Any recommendations?

Im wondering if you know of any reputable breeders that have bcc morphs.

Do you mean morphs as in colors and stuff or do you mean locality? I'm not really familiar with any breeders who work with BCC morphs. Most work with locality for BCC like Surinames, Peruvian, etc. For those, I would message Weird_Science04 aka Star Shaffer or Richard Ceniceros. Both of them breed BCCs. Now if you are looking for a BCI morph like a sunglow, moonglow, hypo, Aztec, jungle, etc, then there are lots. I personally would recommend checking out Ash Lopez at Black Forest Constrictors. I got Vicky from him and she is just a lap snake. I can approach from the front, top, back, whatever and she is just completely mellow. If you are looking for a BCC morph, it will probably not be a pure blood BCC as it will probably be crossed with BCI to get the color morph like albino or something. Is there a particular reason you want a BCC morph in specific? BCI tend to be to more mellow and a lot more forgiving with husbandry issues than BCC are. Plus BCI are like garbage disposals and eat anything where as BCC can be touchy with too large of prey or too soon of feedings and regurgitate thus possibly creating lots of problems.

Thanks. I wanted a bcc because i heard they tend to be larger. I basically want the biggest snake one person can handle alone. Didn't know about them being more difficult to deal with.

Most female BCI still get pretty good sized, and aren't nearly as sensitive as BCC.

Mind you, boa constrictors should always be on a more conservative feeding schedule so that the animal loves a long happy life, they will get big in time. Or you can even buy an animal that is already an adult.

Thats good to know. Still learning alot about boas. Trying to absorb as much info as i can.

Also not all BCC get huge. Star Shaffer has a couple that she breeds that are only around 6-7' if I remember correct. BCC tend to get bigger but not guaranteed. I've also seen pictures of a 9' BCI from one of the breeders which I cant remember his name now :( Bottom line is if you want the chance at a large snake, make sure the parents were large.

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Originally Posted by Gerardo

Thats good to know. Still learning alot about boas. Trying to absorb as much info as i can.

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I would look at BCC localities. It's just my opinion, but moving into morphs in the BCC realm is not really the way to go. Most BCC are very, very locality specific and the last thing people want is to cloud the genetics with morph blood. It means you are crossing in BCI blood 99% of the time.

The pure BCC animals are stunning in their "Mother Nature" colors.

Look at the Iquitos, Peruvian BCC's. Some females will reach 11+ feet and weigh 60-80 pounds.

That is a lot of snake.

If you are brand new to boas, don't be in a rush for size. Size in many cases is a killer of boas. What I mean by this, is the rush to obtain a large pet, makes you feed it more than you should rather than wait and let the animal grow slowly.

Largest boas = Oldest boas.

Keep researching and don't rush into anything just yet.

Thanks for the advice. I am definitely not going to rush into this. I actually didn't know there wasn't bcc morphs. I also won't over feed it. The reason i want a large boa is that while i plan on having several ball pythons with some breeding and selling I plan on only having ONE boa. I just want it to be "the one." Plenty of reading left to do before i get one. Boa terminology is more confusing than ball pythons.

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Originally Posted by Gerardo

Thanks for the advice. I am definitely not going to rush into this. I actually didn't know there wasn't bcc morphs. I also won't over feed it. The reason i want a large boa is that while i plan on having several ball pythons with some breeding and selling I plan on only having ONE boa. I just want it to be "the one." Plenty of reading left to do before i get one. Boa terminology is more confusing than ball pythons.

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I think your "1" boa will turn into 2, and then,,,,, LOL!

Boa constrictors are very unique, fun animals. I have 1, and wish i had another, but I opted for a coastal carpet female who's mother is 10 feet long and father is 8 feet.

My BC is actually a locality BCI (Barranquilla Colombia).

A really great starter boa is a BCI. They tend to grow the fastest and handled mistakes in husbandry and feeding a little better. Though if you are dedicated and willing to be patient and conservative, a BCC is fine.

