Another dumeril boa vs Columbian boa question

Hey guys. I've recently become a home owner :) I finally have the snake room I've always wanted. Thus I'm looking to expand my collection and finally get myself the big snake I've always wanted.

What I really am after is a gentle giant. I realize that all snake are individuals, I already have a female coastal carpet that getting a decent size but still hissy nippy at the worst , head butt at her best and flighty as hell. Granted she has calm down quite a bit since I've had her but I realize she won't ever be a "gentle" and I'm ok with that.

With th the calm reputation that boa has I think they are good choice to add to my collection. I dont intent to breed them ever. Would like to focus on my ball breeding project. But I would prefer a female for whatever specie I end up getting because of the general faster growing nature of a female.

Im stuck between a plain old Columbian boa and the beautiful dumeril boa.

From my my research both can be calm placid animals. Columbian boa will get bigger than dumeril boa but their care seems to be the same.

However from rom what I have read dumeril seem to need substrate to burrow in and urate a lot more? I do like to see her as I will eventually have her in a clear front pvc cage. I have hope that this new addition with be the showcase animal in my snake room along with my coastal. I'm concern the beautiful dumeril boa will end up being a pet head (from what I read they either hide or burrow so only their head is shown. Also the concern with feeding problem. I already have a bunch ball pythons that like to randomly waste food, don't really want another problem feeder. Adding to that they seem to prefer colder temperature, because she will be kept in the same room as my balls I'm worry it might get too hot for dumeril and thus cause feeding problem.

With the Columbian. I like their impressive size but seem like the they ain't generally as chill as the dumeril but a better shoulder pet. But from pictures and video online they see to not hide as much and adults are often seen kept on newspaper, my prefer substrate. However I don't care much for the much of the boa morphs, I'm ok with the darker individuals of normal phrase but they ain't that flashy tbh. Most boa morphs are lighter color, I much prefer a darker snake or a snake with more pronounce pattern (albino is my least favourite morph of any snake). Although the Scoria boa look amazing but way out of my price range.

Would much appreciate input from you guys and maybe even owners of both species. Picture of adults would really really help.

also I don't have a source for rabbit and I'm planning to breed my own rats again so whatever I get much stay a rat eater. I'm sure it would be a problem with the dumeril? Not sure about the Colombians. Some feed them jumbo rats some go for rabbits

Not quite what you are after but fairly close, I have a dumerils and a red tail, both are absolutely great eaters who never miss a meal. Both are in pvc cages, the dumerils does usually come out and move around daily but spends most of his time buried in the substrate, stretched out trying to be sneaky. There's not enough substrate for him to be buried completely but it's a good effort lol. He's just a baby though so maybe as he gets some size he will be bolder. He does usually come out at night and any time I rearrange his cage. Very docile. Fast moving.

The boa constrictor I have to be more careful taking out of cage due to his feeding response but calm once out and very handle able. He varies between hanging out on the hides or in them but doesn't really move around in it during the day that I see.

You should check out Argentine Boas (boa constrictor occidentalis). They are the second largest bc subspecies and many are very dark, almost,black.

I haven't had a Dumerils but I do got 2 BCI girls and they are like giant puppies. My big girl is 6' and the only way to get her excited is to wave a rat in front of her. They both get lots of outside the cage time and they love to ride on me or sit on the bed. My big girl has her spot above the bed on a shelf or she likes to climb the dresser and push everything off while getting up there lol. My little sunglow girl loves to just ride on me, plain and simple. Not a big fan of adventuring on her own like my Colombian girl.

As for housing, I have my Colombian girl in a Proline cage and she never hides. The only time she bothers to curl up in her hide is when she is shedding and during that time, she wants alone time. My sunglow is like a pet head during the day but you will always see her as she loves to park her head right in the front of the cage. At night she comes out and sits in the open.

You cant go wrong with a BCI. I've had both of mine since babies. They eat like horses and in over 3 years my Colombian girl has refused a meal once. They are the garbage disposals for my BP who is on a hunger strike now lol.

As for color being darker, look at IMG or anery. Anery isn't really dark per say but its a reduced red color so it makes them look darker. There are also Eclipse boas but they aren't cheap.

