First bcc

Hi, I got my first bcc today!I have 15 ball pythons but I always wanted a boa!Balls are awesome but boas always stuck me as a cool snake, much more active, can anyone gi e me any advise on how to keep her happy and healthy,boa is not a python,I know basic snake care but is there anything I should know different?She ate as soon as I brought her home,she was hungry,way different then a ball already😁This lovely girl will solely be a pet,no breeding.She is about three weeks ny best guess,I gave her a pretty big home for now but I want to get her something permanent soon,what is best,life long?,I have her at 85f-90f and 50%h ,is that good?How long after feeding should I wait to hold her?etc etc,lol,sorry just want to do right and best from owners and lovers of the breed!I'll do some reading but I think I would get the best advice here

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welcome to the wonderful world of owning boas! Lucky for us, care is almost identical to that of a ball python. Yor husbandry sounds good, but id switch to an appropriate size enclosure asap. If she is young and on hopper mice, etc, you only need to wait a day to handle, but once he/she gets up to eating small/mediums you might want to wait a couple days for their metabolism is much slower than that of a BP. She is young to i would feed every 5-7 days and then make it every 10 days when you start feeding small or medium rats. Hope this helps! :)

Welcome to the world of boas! Like said above husbandry isn't too far off from bps, just know you'll be needing a larger enclosure ;)
Biggest difference I found is personality. They have great/big ones, a lot more adventurous then the average bp. They seem to want to come out and hang with you rather then tolerate it. This could be completely false, but my theory is the larger the snake the smarter it is there for giving it more of a personality and awareness of what's going on. As I have recently gotten into retics, they seem to be extremely smart and take everything in. Not a knock on our Beloved bps just my observation. Enjoy your boa! :)


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There seems to be some correlation between the length of time an animal takes to reach sexual maturity and overall intelligence. I don't know if this applies to reptiles the same way it seems to with mammalian species or, if that theory has since been blown out of the water after I saw it.
But, BCC's do take longer to reach that stage than BP's so if it is correct the observation that they are smarter could be correct.
One thing is for sure, they exhibit much more curiosity about their surroundings (including who is handling them) than your average BP.

You are bound to soon find out that these animals can be a bit of a chore to put back in an enclosure when they think they want to be out longer. I average 3-4 tries to get my BCL girls head back in her enclosure when handling time is over. She loves to back up and go around the door instead of inside.

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Originally Posted by Raven01

You are bound to soon find out that these animals can be a bit of a chore to put back in an enclosure when they think they want to be out longer. I average 3-4 tries to get my BCL girls head back in her enclosure when handling time is over. She loves to back up and go around the door instead of inside.

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X1000 lol they are like a kid that doesn't want to come inside from playing.


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Is the 85-90 her hot side temps or is that her temp gradient? If that's the gradient I'd actually bump that way down to 77-79 cold side/ambient temps and hot side 88-89, these guys are much more sensitive to warmer temps than pythons in my opinion and seem more comfortable at cooler temps.

I leave my guys alone for 1-3 days after eating but that's just personal preference, and feeding schedule for boas differs than pythons in that you shouldn't feed them as much. Babies start at 7-10 days (5 is much too much for babies IMO, you want these guys grown super slow as it's the most healthy long-term), sub adults 10-14 days, and adults can go 2-3 weeks. Over feeding can lead to obesity. I feed mice up to the boa's first year then switch over to rats.

Depending on the individual ad species/locality some boas can live in tubs for up to their second year (on average: this is when it was time for them to be moved into their appropriate 4-6' enclosures).

Do you have any pics?

I'm trying my best to figure this picture thing out,lol,not to bright with tech!I have already had the tank issue,lol,but I like her out so its okay.She is so curious,she keeps typeing on my phone.I love my bps but she is gonna be awesome.It took awhile to get one my wife is scared of them so I suckered her in,she was part of a Bp deal for my wife,almost free,but she is mine now lol

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Oh I did want to post this i think its funny,I have not been bitten in years and my wife never!So when I was feeding baby Elsa,I guess the food was to cold so she smelt it but didn't see it,so she launched herself the five feet out of her feeding tub to my wife's heat signature!I have never seen a snake do that,she missed by an eighth of an inch,I actually caught her but to see her fly that far mouth wide open when she is the size of a pencil was awesome!Not great for my wife's fear of boas but still awesome.