BC's are decent sized animals and a female BCI from Colombia is going to be a 6-8 foot animal with some significant girth.

Once the weight of one of these passes the 20 pound mark, they are pretty large.

I know a few that have some hefty 8-9 foot Suriname BCC's that weigh a lot and they don't enjoy handling them as mush as a lighter boa.

If you have the time to check Amazon, look into buying THE COMPLETE BOA CONSTRICTOR By Vincent Russo. That book will tell you about everything you need to know about BC's. Also research anything and everything Gus Rentfro has written or posted about boa constrictors.

Check out Tom McCarthy's Big Boa Page. He has a ton of giant boa pics up. Some are really fat and out of shape, but he just complied the photos. He breeds some nice BCI morphs and has some beautiful Brazilian BCC's.

We have one royal python here, but to be honest, I find boa constrictors and carpet pythons much more interesting.

It sounds like you have breeding plans so maybe a nice BC would be a great shoulder pet for you while the royals do the breeding.

I'm not on here as much as I used to be, but I can assist getting you pointed in the right direction if needed.


This is my 5 foot 8 inch male Barranquilla, Colombian BCI doing his thing.

http://i772.photobucket.com/albums/y...a/IMG_2329.jpg


BC's are semi arboreal, and can be a real treat to watch in the right setup.

Thanks alot Gio. You have been very helpful. I will definitely be doing alot of reading. Ive always wanted a boa so i will do my best to learn as much as i can about them before i get one. Beautiful boa you got there. What is he eating?

Also like I said, if you are looking for morphs, BCI is the way to go. This is my girl I got from Ash Lopez at Black Forest Constrictors. A Redgroup/Burke Lipstick line sunglow poss super sunglow BCI female. A lot have already seen this photo as it is one of the ones Ash sent me. I haven't gotten a digital camera yet :( [IMG]http://i1056.photobucket.com/albums/...psuyfzcw3z.jpg[/IMG]

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Originally Posted by Gerardo

Thanks alot Gio. You have been very helpful. I will definitely be doing alot of reading. Ive always wanted a boa so i will do my best to learn as much as i can about them before i get one. Beautiful boa you got there. What is he eating?

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Thanks,

This animal is being raised to be large, but conservatively. It is a male, but because I don't have a single female BC is the house the snake will never experience the pheromones released by a female in season for breeding. That alone is something that can help with the size of a male.

If you run your temps on the higher recommended end of the scale you can expect to see some additional growth as well.

I feed using a feast or famine schedule. During the early part of his life he was fed small rats weekly, then medium rats 10-14 days. I moved up to large rats and the quail equivalent and he usually goes about 20 days.

However I have gone beyond 30 days to clean him out, and dropped back to medium rats, and then I've fed him a few meals in shorter intervals.

Now I am at the top of his food potential for food, I'll use 1-1.5 pound bunnies, as well as large rats and quail mixed up in frequency. This year will probably be his last "big growth year".

This winter I'll follow a temp drop cycle along with decreased light. I'm expecting he'll not eat from November to April.


He will hit 3 years old June 27th.

Do they all stop eating at some point?

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Originally Posted by Gerardo

Do they all stop eating at some point?

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Not at all,

The seasonal changes will have a natural effect on the frequency but they don't stop eating for good.

If you look at where I said I drop the temps in the winter (a natural occurrence) the snake will eat less.

A young snake will probably feed year round for the first couple of years, and some keepers do not adjust temps, or daylight.

There are a host of other factors, and even with no human adjustments in husbandry, a boa will still feel what happens in the outside world to an extent.

If your focus is to have a large boa, start with a female, and look into one of the larger locality BCCs or even the Argentine boa constrictor.

Just my two cents, but to be specific, there aren't any true BCC morphs. BCC localities are such that their genetic lineages are traced to geographical locations with distinct characteristics. Any introduction of the common boa genetic morphologies are from breeding a BCC x BCI, and would not produce a 100% BCC bloodline anymore. Most BCC breeders cringe at the thought of "watering down" the pure BCC heritage line. IMO though I tend to like BCIs best anyways! But there isn't much that can compete with a full size Suri's tail.

