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Some Red Tail Questions
I have a confession: I'm having an affair.
Ball pythons are amazing, and I can't wait to breed mine, but I gotta admit.. I've always wanted one *big* snake.. and fell in love with red tails the first time I held a little hypo Columbian girl at a small local pet shop. So I decided that, one day, I will have just one RTB. (well, actually I want two, the albinos are amazing, but let's take it slow.)
This is going to be far off into the future, of course, but I like educating myself early to work it into my future plans. So, here we go:
1.) Where does one find a BCC? I tried to look around to price shop but no one seems to specify what theirs is.
2.) I notice there are variations in tail brightness- some babies have blood red tails, some have more of a brown color. Will the color they have as babies stay as they age?
3.) How fast to boas grow? This will determine when I will get my boa; I read it's okay to keep them in tubs as young'uns, until they get too big- and I want to make sure I have a nice large enclosure ready for my girl when that happens.
4.) To follow that up, when is "too big" for a tub? 5'? 6'?
5.) Red tails seem semi-aboreal... True?
6.) I read on redtailboas.com (or something like that) on their official care sheet that you can control how big your boa goes by feeding... that sounds incorrect.. yet it's on their care sheet on an official-looking site.
7.) I heard they have more personality than ballies?
8.) Where does one find the large 6x2x2 enclosures? Where can I find an even bigger and more decorative display one rather than a compact PVC box?
9.) How do you guys keep humidity up with such large enclosures?
10.) Vivarium for RTB: have you done it? is it manageable? any particular advice or tales to tell?
And lastly,
feel free to include a picture of your boa; they're gorgeous to look at. :) Sorry for the questions; I like to plan far in advance! Always best to know what you're getting into. :gj:
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Some Red Tail Questions
Quote:
Originally Posted by DestinyLynette
I have a confession: I'm having an affair.
Ball pythons are amazing, and I can't wait to breed mine, but I gotta admit.. I've always wanted one *big* snake.. and fell in love with red tails the first time I held a little hypo Columbian girl at a small local pet shop. So I decided that, one day, I will have just one RTB. (well, actually I want two, the albinos are amazing, but let's take it slow.)
This is going to be far off into the future, of course, but I like educating myself early to work it into my future plans. So, here we go:
1.) Where does one find a BCC? I tried to look around to price shop but no one seems to specify what theirs is.
2.) I notice there are variations in tail brightness- some babies have blood red tails, some have more of a brown color. Will the color they have as babies stay as they age?
3.) How fast to boas grow? This will determine when I will get my boa; I read it's okay to keep them in tubs as young'uns, until they get too big- and I want to make sure I have a nice large enclosure ready for my girl when that happens.
4.) To follow that up, when is "too big" for a tub? 5'? 6'?
5.) Red tails seem semi-aboreal... True?
6.) I read on redtailboas.com (or something like that) on their official care sheet that you can control how big your boa goes by feeding... that sounds incorrect.. yet it's on their care sheet on an official-looking site.
7.) I heard they have more personality than ballies?
8.) Where does one find the large 6x2x2 enclosures? Where can I find an even bigger and more decorative display one rather than a compact PVC box?
9.) How do you guys keep humidity up with such large enclosures?
10.) Vivarium for RTB: have you done it? is it manageable? any particular advice or tales to tell?
And lastly,
feel free to include a picture of your boa; they're gorgeous to look at. :) Sorry for the questions; I like to plan far in advance! Always best to know what you're getting into. :gj:
I swear I was about to make an identical post to yours yesterday. Like same everything! Scary lol.
I too want one big snake but not so big as an anaconda or reticulated...
I'm building an enclosure(started today) for my future RTB(BCC).
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BCC are hard to find in pet shops and I haven't even seen many lately at shows here in Michigan. There are ALOT of them on Kingsnake.com. They range in price from about $150 on up, depending on locale. Hypos are really nice! I have a female right now. I got out of boas but had to keep her because I love her so much! Most of them are crosses. Hypo showed up in Colombians, Central Americans, and Panamanians. I do still see pure Centrals and Colombians advertised though. They are semi-arboreal and will definitely make use of a tall cage with branches, but they also are fine in the usual short cages too. They are easy to please! Again on the classifieds there are cage manufacturers that make more decretive cages. They will make a mess of a planted cage because they are more active than a ball and heavy. It would probably take daily rearranging. Males and small females are fine in a 4x2x whatever height but larger females need a 6x2. They will need to be out of a tub by the time they are 3.5-4ft. and that's about a year to a year and a half in my experience.
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Some Red Tail Questions
Quote:
Originally Posted by DestinyLynette
I have a confession: I'm having an affair.