I prefer the red tailed boas tbh. My male is very chill, and darker than my slightly temperamental female. And I see them often, and feed them jumbo rats. Substantial heft, but I haven't been in a situation with them where I needed "help" handling them. I do have to hook the female, but the male can be just lifted out.

It it should be mentioned that my boa hook is basically a golf club with the club removed and a bend in it. My regular hook - well it would never have gotten around my boas lol.

With your options, I would chose the Columbian. Every species has individual personalities. So unless you buy an adult you are never guaranteed to get the docile pet you have in mind. So go with the one you like best. Columbian has more of the behaviors you are looking for, so think on it :)

The Argentin Boa looks interesting but I have heard of questionable temperament from many of them (questionable meaning not as chill as regular Colombians)? Any owners of argentine boa can chime in? How is their behaviour inside their enclosure? Hides and burrows too?


About the IMG boas. They are absolutely gorgeous but they are unfornately too expensive for a snake that I don't ever plan to breed. I am planning to spent no more than $300. So boa get darker as they age like most ball pythons?

please share are picture of all the adults you guys have :) would be nice to help decide

I got my argentine as a rescue because the owners said she was bitey and were afraid to feed her. Once in my care she never bit but could get pretty huffy if she was in a bad mood, but was already a poorly socialized adult when I got her. 95 percent of the time however she was a total sweetheart and completely trustworthy once out of her cage. If you got a baby and spent some time with it I think you will wind up with a very friendly snake. Mine passed away a few years ago unfortunately.

I used to own a argentine boa long ago and yes their mean but they can be tamed. After enough effort he turned out to be pretty handable i regret selling him. Now considering you wanted something calmer with all do respect to everyone else i don't think a argentine is the way to go.lol Though if you want an interesting sub species and can put up with it then go for it but i'll just recommend a boa. You got more variety with boa's with a dumeril you're probably gonna end up with just a dumeril. Also don't get me wrong dumerils are great just i think boa's are better overall.

Also i noticed you're asking so here's a bad quality pic of my big ol Columbian red tail. He's a big puppy dog btw.http://ball-pythons.net/gallery/file..._58_19_pro.jpg

How big is your boy here? Do you have any size comparison? Maybe if you holding him? how much does he weight.

My friend has a female that looks little shorter and a little less girthier than your male? I'm still a little concern with ending up with a 40-50 pound beast of a female in 8 years but from my research it seems like a rare occasion and most female can eat rats for their entire live.

i would go for a male if they grow faster lol, from my experience the male just tend to not grow as fast. What age is yours at this point in the photo?

I have both BCI's and Dumerils boas. The Dum's boas tend to be more placid "lap snakes" when being handled but they do have their moments, and because they are naturally thicker than BCI's they tend to be heavier and stronger at the same length.

My larger adults all eat appropriately-sized rabbits of 1-1.5#. They could eat jumbo rats but I think boas do better on a lower-fat diet.

Also remember that Dum's prefer a lower temperature gradient - 75-85*F - so if you have a room specifically for reptiles the ambient will need to run a few degrees cooler than if you only had BCI's and ball pythons in it.

Also temperament will depend on handling and stuff too. Like I mentioned earlier, both my gals are puppies. I can just reach in head first with them and they just look up and tongue flick my hand and then lay down. Heck I can even pet their heads and they sit there 90% of the time. Sometimes they get in a mood but that means they just move their head back a little which means "leave me alone". You pretty much will get out of them what you invest in them timewise. My advice is go to a reptile show or local zoo and take a look at each one if they have them. And of course a reptile show will be a great place to look at them as well.

Just remember, boas don't grow that fast so it will be a long time before you got a 8' gal. My 6' gal is just over 3 years old and I got her as a baby. My sunglow gal is 4' and is almost 2 years old and that's with a not so conservative feeding. I was feeding them once a week as babies and then every 2 weeks after 1.5 years old. Some people feed their snakes every 3-4 weeks even yearlings.