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Originally Posted by richiquick

Oh I did want to post this i think its funny,I have not been bitten in years and my wife never!So when I was feeding baby Elsa,I guess the food was to cold so she smelt it but didn't see it,so she launched herself the five feet out of her feeding tub to my wife's heat signature!I have never seen a snake do that,she missed by an eighth of an inch,I actually caught her but to see her fly that far mouth wide open when she is the size of a pencil was awesome!Not great for my wife's fear of boas but still awesome.

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Ya, in my limited experience that is the other thing besides being out that many boa's seem to enjoy.
Food.
That might be why they are a snake that is easy to over feed. Really not looking forward to the day mine goes on a 14 day schedule and I and warming food for juvies or hatchlings and she doesn't get any that day. I expect I could be donating blood on those days.

Obviously photos are KEY here LOL!

Everybody loves a nice BCC.

You will want to look at Daybreaker's advice and Evenstar's on feeding.

Just as boas are different from BP's. BCC's are different from BCI's and excluding Peruvian BCC's they can have digestive issues if overfed.

A good read is THE COMPLETE BOA CONSTRICTOR by Vincent Russo.

And any post on the internet by Gus Rentfro regarding boas is also gospel.

Have fun!!

Thank you for your advice everyone,I've been reading and reading to learn everything I can,I'm gonna keep an eye on feeding to make sure Elsa is healthy and happy.I will be sure if she doesn't eat that day I leave her alone lol,not to bad now but in a few years I don't want to face her hungry lol

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Originally Posted by Daybreaker

Is the 85-90 her hot side temps or is that her temp gradient? If that's the gradient I'd actually bump that way down to 77-79 cold side/ambient temps and hot side 88-89, these guys are much more sensitive to warmer temps than pythons in my opinion and seem more comfortable at cooler temps.

I leave my guys alone for 1-3 days after eating but that's just personal preference, and feeding schedule for boas differs than pythons in that you shouldn't feed them as much. Babies start at 7-10 days (5 is much too much for babies IMO, you want these guys grown super slow as it's the most healthy long-term), sub adults 10-14 days, and adults can go 2-3 weeks. Over feeding can lead to obesity. I feed mice up to the boa's first year then switch over to rats.

Depending on the individual ad species/locality some boas can live in tubs for up to their second year (on average: this is when it was time for them to be moved into their appropriate 4-6' enclosures).

Do you have any pics?

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Originally Posted by Gio

Obviously photos are KEY here LOL!

Everybody loves a nice BCC.

You will want to look at Daybreaker's advice and Evenstar's on feeding.

Just as boas are different from BP's. BCC's are different from BCI's and excluding Peruvian BCC's they can have digestive issues if overfed.

A good read is THE COMPLETE BOA CONSTRICTOR by Vincent Russo.

And any post on the internet by Gus Rentfro regarding boas is also gospel.

Have fun!!

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^^^ This is very good advice. One thing I wanted to take note of though - someone suggested feeding every 5-7 days. Do not do that. Boas have a MUCH slower metabolism than ball pythons and even babies do well eating every 10 days. Bcc can actually be more sensitive than Bci and you should consider that. Some Bcc have a propensity to regurge if they are fed too frequently or too large, or if husbandry is not just right.

Feed a prey item that does not leave a noticeable lump and feed no more often than every 10 days - even if this is a baby. Go slow now and you won't be likely to have problems later. :gj:

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Originally Posted by Raven01

You are bound to soon find out that these animals can be a bit of a chore to put back in an enclosure when they think they want to be out longer. I average 3-4 tries to get my BCL girls head back in her enclosure when handling time is over. She loves to back up and go around the door instead of inside.

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Oh my god, I'm not alone! My Hog female does this every single time.

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Thanks for all the help,I can not believe the rate of growth,she is Such fun!It does take me about ten minutes to get her back,lol,its like she knows!How fast do they actually grow?Never an issue with regurgitating her food,its only been about ten days and she has grown already!Is it because she was just born when I got her or can I expect this rate straight through?When I got her all she wanted was to drink water,she has since stopped that,is it possible I gave her her first meal?She came from a expo at which she was in a tub with a bunch of other babies

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Originally Posted by richiquick

Thanks for all the help,I can not believe the rate of growth,she is Such fun!It does take me about ten minutes to get her back,lol,its like she knows!How fast do they actually grow?Never an issue with regurgitating her food,its only been about ten days and she has grown already!Is it because she was just born when I got her or can I expect this rate straight through?When I got her all she wanted was to drink water,she has since stopped that,is it possible I gave her her first meal?She came from a expo at which she was in a tub with a bunch of other babies

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Read THE COMPETE BOA CONSTRICTOR by Vincent Russo. It's a great read and you will see mirrored advice there from Evenstar, Doolittle and Daybreaker. Your best course of action is to "slow grow" that female. She will still get huge. The largest boas are the oldest boas and the oldest boas are the boas that are not feed too frequently.