Ball pythons are amazing, and I can't wait to breed mine, but I gotta admit.. I've always wanted one *big* snake.. and fell in love with red tails the first time I held a little hypo Columbian girl at a small local pet shop. So I decided that, one day, I will have just one RTB. (well, actually I want two, the albinos are amazing, but let's take it slow.)
This is going to be far off into the future, of course, but I like educating myself early to work it into my future plans. So, here we go:
1.) Where does one find a BCC? I tried to look around to price shop but no one seems to specify what theirs is.
2.) I notice there are variations in tail brightness- some babies have blood red tails, some have more of a brown color. Will the color they have as babies stay as they age?
3.) How fast to boas grow? This will determine when I will get my boa; I read it's okay to keep them in tubs as young'uns, until they get too big- and I want to make sure I have a nice large enclosure ready for my girl when that happens.
4.) To follow that up, when is "too big" for a tub? 5'? 6'?
5.) Red tails seem semi-aboreal... True?
6.) I read on redtailboas.com (or something like that) on their official care sheet that you can control how big your boa goes by feeding... that sounds incorrect.. yet it's on their care sheet on an official-looking site.
7.) I heard they have more personality than ballies?
8.) Where does one find the large 6x2x2 enclosures? Where can I find an even bigger and more decorative display one rather than a compact PVC box?
9.) How do you guys keep humidity up with such large enclosures?
10.) Vivarium for RTB: have you done it? is it manageable? any particular advice or tales to tell?
And lastly,
feel free to include a picture of your boa; they're gorgeous to look at. :) Sorry for the questions; I like to plan far in advance! Always best to know what you're getting into. :gj:
1). Are you wanting a BCC or a BCI?
BCC's are a lot more sensitive to their husbandry, or so I've heard. I only have BCI's.
Are you looking online? Lots of breeders should have both available.
2).I can't speak about their tails. I have an adopted 10 year old female BCI and a baby boa. I'm assuming they won't change THAT much.
3/4/5). My male boa is about 1200g. He takes up about 1/3 or 1/2 of a 41qt tub. Some people will keep boas their entire lifespan in the large Christmas tree runs.
I have both my boas in large cages now and offer both arboreal branches.
A lot of people will suggest a 4' cage minimum for a male and a 6' cage minimum for females.
6). Boas digest a lot slower than bps. They are typically slow grown, fed every 7-14 days as babies and longer in between as adults.
7). They have tons of personality. I find it hard to get them back in their cages!
8). Animal plastics, boaphile and other places ALL make bigger cages. If you want a nice big one though, I'd suggest making one.
9). I haven't had a problem with humidity in my large cage.
10). I don't do live plants.
My female BCI is in a 6' long, 4' high and 3' wide enclosure made out of wood.
http://img.tapatalk.com/d/13/07/10/9ara5eru.jpg
She has no interest on leaving her branches:
http://img.tapatalk.com/d/13/07/10/9ahusama.jpg
http://img.tapatalk.com/d/13/07/10/ypyqysuj.jpg
My male is in a 4' by 2' by 2'.
http://img.tapatalk.com/d/13/07/10/ese8eduz.jpg
http://img.tapatalk.com/d/13/07/10/tasenu3y.jpg
And Moar pics
Conga:
http://img.tapatalk.com/d/13/07/10/zagu8y4e.jpg
http://img.tapatalk.com/d/13/07/10/yjenupav.jpg
http://img.tapatalk.com/d/13/07/10/5ejyjagy.jpg
Damon:
http://img.tapatalk.com/d/13/07/10/9e5y5e9e.jpg
http://img.tapatalk.com/d/13/07/10/esa3u6e9.jpg
http://img.tapatalk.com/d/13/07/10/jupy7u6u.jpg
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Re: Some Red Tail Questions
Welcome to the addiction!!! :D
Quote:
Originally Posted by DestinyLynette
I have a confession: I'm having an affair.
Ball pythons are amazing, and I can't wait to breed mine, but I gotta admit.. I've always wanted one *big* snake.. and fell in love with red tails the first time I held a little hypo Columbian girl at a small local pet shop. So I decided that, one day, I will have just one RTB. (well, actually I want two, the albinos are amazing, but let's take it slow.)