Also males don't grow as big so you can expect somewhere around 4-6' for an average male. Females you can expect around 7-8' with a lot more girth and heft. My 6' Colombian girl is pretty hefty yet she wants to sit on me like she is still a baby. She loves to try and curl around my shoulders and neck and stretch her head out to check stuff out or try and climb the rain gutter to the roof when I'm outside on the deck.

And avoid jumbo rats. Those are usually retired breeders which are fatty and boas don't handle fat well. Stick to rats or if your snake gets big enough to eat jumbo rats, try rabbits. I'm just not sure if 2 medium or large rats are better than a young rabbit as the rats will be more developed.

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Originally Posted by Sauzo

Also temperament will depend on handling and stuff too. Like I mentioned earlier, both my gals are puppies. I can just reach in head first with them and they just look up and tongue flick my hand and then lay down. Heck I can even pet their heads and they sit there 90% of the time. Sometimes they get in a mood but that means they just move their head back a little which means "leave me alone". You pretty much will get out of them what you invest in them timewise. My advice is go to a reptile show or local zoo and take a look at each one if they have them. And of course a reptile show will be a great place to look at them as well.

Just remember, boas don't grow that fast so it will be a long time before you got a 8' gal. My 6' gal is just over 3 years old and I got her as a baby. My sunglow gal is 4' and is almost 2 years old and that's with a not so conservative feeding. I was feeding them once a week as babies and then every 2 weeks after 1.5 years old. Some people feed their snakes every 3-4 weeks even yearlings.

Also males don't grow as big so you can expect somewhere around 4-6' for an average male. Females you can expect around 7-8' with a lot more girth and heft. My 6' Colombian girl is pretty hefty yet she wants to sit on me like she is still a baby. She loves to try and curl around my shoulders and neck and stretch her head out to check stuff out or try and climb the rain gutter to the roof when I'm outside on the deck.

And avoid jumbo rats. Those are usually retired breeders which are fatty and boas don't handle fat well. Stick to rats or if your snake gets big enough to eat jumbo rats, try rabbits. I'm just not sure if 2 medium or large rats are better than a young rabbit as the rats will be more developed.

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thanks for the detailed reply. Do you have a picture of your 6' Colombian girl? Would you say she is at the size of a full grown male Columbian at this point? Is she on rabbits yet? I mainly interested in only feeding her rats is because I will be having a rat colony and feeder rabbits are hard to come by in my area. Honestly I'm more concern with the heft and girth more than the length. I don't want to end up with a boa that I can't handle by myself but looking at video of male Columbian boa on YouTube make me feel they are too small, I'm not sure if it's because most of them are breeder and kept small.

Hey zero in that pic he's around 9 feet and around 30 lbs believe it or not. I should also mention he's about 17 years old so i'd imagine that's a big factor. I forgot you mentioned you wanted a girl so i'm not sure Columbians are best cause you see what my boy turned in to. If this is to big for you i'll respect your decision i'm just trying to help you get an idea of what you want.:gj: With that said again he's a puppy but a little much for me to handle by self but i get by. I gotta remember to get some pics of me holding him sometime with a better camera too. I'm gonna just suggest a bci they got decent variety like sun glow and others. I'm not a pro at boa genetics but bci are smaller sub species and pretty common in the pet trade especially at expo's and shows.

Here's my 6 foot female Columbian. I was told female, but it may be a male.

She is not showing any noticeable growth, so I suspect that she is at least 4-5 yrs. The largest girth on her is about the size of a Coke can.

Don't let this picture fool you, the stool is cut in half.


http://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/2016...cfc3e8db01.jpg




My 10 year old male here is right at 7 foot with a girth a bit less than a half gallon milk carton. (Supposedly a male, but I have my doubts) He weighs 14 pounds, but feels heavier while handling.

He/? dwarfs the female/? in size.
http://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/2016...13a2559233.jpg



I keep looking at the Dumerils. I almost pulled the trigger on a pair this week with a tank for only $200. But it was a 3.5 hr drive and I had crappy photos. Also I only want 1, not 2.

