Looking at bigger snakes

I went to a reptile expo on sunday and this breeder was sealing red tail boas and I feel in love ive been looking at them since i got into snakes (about a year go) i have 2 ball pythons. size inst really a problem. any suggestions ive been looking at red tail boas and dumerils boas.

I don't have any experience with dumerils but, I believe they can get bigger. I have a red tail boa and he's amazing. But, they can grow quickly so, be prepared for that. A proper cage for an adult should be a 4x2 boaphile or bigger. But, these can be rather pricey. Up to $200 and up (new).

I just had only 1 BP when I rescued a 6Ft RTB. No problems since she is tame as can be.
She is a lot of fun, I highly recommend boas. Plus I now have a garbage disposal for when my Ball doesn't want to eat because their appetite is pretty much on call. Don't get me wrong, they are not always in feed mode. It's just that they are open to opportunity.

As long as you don't over feed them, their size is reasonably controlable. A BCI Red Tail male averages 5.5-6 Ft, while the females avg about a footish longer.
BCC's tend to run a bit larger.
Most of their growth slows down around 4 yrs.

Go for it! You won't regret it. After all, a snake with a mustache has GOT to fun! :D

Best

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BCI's get longer overall that Dum's, but the Dum's are more heavy-bodied and muscular. IMO given the same length BCI and Dum, the Dum is a much stronger snake.

That said my Dum's are also less active when being held than my BCI's, they're much more inclined to take a wrap or three around your arm/wrist/hand and stay put if you want to walk around with them.

I've had both. I love keeping both of them but they do take up more space. Boas can be a little aggressive around feeding time so keep your head on a swivel. They do get bigger. I had twenty of them. All my males were alive 8 feet and females much thicker. My dumerils were one of my favorite species I've kept. They are sweethearts and males are reasonably smaller than the females. I wouldn't hesitate on either. Just make sure you have the housing to move quickly.

I wouldn't say they are more aggressive at feeding time, they just have a stronger feeding response than BPs. Just get a pair of feeding tongs and you won't have issues. My boy hits fast and hard but I've had no problems with him since getting the tongs.

To the above post I have to say that a male BCI should not get any bigger than 6 feet with proper feeding. Males at 8 feet is really rare unless power fed/over fed.

My male is a yearling and I love him to pieces. He's about 650g and honestly is a little chubby. I've stretched out his feedings to one small rat every 2 weeks. Hopefully that helps him stay nice and slim with steady growth. From what I have the fastest growth is going to be in that first year. I have had Cy since he was a month old and he is now 10x the size he was when I got him. I swear in those first few months he was growing before my eyes.

Personality wise, he's my favorite snake (don't tell the others). I love his calm attitude. He is a joy to be around. I would highly recommend a red tail.

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My males were by no way shape or form power fed. They were breeders and if anything a touch lean. They were fed every 14-17 days, on jumbo rats. Four were bci's and three were Surinames that obviously get a little bigger. You can over feed all day long but it will not turn a snake with 6-7 foot genetics into an 8 foot snake. It will only give them girth and make them over weight. With that said, I never meant to say they all get that big. Just mentioning it because planning for a 6 foot male and having him grow to more than 8 feet is not that uncommon. it does however make a difference in caging. It's recommended to provide a cage that's at least 2/3 the length of the snake. I found that to be a little cramped when they wanted to stretch out. This was solely my own prerogative. I also gave a little more height because mine liked to climb. The minimum is 2/3 the length though. I also fed them in separate tubs and I can tell you that once they have the scent of food, moving them is good practice for a Dodgeball league. When not being fed they were just as tame as my bp's. Hope this helps

I dunno. 8 foot male BCIs are pretty uncommon. It seems odd that all 4 of your males ended up that big without over feeding. IMO every 2 weeks, jumbo rats is a bit much for an adult male.

I also disagree on the size. That maybe true for other species, but again most monster boas you see are over fed. Don't get me wrong, it's easy to do. Their metabolism is much slower than other species.

Although older snakes tend to be bigger as well. They grow throughout their lives. Some males may reach 7-8 feet if they get up into their teens, I don't know. You don't meet too many that age.