This is going to be far off into the future, of course, but I like educating myself early to work it into my future plans. So, here we go:
1.) Where does one find a BCC? I tried to look around to price shop but no one seems to specify what theirs is. If this is your first boa, I strongly recommend you stick with a BCI instead of a BCC. BCCs can be much touchier than BCIs - both in husbandry and temperament. They are not the greatest first boa. But BCIs are fantastic and there are many pure locality BCIs available if you aren't into morphs. However, whichever you choose, Here are a few resources for you: Facebook - Boa Constrictor Aficionados, Reptile Classifieds - Boa Constrictors, or Pure-Locality Boas are some good groups to get you started there. A couple of breeders on Facebook that don't have personal websites but are excellent are: Michael Masters (Masters Morphs), Ryan Burke (Clockwork Reptiles), and Star Schaffer (Star's Snakes) - Star is WONDERFUL to work with!! Here are a couple of websites for good breeders working with both BCI and BCC....
http://www.cuttingedgeherp.com/ - Vin Russo
http://www.legacyreptiles.com/southamerica.htm - Orlando and Joel Diaz
http://www.riobravoreptiles.com/ - Gus Rentfro
http://www.deviantconstrictors.com/i...strictors.html - Jonathan Brady (JB) - this is probably the FIRST place I'd go for a Guyana BCC. JB has the best!
2.) I notice there are variations in tail brightness- some babies have blood red tails, some have more of a brown color. Will the color they have as babies stay as they age? That's mostly a difference of whether or not the snake is a BCC or BCI. The BCCs have the blood-red tails. The babies usually have brighter coloration so the coloring will tend to tone down as the snake ages.
3.) How fast to boas grow? This will determine when I will get my boa; I read it's okay to keep them in tubs as young'uns, until they get too big- and I want to make sure I have a nice large enclosure ready for my girl when that happens. They grow fast. However, if you start with a baby, you should be able to keep him comfortably in a tub until he's about 2 years old or about 4 ft.
4.) To follow that up, when is "too big" for a tub? 5'? 6'? See above. :D
5.) Red tails seem semi-aboreal... True? Yes, they will climb if given the opportunity.
6.) I read on redtailboas.com (or something like that) on their official care sheet that you can control how big your boa goes by feeding... that sounds incorrect.. yet it's on their care sheet on an official-looking site. The answer is "sort of." If you keep your boa on rats all it's life, it generally won't hit the growth spurt that seems to be prompted when boas are fed rabbits. So they generally don't get as big. However, boas are large snakes and you should not withhold food to try to keep your snake on the small side. Most boas will do fine on 2 jumbo rats fed every 14-21 days. Female BCCs, however, almost always need rabbits - they can and do get huge.
7.) I heard they have more personality than ballies? Oh absolutely! All of mine are incredibly curious and outgoing snakes. They like to be held and will immediately climb out of their cages to say hi. My hypo female and my snow female will both hang out for hours and watch tv with me. My Argentines know their mama and won't let anyone but me take them out without huffing and puffing and trying to imitate a cobra. They are not shy snakes and almost never refuse a meal.
8.) Where does one find the large 6x2x2 enclosures? Where can I find an even bigger and more decorative display one rather than a compact PVC box?
www.pvccages.com
http://www.constrictorsnw.com/
http://www.animalplastics.com/
Personally, I think these places are the best. I like Constrictors NW and Ed is really nice and knowledgeable - he'll help you a lot.
9.) How do you guys keep humidity up with such large enclosures? The proper enclosure will not be a problem. The cages are designed to maintain good humidity.
10.) Vivarium for RTB: have you done it? is it manageable? any particular advice or tales to tell? I personally have not done it, and I don't think I ever would - even though I'd love to. My concern is the size you'd need to build to accommodate a large snake in a naturalistic environment. It would be very expensive and I think rather difficult to maintain. Not for the average keeper. But not impossible either.
And lastly,
feel free to include a picture of your boa; they're gorgeous to look at. :) Sorry for the questions; I like to plan far in advance! Always best to know what you're getting into. :gj:
Here are a few of my younger babies.... ;)
Savannah - 2011 female dh leopard albino
http://i1202.photobucket.com/albums/...ps922eb108.jpg
Dali - 2013 female Monstertail Pastel Dream
http://i1202.photobucket.com/albums/...psa48cbf27.jpg
Pandora - 2012 female Sunglow Arabesque
http://i1202.photobucket.com/albums/...s/Pandora1.jpg
Peaches - 2011 female Hypo dh Ivory Ghost
http://i1202.photobucket.com/albums/.../peaches03.jpg
Jadis - 2011 female Snow
http://i1202.photobucket.com/albums/...pse044d00f.jpg
Salvador - 2011 male Jungle
http://i1202.photobucket.com/albums/...ps68cabe70.jpg
Zeppelin - 2012 male dh leopard albino
http://i1202.photobucket.com/albums/...pse5d4da8b.jpg
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Re: Some Red Tail Questions
Quote:
Originally Posted by Evenstar
Great info, you are always so thorough and awesome! And I ♥♥♥ Zeppelin :).
