looking ......

well ive decided to make the jump its not gonna happen today but will in the next couple of months
im looking at either a albino jungle bci or a motley bci

if anyone knows of any good breeders let me know ..
what are the price of these guys I never dealt with boas b4
does anyone have pics of them young and old would like to see how they change if they do .. cant see either morph changing much ...but who knows I never dealt with boas

any idea on who is calmer male or female .. I tend to see all my male balls r a lot more easy to deal with then females ..just my opinion

how much bigger do females get then males ?
how fast do they grow in a year ?
I plan I keeping him In a tub for the 1st year then buying some kind of ap cage for him ..

is husbandry easier or harder then bps?

thanks everyone

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by steve_r34

well ive decided to make the jump its not gonna happen today but will in the next couple of months
im looking at either a albino jungle bci or a motley bci

if anyone knows of any good breeders let me know .. Listed a few below.
what are the price of these guys I never dealt with boas b4 You're looking at around $200 for a nice motley with no other genetics at play or about $250-300 for a nice low-expression jungle. It'll be around $300 for an albino, and about $500-600 for an albino jungle (again, low-expression). If you find a wild-pattern jungle, those prices will easily double or even triple.
does anyone have pics of them young and old would like to see how they change if they do .. cant see either morph changing much ...but who knows I never dealt with boas Got a couple of examples - again, see below.

any idea on who is calmer male or female .. I tend to see all my male balls r a lot more easy to deal with then females ..just my opinion Totally depends on the snake. I have several females that are sweet as can be, but my males are pretty great too. My two most mellow and gentle boas, the first that I choose for educational events or for kids to handle, are females. However, I do have 4 animals that have, on occasion, wanted to eat my face. Those are 3 females and only one male.

how much bigger do females get then males ? We're talking BCI so I'll stick with those size references. Males will max out around 6-7 feet and females will usually reach 7-8 feet as adults.
how fast do they grow in a year ? Depends on the boa, the growth spurts it experiences, and how it's fed. Slow grown is healthier.
I plan I keeping him In a tub for the 1st year then buying some kind of ap cage for him .. That's totally fine. I have 2 year olds that are still in tubs. An AP cage is an ideal choice. 4x2x2 is a minimum for a male. 5x2x2 is better for females.

is husbandry easier or harder then bps? About the same. Personally, I think it's easier because feeding time is easy - boas almost always eat! But care requirements are about the same. I have found that my boas do seem to prefer slightly cooler temps than BPs. I keep a hotspot of 88 and ambient temps of 76-78.

thanks everyone

---

Check out these breeders....

http://www.cuttingedgeherp.com/
http://gilbertboas.com/
http://www.davinciboa.com/index2.php
http://www.primareptilia.com/
http://www.jimisnakes.com/

A couple of my kids....

Sunglow Arabesque
http://i1202.photobucket.com/albums/...s/Pandora1.jpg

Low-expression Jungle
http://i1202.photobucket.com/albums/...ps670b1a5c.jpg

Full-stripe chain-link Cherry Pastel Jungle
http://i1202.photobucket.com/albums/...ps27eb82e1.jpg

Who that cherry is amazing ... how do the colors look as she grows ??

And thank you very much for the info I will check on the breeders u posted

That chain link cherry!! I been thinking about getting a boa in the future also these balls really arent the best display snakes lol

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by BumbleB

these balls really arent the best display snakes lol

---

Ball Pythons are awesome display snakes...just pull them out of the tub and display them to all your friends :D

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Evenstar

Check out these breeders....

http://www.cuttingedgeherp.com/
http://gilbertboas.com/
http://www.davinciboa.com/index2.php
http://www.primareptilia.com/
http://www.jimisnakes.com/

A couple of my kids....

Sunglow Arabesque
http://i1202.photobucket.com/albums/...s/Pandora1.jpg

Low-expression Jungle
http://i1202.photobucket.com/albums/...ps670b1a5c.jpg

Full-stripe chain-link Cherry Pastel Jungle
http://i1202.photobucket.com/albums/...ps27eb82e1.jpg

---

LE Jungle is just beautiful! Love it!

I agree.. Great pics! I especially love the jungle and cherry... I'm also curious about the cherry... Will he/she loose the purplish background color as it grows?

*sigh* I don't even have my first boa yet and I already want more.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by steve_r34

Who that cherry is amazing ... how do the colors look as she grows ??

And thank you very much for the info I will check on the breeders u posted

---

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by artgecko

I agree.. Great pics! I especially love the jungle and cherry... I'm also curious about the cherry... Will he/she loose the purplish background color as it grows?

*sigh* I don't even have my first boa yet and I already want more.

---

Yeah, she'll loose that purple tone as she grows. The picture really picked up the lavender hues and she's far more pink than she looks in that picture. But at the moment, its the best one I have of her. As she grows, the pinks will continue to push through and she'll get more red. This is a picture of her father - he is a NORMAL cherry pastel - NOT a hypo!

http://i1202.photobucket.com/albums/...ps186bb633.jpg

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by steve_r34

well ive decided to make the jump its not gonna happen today but will in the next couple of months
im looking at either a albino jungle bci or a motley bci

if anyone knows of any good breeders let me know ..
what are the price of these guys I never dealt with boas b4
does anyone have pics of them young and old would like to see how they change if they do .. cant see either morph changing much ...but who knows I never dealt with boas

any idea on who is calmer male or female .. I tend to see all my male balls r a lot more easy to deal with then females ..just my opinion

how much bigger do females get then males ?
how fast do they grow in a year ?
I plan I keeping him In a tub for the 1st year then buying some kind of ap cage for him ..

is husbandry easier or harder then bps?

thanks everyone

---

Topic was covered pretty well by the others. Husbandry is easy, you may want to buy some moss for humidity if needed, but Evenstar gave you good temps and you should look at a thermostat that can offer a night temp drop and a seasonal drop if your house temps don't change enough to change the cage temps.