Anyway slow consistent feeding is recommended for these guys. That way you end up with a nice lean animal that will live a long time. I guess that's my point in the end. You have to watch their diet a bit closer than BPs. Like I posted earlier, my boy is just over a year old and he's being fed every 2 weeks. To compare my yearling cornsnake is still being fed every 5 days(though he's on the cusp of moving up to adult mice, once there I will switch him to every 7 days).

So HVani, with my almost two year old Dum, would it be better if I fed her once every two weeks? I have been looking at her and thinking she may be a bit on the chubby side, haha. I need to weigh her here soon, but it's hard to not forget that she's not my little baby anymore and so maybe she doesn't need to be fed as often.

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Originally Posted by ratchet

So HVani, with my almost two year old Dum, would it be better if I fed her once every two weeks? I have been looking at her and thinking she may be a bit on the chubby side, haha. I need to weigh her here soon, but it's hard to not forget that she's not my little baby anymore and so maybe she doesn't need to be fed as often.

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I can't say on a Dum sadly. I only have experience with BCIs

I think most boas benefit from being fed once every 2 weeks when they are older, but I don't have anything to back that up.

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Originally Posted by HVani

I can't say on a Dum sadly. I only have experience with BCIs

I think most boas benefit from being fed once every 2 weeks when they are older, but I don't have anything to back that up.

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Okay! I'll dig around some more then, thanks! :)

Sorry, don't mean to take the main conversation off topic!!

I can't wait till my Dum is bigger. She is such a sweetheart and hangs around my neck and shoulders like a champ. She's my favourite when it comes to carrying a snake around the house, my king snake doesn't hold still long enough to hang around nicely and my ball pythons don't seem to like it as much (still working on that, cause by golly, they'll learn to like it, gosh darn it ;P). I know I'll have to get her a larger cage than any of my other snakes, but that doesn't bother me. Having a longer and larger girthed snake is going to be sweet, I know she will be my favourite to show off. ;) Being my first boa, she's been amazing since day one at 2 weeks old when I got her. :D

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Originally Posted by ratchet

So HVani, with my almost two year old Dum, would it be better if I fed her once every two weeks? I have been looking at her and thinking she may be a bit on the chubby side, haha. I need to weigh her here soon, but it's hard to not forget that she's not my little baby anymore and so maybe she doesn't need to be fed as often.

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Once mine hit a year old they're on a ten day schedule, and at two years they go to a fourteen day schedule. My adults also don't get a prey item big enough to leave a lump, usually a 6-7 ounce rat or young rabbit is plenty.

Remember Dums prefer a lower temperature than ball pythons - 75*F to 85*F - and they have correspondingly slower metabolisms so they digest slowly and don't need to eat as often. Like BCI's they should also be square, not round, even though they are heavy-bodied.

Honestly I'm surprised they're not more popular with people who keep snakes as they're remarkably easy to maintain, have a nice food response, don't get insanely huge, and aren't difficult to handle (think lap snake).

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Originally Posted by bcr229

Once mine hit a year old they're on a ten day schedule, and at two years they go to a fourteen day schedule. My adults also don't get a prey item big enough to leave a lump, usually a 6-7 ounce rat or young rabbit is plenty.

Remember Dums prefer a lower temperature than ball pythons - 75*F to 85*F - and they have correspondingly slower metabolisms so they digest slowly and don't need to eat as often. Like BCI's they should also be square, not round, even though they are heavy-bodied.

Honestly I'm surprised they're not more popular with people who keep snakes as they're remarkably easy to maintain, have a nice food response, don't get insanely huge, and aren't difficult to handle (think lap snake).

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Thanks!! Yeah, I'd say she is more chub than lean, this should help. And thanks about the temp reminder, it's hard not to get so wrapped up in the temps and include her with the balls. That must be why they are said to be slow growers, with the slow metabolism.

I had never heard of them until I went to my first expo. My husband was the one that noticed them. I loved her rosey pink with the dark. It amazes me how much she mellowed out, she tagged me a few times as a young one, haha.

Obviously everyone has their own method for feeding. I feed appropriately sized items every week, from baby up through adult. I always have fit, lean, muscular snakes that are happy.

Some of the time I do intentionally vary their food intake. If I am going to have a busy week, or be on vacation, I might feed a larger food item, and then let them go two weeks. Usually only do this for an animal at least a year old. Sometimes the most growth comes in their fasting period.