Op- great helpful info so far. Yes, they have amazing entertaining personalities. You may check out Bob Futo as well. I got a ball from him, but I have seen some gorgeous boas come from him too.
Here are mine-
1. Hypo "Guapo"
http://img.tapatalk.com/d/13/07/11/eqe9uped.jpg
http://img.tapatalk.com/d/13/07/11/majenahe.jpg
.1 Coral Albino "Ripley"
http://img.tapatalk.com/d/13/07/11/vu6unu9a.jpg
http://img.tapatalk.com/d/13/07/11/6atebesu.jpg
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Some Red Tail Questions
Here's my guy. He's "just a normal"
http://i594.photobucket.com/albums/t...psaa08d670.jpg
http://i594.photobucket.com/albums/t...pse95edfdb.jpg
What I didn't see answered... These guys to tend to darken overall. My guy was more of a light grey with pink sides and a dark red/orange tail as a baby. Now... He is soooo coral with the same fabulous red/orange tail and some fabulous purples that pop up in his light phase.
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Some Red Tail Questions
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Thank you all *very* much for the info and for sharing your babies. :) I'm excited to get one some day. I didn't realize BCC were touchier with husbandry- I will look into BCI. Which locality to you recommend? Is there any particular ones known to get larger or stay smaller?
Yes, the hypo I held at the pet shop was a Columbian. :) Active little girl. They feel so interesting! Way different skin texture than balls.
DooLittle: I absolutely fell in love with Ripley last time you posted pictures of her. She's the reason I want an albino some day!
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Colombians on average are the largest BCI. I had a het albino female that was just under 9ft and about 40lbs. The Central American locales are smaller and the island and a couple Mexican locales are true dwarfs. There is also a dwarf Nicaraguan line. I, personally, love the Costa Rican and Panamanian boas. By the way I highly doubt a pet shop has a pure Colombian hypo. They are very uncommon. They are hardly ever listed on Kingsnake or Fauna Classifieds even.
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Re: Some Red Tail Questions
Quote:
Originally Posted by DooLittle
Great info, you are always so thorough and awesome! And I ♥♥♥ Zeppelin :).
Op- great helpful info so far. Yes, they have amazing entertaining personalities. You may check out Bob Futo as well. I got a ball from him, but I have seen some gorgeous boas come from him too.
Thank you!! I hate to play favorites, but Zeppy is one of my favs too! Shhh - just don't tell the others.... :D
And yes - Bob Futo is another great resource! :gj:
Quote:
Originally Posted by DestinyLynette
Thank you all *very* much for the info and for sharing your babies. :) I'm excited to get one some day. I didn't realize BCC were touchier with husbandry- I will look into BCI. Which locality to you recommend? Is there any particular ones known to get larger or stay smaller?
Yes, the hypo I held at the pet shop was a Columbian. :) Active little girl. They feel so interesting! Way different skin texture than balls.
DooLittle: I absolutely fell in love with Ripley last time you posted pictures of her. She's the reason I want an albino some day!
I personally do recommend a Colombian BCI as your first. They tend to have the most tractable temperaments and are outstanding feeders. Start with a male baby. Males will stay a bit smaller than females, averaging 6-ish feet. And if you get a baby, you can "grow" with your snake and get comfortable with him.
Hog Islands and the other insular localities tend to stay smaller, but they can be harder to find. Central Americans tend to be more temperamental and nippy.
Quote:
Originally Posted by treeboa
Colombians on average are the largest BCI. I had a het albino female that was just under 9ft and about 40lbs. The Central American locales are smaller and the island and a couple Mexican locales are true dwarfs. There is also a dwarf Nicaraguan line. I, personally, love the Costa Rican and Panamanian boas. By the way I highly doubt a pet shop has a pure Colombian hypo. They are very uncommon. They are hardly ever listed on Kingsnake or Fauna Classifieds even.
Sorry, I'm not quite sure what you mean by this. Colombian BCIs are the most common locality out there because this is the locality that has spawned so many morphs and varieties. Sure, there are locality crosses, but the "common boa" is 99% of the time a Colombian. I have 15 boas, 9 of which are Colombian boas - 3 are hypos, 1 is a hypo albino (sunglow), 1 is an albino anery (snow), 2 are jungles, and the other 2 are different lines of pastel. Of the other 6, 2 are pure Argentines (BCOs) and the others are Colombian x Sonoran crosses. If you look at the pictures in my last post, those are ALL Colombians. All you see on Kingsnake and Fauna are Colombians with a few BCCs mixed in. Just wondered if I'm confused by your reference - did I misunderstand what you were trying to say?