Male or female is fine. As stated, individuals vary in their temperaments. I only have one male and he's a swell fella. They can grow VERY fast in a year. You can feed them conservatively and still see a lot of growth. The BC feeding response is much different than the BP response in my experience. They always eat, at least 99% of the time. They stay "turned on" after a meal too,,, so,,, the bigger they get, the less you want to mess with them right before or even a day after feeding.

Feed on the conservative side. No need for rapid growth, you can still get a nice sized snake if you feed properly. The longer they live, the more they grow. Captive boas, unless provided with it, get less exercise than wild boas, so let them feed, clear and actually hunt a bit before the next meal.

You will want to start looking at cages soon, and have FUN doing it. There is nothing like a neat snake in a nice display cage.

If you can do BP's boas will be no problem. Just be mindful of the feeding.

Kali- If all goes well with the new guy I'm getting and I end up wanting another boa, I may have to get the name of the breeder you got your cherry / hypo cherry from. They're both gorgeous and the fact that the colors actually seem to get better as they grow is awesome.

Growth for boas varies a LOT. My boy was 2.5ft at a year old, which is pretty common for Colombians. But, for a year old you're normally looking at 2.5-4ft, although I've heard of 5-6ft even. As to whether or not they were power fed I could not tell you. I've always been told the most growth is during the first year. That was not the case with mine. He grew less than a foot his first year, and by his second year he grew just over 3.5ft and at 2.5 years old he's about an inch shy of 6ft.

My experience has been that they're much much easier on the nerves because most of the time they do not refuse meals (mine never has except for 1-2 months where I was feeding rather large meals and he went back to normal when I stepped back down in size), but their temp requirements are basically the same as ball pythons. 90F hot spot, 85F hot end, and 75-80F cool end. They do require higher humidity at 65-70%, but I haven't had any problems with that (until now, but he's only 5-6ft away from the heat source now so that's probably it). There is absolutely no need to drop temps at night unless you're breeding. You can if you want, but it's not needed. I have never provided night drops for mine and I've had no issues. I find if he wants a nighttime temperature, he just hangs out on his cool end. Because of that, I feel there's no need to give a drop if you have a cool enough cool end.

As far as male vs. female I have no clue, I only have a male. Size is subjective as well, and depends on the subspecies. Colombian males can average 5-6ft and females 7-8ft, but even males can get as big as 8ft.

I kept my boa in a tub the first 1.5 years I had him, so that will be fine as long as you make sure to upgrade in size as it needs it.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Evenstar

Slow grown is healthier.

---

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Gio

Feed on the conservative side. No need for rapid growth, you can still get a nice sized snake if you feed properly. The longer they live, the more they grow. Captive boas, unless provided with it, get less exercise than wild boas, so let them feed, clear and actually hunt a bit before the next meal.

---

I agree with this. I see so many boas achieving massive sizes at only a couple years old, and I think that it seems to lead new keepers to want to raise their boas up fast. Yes, you'll get a big animal, but I don't think it's healthy at all. I also see a lot of these large, fast-growing snakes dying much younger than those brought up slowly. My best friend's oldest boa is 20 years old now, and has been on a conservative feeding schedule her whole life, and still healthy and active.

I also keep my girl on a more conservative feeding schedule, and she is more muscular and active than other boas her same age that have been grown up too fast.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by artgecko

Kali- If all goes well with the new guy I'm getting and I end up wanting another boa, I may have to get the name of the breeder you got your cherry / hypo cherry from. They're both gorgeous and the fact that the colors actually seem to get better as they grow is awesome.

---

Sure! I'd be happy to follow up with you any time. Take note though - the 2 cherry animals I posted here in this thread are NOT hypos. I do have a hypo cherry pastel, but he is not pictured here. The Cherry Jungle and her father in this thread are not hypos - they are that red due to the cherry line of pastel and not hypomelanism. :gj:

Ahh.. I guess that explains why there are still some darker elements to their patterns as well. During all of my browsing on the classifieds I'd so often seen "cherry" paired with "hypo", (and also, weirdly "cherry salmon hypo) that I must've gotten them confused. Thanks for the info!

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by artgecko

Ahh.. I guess that explains why there are still some darker elements to their patterns as well. During all of my browsing on the classifieds I'd so often seen "cherry" paired with "hypo", (and also, weirdly "cherry salmon hypo) that I must've gotten them confused. Thanks for the info!

---

The cherry line was originally developed with Salmon hypos. Alex Burgos (my kids' breeder) removed the cherry pastel from the salmon line. He incorporated it into his jungles and then added Orange Tail hypos to it. The results were spectacular to say the least.

I have three cherry pastels - a normal, a jungle, and an orange tail hypo. ;)

I think im going with a motley I love the black and grey and it looks like they stay true to the colors as they get older I seen on boaconstrictors.com from 08 that kept his color .. I think that's the one for me

Good choice! I've seen some very striking dark motleys in photos before. I hope you find one you like.