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Originally Posted by threezero

thanks for the detailed reply. Do you have a picture of your 6' Colombian girl? Would you say she is at the size of a full grown male Columbian at this point? Is she on rabbits yet? I mainly interested in only feeding her rats is because I will be having a rat colony and feeder rabbits are hard to come by in my area. Honestly I'm more concern with the heft and girth more than the length. I don't want to end up with a boa that I can't handle by myself but looking at video of male Columbian boa on YouTube make me feel they are too small, I'm not sure if it's because most of them are breeder and kept small.

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Sorry I don't. I live in the dark ages and don't have a smart phone as I don't need one. I am going to buy a little camera one of these days(I always say that but I end up buying stuff for my beardie or snakes haha). She is probably about the size of a full grown male. Now males can get larger than 6' but that's not the norm. She is definitely thicker than a male. She is about as thick as a pop can or maybe a little thinner. She isn't on rabbits, I feed her medium rats as she is a little overweight so I have been restricting her feeding. She can eat weaned rabbits which I might try next week when I feed her.

Males will definitely be smaller, most notably in girth. I would be surprised if you couldn't handle a male as boas are pretty mellow to start with. Its the girth that gets you. Like my 6' is almost as thick as a pop can yet she still thinks she is a baby and tries to ride on my shoulders and neck which can be a pain especially when she decides she wants to drive and blocks my face lol. If you are concerned, just get a male and after a couple years if you find he is easily manageable, then maybe look at a girl. You will learn boas are like Pringles, you cant just stop at one. Heck I've been getting the itch for a male high expression jungle but I need to get 2x AP T13 cages first so I can shuffle around my girls into the bigger cages and stick my BP in my Proline which my big girl is in now.

Oh also remember, boas grow slow so its going to be a long time before a girl is going to get to 8' unless you power feed them. My sunglow gal is almost 2 years old and is only 4'. Also as you see them everyday, you don't really notice the size unless you really look at it or they start dragging on the floor when you carry them and then realize you got an extra 2 feet of snake you didn't notice before lol. Their fastest growth is the first 3 years, after that it slows down a lot but they do have growth spurts.

Great so I show my girlfriend what I thought was a beautiful Columbian baby and she disapproves (she had snake phobia but is slowly coming around and trying to accept my snakes) the dumeril though she was cool with. I guess i can live with a pet head :rolleyes:

Is is it really common to get a trouble feeder? Is it on the same level as ball python or a little better? Is substrate a must or have you guys successfully kept dumeril on plain newspaper? looking at couple dumeril babies at the moment the shade of color varies from babies to babies. Do they tend to get darker with age?

lastly please show off any adult dumeril you guys might have! Excited to say the least. Won't have fund for one for a few months but pictures would help!

My boas ar my garbage disposals. (sorry trying to type with a baby boa wrapped around my wrist and severa; fingers lol///


Ive never ever had a healthy red tail refuse food. (I do have a baby that came out of the egg "wrong" so i dont count him... and i would never sell him.

amyways, i think a pet head wont be as bad as you think... because a happy girlfriend makes everything better :)

i will try to get a pic of my male red tail when i cleam his tub since he is dark like you wanted. but he body painted with his poop so efterr his shower he may not cooperate lol. he hates getting wet. and this surpasses a sponge bath. i may be a wet miserable mess so i may not want any part of him and pictures when im done haha

....wisj me luck...

http://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/2016...96fb680de1.jpg

My longer but darker rtb.

http://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/2016...5aa485520f.jpg

My shorter but thicker female for a size comparison

http://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/2016...8381a5808e.jpg

Female around my leg for comparison

http://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/2016...1d1af8ac44.jpg

The male with the hubby for more size.


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Feeding problems with Boas are uncommon.

I converted my boy to F/T on the first try after having been on Live for 10 yrs.

Same with my girl which I received as an adult as well.

You will very pleased at how much fun feeding time is with Boas compared to the typical Ball.


http://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/2016...057b3c1511.jpg

I will respond with photos and more information later on.

In my opinion, a BCI male or female would be a much better handling and display option. You can certainly grow a large male or female but age is the key to ultimate end size of a healthy BC. Note HEALTHY here.

A Dumeril boa displays much of the same behavior that the royals you already own do. "Dumeril Ground Boa". You will get a semi arboreal experience with a properly set up BCI. At least some of the time. As far as beauty, I will post photos of a 6 foot male locality Colombian BCI from Barranquilla that will rival the beauty of many BCC boas.