I will say it is true that many "Colombians" are not 100% pure. But I am of the theory that nearly all localities and subspecies of boa are not "pure". There is way too much crossing and inbreeding occurring in the hobby for all of our localities and subspecies to remain pure. Plus, boas don't refrain from breeding in the wild just because one is a Colombian and one is a Central American. LoL! And there are very few breeders who actually take the time to document lineage. But most Common Boa Constrictors are, for all intents and purposes, Colombian BCIs. :gj:
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Some Red Tail Questions
Saw the pics and forgot to read any of the info.
Some great looking Boas!!!
:p
http://img.tapatalk.com/d/13/07/12/5udu8yjy.jpg
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I can't remember if it was someone's website or a book where I saw it(I'll try to find it). They had pics of the original Panamanian, Colombian, and Central American Hypos. The Colombians look nothing like the generic hypos that make up most of the hypos on the market. The author states the original lines were mixed and I tend to believe that considering not just the looks, but the fact that most of the female hypos I've seen are smaller on average than Colombians. My female is less than 6ft and is 10 years old. I will try to find where I saw this and post it.
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And by the way, I'm not saying it matters to me. Like you said they are all BCI and anyway there are those that think that BCI and BCC are not different subspecies but just different locales of the same one. I was just passing on to someone new to Boas that it is unlikely it's a pure Colombian to educate them.
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I found a thread post with some not so great pics on it. Strictly Boas owned this Boa and had better pics and the story on their web site, which is now defunct. The pattern is pretty much the same, maybe a little cleaner, but the ground color and tail color are different. Of course this really only matters to locality specific breeders and matters not to the general hobby, myself included. I didn't mean to sound like it did, LOL!
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Re: Some Red Tail Questions
I didn't mean to type my Hypo is 10 years, LOL! She's 7. I did not ever have the money to buy any of the early hypo offspring!! She was expensive enough as it is! I love her to death, though. That's why I still have her even though I got out of Boas.
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Re: Some Red Tail Questions
Quote:
Originally Posted by treeboa
I can't remember if it was someone's website or a book where I saw it(I'll try to find it). They had pics of the original Panamanian, Colombian, and Central American Hypos. The Colombians look nothing like the generic hypos that make up most of the hypos on the market. The author states the original lines were mixed and I tend to believe that considering not just the looks, but the fact that most of the female hypos I've seen are smaller on average than Colombians. My female is less than 6ft and is 10 years old. I will try to find where I saw this and post it.
Ok, I getcha now! Couple of thoughts to add to the mix - 1) Hypomelanism is going to look different on various localities because of how the gene reacts with the phenotype. 2) Most people think of BCC in reference to pure localities. 3) While some BCI localities are often stressed as pure, such as the insular localities, Central American and Colombian BCI usually encompass a broader range. Again, just thoughts to consider. ;)
Quote:
Originally Posted by treeboa
I found a thread post with some not so great pics on it. Strictly Boas owned this Boa and had better pics and the story on their web site, which is now defunct. The pattern is pretty much the same, maybe a little cleaner, but the ground color and tail color are different. Of course this really only matters to locality specific breeders and matters not to the general hobby, myself included. I didn't mean to sound like it did, LOL!
Handy thread to read! Thanks for finding it. And s'all good.... I agree - to most of us, it doesn't really matter. While I feel the various subspecies should be kept pure, I'm not as rigid with the localities, lol. :D
Oh, btw, here's a thread regarding pure Type B Colombian boas. These are one of the true pure lines of Colombian BCI available. Rio Bravo's Barranquilla line is another.
https://www.facebook.com/notes/buddy...97195730305464
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Thanks for the link. Very interesting!
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Re: Some Red Tail Questions
Hola,
I've been on vacation. I saw this and figured if you are looking for a "pure Colombian locality BCI" this is what they look like unless I've been duped LOL!
This is my Rio Bravo produced Barranquilla boa.
http://i772.photobucket.com/albums/y...a/DSC00372.jpg
From most of my research, the largest boas are the BCC boas from the Amazon basin. Usually they grow slower, but toward the later years they end up being some of the largest.
Peruvian boas are true giant BCC's.
If you are looking into BCC boas, Peruvian boas are not as sensitive as the Suri boas or the Guyana boas to husbandry.
Other large boas are the Argentine boas. BCO.
That said, one of the largest BCI boas on record was from Mexico which is usually an area where the boas are smaller.
Anyhow, The photo is a "pure Colombian" male BCI.
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