely got male because I didn't know if I could handle a larger female. I was nervous for my first snake. No lie... now I am pretty confident...lol

Prometheus took years to get large. I remember when I bought this house 3 years ago, he could hang out around my arm pretty easily as sorta seen here:
http://i282.photobucket.com/albums/k...eus/Normal.jpg

So at 4 years of age, he was probably only eating small rats getting ready to move up towards medium rats. Ball Pythons move up in prey size quicker than boa's. (From my experience).

Personally, the dwarf boa's are beautiful but they are not as diversified with morphs as the BCI's.

Here is a sunglow that was born in 2008:
Baby photo:
http://i282.photobucket.com/albums/k.../Arizona/1.jpg

Here he was 2 years old:
http://i282.photobucket.com/albums/k...na/Arizona.jpg

This picture was taken just a few weeks ago (4 years old):
http://i282.photobucket.com/albums/k...0120316_57.jpg

Another 2008 snake, hypo cyclone:
Arrival pictures in 2009:
http://i282.photobucket.com/albums/k...irage/cyc4.jpg

http://i282.photobucket.com/albums/k...irage/cyc7.jpg

In 2011: (3 years old)
http://i282.photobucket.com/albums/k...110319_166.jpg

http://i282.photobucket.com/albums/k...110319_147.jpg

The end of 2011 before I put him in with my albino for breeding:
http://i282.photobucket.com/albums/k...0110119_16.jpg

A jungle born in 2010:
http://i282.photobucket.com/albums/k.../391783058.jpg

Taken in the summer of 2011: (You can see how little he still is at 1 year of age)
http://i282.photobucket.com/albums/k...0110623_10.jpg

Taken this past winter (couldn't resist, he was coloring up so nicely)
http://i282.photobucket.com/albums/k...0111228_66.jpg

http://i282.photobucket.com/albums/k...0111228_81.jpg


Here are a couple of 2011 babies: (taken after it warmed up here recently)

A snow:

http://i282.photobucket.com/albums/k...0120314_14.jpg

http://i282.photobucket.com/albums/k...0120314_23.jpg

An arabesque:

http://i282.photobucket.com/albums/k...0120314_11.jpg

http://i282.photobucket.com/albums/k...120226_185.jpg

So, as you can see, I don't think they grow very fast. If you get a baby, it doesn't matter if it is male or female, you will be completely comfortable with them when they get bigger because you were there while they grew. :)

Just for show, a couple pictures of my BCC's:

A 2009 Suriname:
http://i282.photobucket.com/albums/k...0120316_13.jpg

A 2008 Suriname: (Breeding with my female in the previous post)
http://i282.photobucket.com/albums/k...20110821_7.jpg

When it comes to boa's, I wouldn't worry about size as much as a boa that just grabs your attention. A boa will be fine in a 4 foot enclosure. If you can go bigger, than that is great but it is not requirement.

If you do get a boa, please, please, please, shoot me a PM to the link. I would LOVE to see pictures and with my work schedule, I don't get on here as much as I would like to and I miss a lot of threads.

Star

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I will pm you I'm thinking more like when than if.... I'm not worried about size for handling reasons, just for cage/enclosure size. I don't just don't have room for a big enclosure.

Sweet!

This is what I have housed most of my boa's in right now: http://www.boaphileplastics.com/421d.html I personally wish they had more height though. :) So, in retrospect I wish I would had gotten ones that were 18" high instead.

There are many plastic cages out there though for snakes and they are relatively inexpensive.

Star

So, one more question. Until they (obviously) need to move to bigger prey, can they eat Asf's? We have a colony of those for our bps. Could boas eat until they needed to move up??

I have never fed boa's ASF's but I am sure you could feed a pinky one to a baby boa. Maybe a small fuzzy. Baby boa's are smaller in thickness than bp's and bp's get thicker faster. I am sure others have fed ASF's to boa's before.

Star

Quote:

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Originally Posted by weird_science04

A snow

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That snow :bow:

Quote:

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Originally Posted by DrDooLittle

Thank you, and yours are all very pretty!

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Thanks!

central american red tails are like columbians but they are smaller and dont have as many morphs but they stay on the smaller side also hogg island boas get about the same size as the centrals and they are really pretty