Nothing against Dumeril boas, but they are not a big change from what you have with royals and don't display as well as BCI/BCC.

What is it your it your girl does not like about boa constrictors?

You can get some stunning BCI and BCC specimens for $300 and under.

I've had Rosey refuse a meal once in 3 years. She loves to eat so much I had to put her on a diet. Vicky eats anything anytime. She is my go to gal when my BP doesn't eat. If a boa refuses a meal, it usually means something is wrong. I swear the 2 favorite things of boas to do is eat and poop. SO to answer the question, no, boas are not problem feeders.

As I said above, I would post some photos and give you more information.

This is a 2012 Barranquilla, Colombian BCI. The locality is what a natural cross between BCI and BCC would look like in nature. The breeder, Gus Rentfro (Rio Bravo Reptiles) and his friend, Vincent Russo, author of THE COMPLETE BOA CONSTRICTOR have stated these boas exhibit traits of both BCC and BCI. A friend of mine who knows Gus told me these were almost labeled as Colombian BCC boas. However Mr. Rentfro did not want to do that without 110% verification.

This is labeled a BCI. It was also under your price point even after shipping. I bought this male from Legacy Reptiles and they now have all of the old Rentfro stock since Gus has stopped producing BCs.

http://i772.photobucket.com/albums/y...a/DSC01670.jpg

These boas handle well and are docile in general.

http://i772.photobucket.com/albums/y...bfb70be256.jpg

They also have amazing colors. This boa is not a morph and comes from pure lines.
http://i772.photobucket.com/albums/y...a/DSC01676.jpg

http://i772.photobucket.com/albums/y...DSC01672_1.jpg


As for size, you can certainly grow a large, healthy male. They can equal the size of a female in certain situations. If you only have 1 male BC and no other female BC's in the house giving off pheromones the boa will not be affected in the same manner it would be during sexual maturity with a female giving off "signals".

Raising a "shoulder pet" male doesn't require feeding/intentionally feeding less. Males can handle the food just like the females can. The secret to size is health and longevity. The big boa posted here was said to be 17 years old. They can and will grow all their lives. Feeding and husbandry play very important roles in the growth. A boa kept in the higher end of the recommended temp threshold and fed larger prey will grow larger and faster than one that is not.

There are a lot of variables involved but IF you want a large male you can get one. Of course genetics will also play a role and a boa that may be from a line that is constantly producing small animals will be less likely to get huge. I feed my male 1 pound rabbits, but I also DON'T feed him over the winter.

He is 6+ feet, lean and fairly active. Big females from his family tree are about 7 feet long. I think Sauzo may have a sister female to my male.


Here are some photos with cages in the background for size reference. Unfortunately these are I-phone pics and the lighting is terrible.

http://i772.photobucket.com/albums/y...a/IMG_2586.jpg

http://i772.photobucket.com/albums/y...a/IMG_2578.jpg

If you're looking for a display animal, you will see more activity from a boa constrictor VS the Dums. This is where your personal preference comes in.

What type of snake do you want to enjoy and what types of behaviors do you want to see? If you want to see a wider spectrum of behaviors, you will need to furnish your cage with "options".

My guy typically hunts from his perches and I can usually tell 3-4 weeks after the previous meal when he is ramping up his activity. I will often let him do this (hunt/climb) for a few days as it is healthy and fun to watch.

When I know he is 100% ready, I let him have his food.
http://i772.photobucket.com/albums/y...a/IMG_2595.jpg

http://i772.photobucket.com/albums/y...a/IMG_2601.jpg

A well appointed boa constrictor cage.
http://i772.photobucket.com/albums/y...a/IMG_2658.jpg

More outdoor action.
http://i772.photobucket.com/albums/y...a/IMG_2483.jpg

http://i772.photobucket.com/albums/y...a/IMG_2487.jpg

And,,, some "in cage" display activity.

http://i772.photobucket.com/albums/y...a/DSC01594.jpg


Obviously I prefer boa constrictors and carpet pythons to most other species so I'm selling you a biased opinion.