You and your snake will be much happier with an extremely lean, muscular body than an oversized, fat, pinhead body type.

BCC's are something special. I LOVE my BCI and would not change the fact that he is a BCI but you have, really what the "boa world" finds as the pinnacle snake.

Having said that, BCC's are also the species that allow fewer mistakes in regard to feeding and husbandry.


Best advice is to be patient and let your snake mature slowly. I just re-read the feeding and breeding schedules for these snakes in Russo's book and really can't stress enough how important the seasonal changes are.

It's not rocket science, however to have a long lived beautiful snake, it is the BEST advice to follow.

The hardest thing, and I know this because I want to have a nice big snake, is to use some restraint and grow your boa slowly.

This coming winter I will maybe feed my boa twice.

OP: What locality of BCC do you have?

Columbian as far as I know,she has an sideways hour glass pattern on her back

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I don't know much about them honestly

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Originally Posted by richiquick

Columbian as far as I know,she has an sideways hour glass pattern on her back

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Colombians are BCI, not BCC. We can help ID from pics.

I'll learn,it will take time but I learn quite a bit here by people that have the same passion

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Just as Gio said, BCC's are a more fussy with the diet and husbandry, they are less forgiving than BCI's on stuff like humidity levels and food size. Plus, they can be a bit more aggressive than a BCI, not always, but there is a chance. They are stunning though, nothing more beautiful than a flawless BCC.

So far zero aggression,no food issues,loves to be out,she is with me all day except after eating.She is flawless,the only thing I did notice is she is not the biggest fan of other people,she pulls away from them,no attempt to strike but she will pull back fast!

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Still wondering about rate of growth and if she needs a hide because she never uses it.I have a 40g for now but I'm gonna custom build a cage for her,just wondering when she will need it

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Originally Posted by Daybreaker

Colombians are BCI, not BCC. We can help ID from pics.

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Umm yep,, Daybreaker nailed it there,,, and 99.9% this is the case and even though there are Colombian BCC's they are almost non existent in the hobby. I believe Vin Russo himself stated in his book he had not run across one in ages.

There is a Gus Rentfro photo of a COLOMBIAN BCC around, but as far as I know there is little data on them. It is extremely difficult to get true locality data on them.

You should post some photos for ID as Daybreaker mentioned.

The photo post will also help people give you advice on feeding as far as size goes.

Learning here is a great idea. Just try to get in front of the curve so you don't have to play catchup.

I am always looking things up lol,like I said I could definitely be wrong as to where she is from,I know so little about boas,as of now I only feed her food as big as the thickest part of her body and only once per week.Sadly this photo bucket thing has my technical abilities baffled.I would gladly text images to someone if they would help me out, pm me and I'll send them to you.I am very luck when it comes to ball pythons,I know a little and I got my friend Rudy on speed dial from cgroyals,without you guys here for the boa it would be books that don't explain one boa from the next!

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Originally Posted by richiquick

I am always looking things up lol,like I said I could definitely be wrong as to where she is from,I know so little about boas,as of now I only feed her food as big as the thickest part of her body and only once per week.Sadly this photo bucket thing has my technical abilities baffled.I would gladly text images to someone if they would help me out, pm me and I'll send them to you.I am very luck when it comes to ball pythons,I know a little and I got my friend Rudy on speed dial from cgroyals,without you guys here for the boa it would be books that don't explain one boa from the next!

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Actually there are books that do a pretty good job. The Russo book I mentioned explains the localities to a T.

The is a smaller version of that book that does OK too. It is less expensive but has portions from the main book.

Can I get that book from kindle?I really wish I could figure the picture thing out😡I want to do everything right for her and I'm really proud of her to,I paid less then fifty for her if price range helps at all,if I had to compare I guess as far as the dealer/breeders behavior it would be the normal python of boas, she is the greatest to me but the fact she wasn't displayed and there were so many of them in the same cube on the table definitely on the lower or more common side of things, the more expensive ones were alone and displayed front and center but I think she is beautiful!

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