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Originally Posted by Gerardo

Do they all stop eating at some point?

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BCIs are garbage disposals and will eat pretty much anything, anywhere, anytime. Also if you want a large BCC, go female and make sure the parents were large too. Like I said, Star Shaffer breeds BCC and she has some Suris that are only 6-7', even smaller than some of the BCIs. So if your goal is big, make sure it comes from big parents to up your chances....or just get a mainland retic or green anaconda :P

How much more difficult is bcc husbandry vs bci?

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Originally Posted by Gerardo

How much more difficult is bcc husbandry vs bci?

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Not much if you pay attention to husbandry closely. I personally would keep a Suriname BCC on mice for it's first year. Pay attention to seasonal changes and adjust your temps to coincide with the season. It is not normal or healthy for a BC to eat year round for the duration of its life. While the first year or 2 you could certainly be "regular," I'd highly recommend using the seasonal method that Vin Russo and Gus Rentfro lay out in their writings.

There is something very unique about the body shape of a lean, muscular BC.


If you are old enough, and responsible enough, I don't see any reason you couldn't care for a BCC.

One of the BCC species that does not suffer the same sensitivity issues that the Suri or Guyana boas are said to have, are the Peruvian boas.

These can also be the largest BCCs.

Thanks again Gio. I will be ordering THE COMPLETE BOA CONSTRICTOR today.

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Originally Posted by Gerardo

Thanks again Gio. I will be ordering THE COMPLETE BOA CONSTRICTOR today.

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Good for you! Great start to your research.

I think you will be thrilled with that book.

Also Legacy Reptiles has a wonderful breeding program. They have a lot of Gus Rentfro's old stock and a number of other localities from various high end BCC breeders plus what they do on their own.

Looking forward to reading the book.

Time to studyhttp://images.tapatalk-cdn.com/15/06...5875e31bb6.jpg

Great reading so far. Real happy i got this book

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Originally Posted by Gerardo

Great reading so far. Real happy i got this book

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Yes!

Unbeatable as far as books go. There are several photos from Gus Rentfro in that book and he and Vin are close friends.

Gus has so much info on these animals it's astounding, but sadly he is out of boas for the time being.

Vin has localities and morphs. Gus was strictly a locality breeder and sold his stock, at least a lot of it, to Legacy Reptiles. They work with locality BCs and recently with some morphs.

The choice will come down to what you like, but a pure locality of any form BCC, BCI, BCO, BCA is really special IMO.

This is already a year old. This is my Barranquilla, Colombian male.

A Gus Rentfro creation that I purchased from Legacy Reptiles.

In the book you are reading there is a special section on these boas. These are what a "natural cross" of BCC and BCI would look like in the wild.

Gus almost classed these as BCC for several reasons I'm told, but because he wanted 100+% validity they are BCI.

http://i772.photobucket.com/albums/y...a/DSC01313.jpg

http://i772.photobucket.com/albums/y...DSC01297-1.jpg


Enjoy the book, and keep us posted.

It really looks like you are doing this right!

Far too many people just buy something, have no clue and end up playing catch up or dumping their animal down the road.

I like how you are going about this!

I definitely want to be as prepared as possible before i take on that responsibility. I am looking forward to learning more about these awesome animals. Your boa looks super great. Hopefully i will have one of my own soon enough.

I saw surinam bcc for sale for $169.99. Is that normal? I thought they went for something more like $600+

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Originally Posted by Gerardo

I saw surinam bcc for sale for $169.99. Is that normal? I thought they went for something more like $600+

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It all depends on if they are captive bred or harvested from SA. The big reptile distributors still field collect a lot of baby boas from suriname and Guyana. These are usually the ones that are cheaper in price. Breeders in the US that only produce specific genetic lines of BCC have boas ranging from 400-800$