Your desire, if I understood it at the beginning of the thread, was a large/semi large snake that is docile, fun and easy to handle and is something that will be a good display animal. Of the two possibilities you mentioned, using those criteria, I think the boa constrictor fits best.

You should look around, research more, and take all the time you need. See what your girl likes. She may find handling an adult BC is thrilling, as they like to wrap and hold on and investigate the world. They are not "runners" like retics can be and BCs usually move in controlled, slow, deliberate manners. My coastal carpet is a lot more sporadic and does not hold as tight as my BC. BCs give you a big hug and anchor down. They move a lot but use you as their foundation.

Dumeril boas are cool, and I'd gladly trade our royal for one, but I would not take one over a BC or carpet.

Best of luck in your search! I hope you have fun and really get what you want.

I hope this helped a bit.

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Originally Posted by Gio

I will respond with photos and more information later on.

In my opinion, a BCI male or female would be a much better handling and display option. You can certainly grow a large male or female but age is the key to ultimate end size of a healthy BC. Note HEALTHY here.

A Dumeril boa displays much of the same behavior that the royals you already own do. "Dumeril Ground Boa". You will get a semi arboreal experience with a properly set up BCI. At least some of the time. As far as beauty, I will post photos of a 6 foot male locality Colombian BCI from Barranquilla that will rival the beauty of many BCC boas.

Nothing against Dumeril boas, but they are not a big change from what you have with royals and don't display as well as BCI/BCC.

What is it your it your girl does not like about boa constrictors?

You can get some stunning BCI and BCC specimens for $300 and under.

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please please do share photos! I think she was mostly put off by the sandy light colouring and the bright red tail on that particular specimen I show her (the bright red tail was what draw me to the specimen in the first place...)

i realize boa have great feeding response but I was specifically asking about the dumeril because from what I read online they can be trouble feeders.

another possible area for concern. Do the Colombians need constant handling to stay tame? I have seen some video of boa breeder with boas with questionable personality. While I have never come across video of any dumeril that is not slow moving gentle giants. But that could be due to the fact that there simply less people keeping dumeril


I don't always have time to constant handle my snake. What I mean is I may have a week where I handle them a lot and than I will have couple week of busy work schedule that only give me enough time for cage upkeep. My ball pythons for example being ball pythons will stay tame and handable during my busy schedules. My carpet Python on the other hand need so much work that whenever I am busy she reverts back to her old self after not being handle for a while. That's probabaly why she is still hard to deal with after 2 years in my care.

This is is hard decision and I guess it should be which ever I go for I will take care of him/ her for the rest of their life. Wanna make sure I make the right choice.

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Originally Posted by threezero

please please do share photos! I think she was mostly put off by the sandy light colouring and the bright red tail on that particular specimen I show her (the bright red tail was what draw me to the specimen in the first place...)

i realize boa have great feeding response but I was specifically asking about the dumeril because from what I read online they can be trouble feeders.

another possible area for concern. Do the Colombians need constant handling to stay tame? I have seen some video of boa breeder with boas with questionable personality. While I have never come across video of any dumeril that is not slow moving gentle giants.


I don't always have time to constant handle my snake. What I mean is I may have a week where I handle them a lot and than I will have couple week of busy work schedule that only give me enough time for cage upkeep. My ball pythons for example being ball pythons will stay tame and handable during my busy schedules. My carpet Python on the other hand need so much work that whenever I am busy she reverts back to her old self after not being handle for a while. That's probabaly why she is still hard to deal with after 2 years in my care.

This is is hard decision and I guess it should be which ever I go for I will take care of him/ her for the rest of their life. Wanna make sure I make the right choice.

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You may have typed this while I was posting. Check my thread above your last post. I have the BC pictures there.

In my experience a BC will remain docile once it has experienced handling. I am NOT a frequent handler and only use a hook to tap my guy and then I take him out. I know some people who have been tagged by large BCs and have come out OK. I've seen photos of people who have been tagged by retics that have been to the hospital and the retic that bit them was NOT all that large as far as retics go.

Check my thread and report back with questions if you have any.

I tend to like heavy contrasting patterns and am not a fan of faded BCs or many of the morphs.

So did you look at any of the photos?

Any other questions?

I can point you in the direction of some very good BCC and BCI breeders.

Sorry I can't help with the Dumerils.

I saw 2 of them (Dumeril boas) at our local reptile store yesterday and they were very thick. Almost Burmese python thick of course they have been around there for a long time.

Everyone here as usual is giving wonderful information about boas. Another thing to point out is that even within a species, two genetically different boas that are raised with the exact same husbandry standards can achieve vastly different adult sizes. I can take some pictures later, but I have two female BCI that were born in different litters, but only about a month apart. They are housed in the same rack, fed the same frequency, and handled all the same. One female is almost twice the size of the other currently.

My vote always goes to BCI over dumerils. My largest albino girl is so puppy dog tame that she doesn't even strike at rats anymore. Just slithers over and slowly eats it.

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Originally Posted by JoshSloane

Everyone here as usual is giving wonderful information about boas. Another thing to point out is that even within a species, two genetically different boas that are raised with the exact same husbandry standards can achieve vastly different adult sizes. I can take some pictures later, but I have two female BCI that were born in different litters, but only about a month apart. They are housed in the same rack, fed the same frequency, and handled all the same. One female is almost twice the size of the other currently.

My vote always goes to BCI over dumerils. My largest albino girl is so puppy dog tame that she doesn't even strike at rats anymore. Just slithers over and slowly eats it.

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She's probably getting bored with them lol. One of my girls would just grab rats and eat them, not coil them but after I fed her her first rabbit yesterday, she went bonkers for it. She slammed it, coiled it and got all hissy when I tried to pick aspen off of it and pulled it away from my hand like I was going to take it from her lol. She never even cared if I did that with her rats, she would just keep eating it. And I agree, cant go wrong with a BCI, they are the puppies and 2 year old kids of the snake world....keep them away from tables as they try to pull everything off of them that they can reach when you aren't paying attention lol.

Interesting Reading

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Originally Posted by Lady mkrj58

Interesting Reading

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I'm glad you think so.

I was hoping to hear from the OP to see if there was a decision in the works.

Boas are wonderful snakes that's for sure!

I'm really enjoying my 2 Baby Boas so different than the Balls I love them all perhaps op will return.

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Yeah good reading i also wanna know what the op is deciding on. Nice pics of everyone's boas btw. I wish had better pics of mine i'm working on that plan on buying a camera. Hope you guys like my big boy i got him spring of 2000. I was in the eight grade then. He's actually the last remnants of my old collection on to which i sold most of. I forgot i had a savu python:weirdface. But any way if the op is still deciding here's a pic of my other boa boy an albino red tail. Maybe your girlfriend will like it:gj:.

http://ball-pythons.net/gallery/file..._04_51_pro.jpg

OMG that is one beautiful Boa A show stopper.


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thanks lady got him at a small pet shop i go to get pre killed when their needed. Not sure on genetics so i'm guessing he's just an albino red tail. He doesn't have much contrast he's just mostly this peach-yellowish color. His tail is pretty nice too.

Nice Albino EDR!

Honestly I still havnt decided which boa to go with. I am decided on getting a boa though lol. At the moment I'm leaning more towards a nice normal Columbia with darker marking or maybe a motley if I can find one at a reasonable price. But my girl still doesn't like the Columbian much, she prefers the dumeril. From what I have read in this thread I think I prefer the Columbian.

There is a reptile expo coming in April I kind of want to pick one out myself to make sure I have one that is tame to begin with. I don't know if I can wait this long though.

Does any forum member have recommendation for a reputable boa breeder with available boa at the moment in Canada that they could recommend?

Cool go to know. I can't recommend any breeders but if your going to an expo that should be boa heaven. If you get a boa or dumeril im sure you'll find something you like there and im sure you'll find one that's docile best of luck. I'm going to narbc this march and i know how the waiting sucks. Oh yeah thanks reinz you got some nice boa's as well.

First time poster here, but long time snake owner. I don't have much experience with BCI's, but I've had my Dum for 18 years (the one that is left after my wife and I met--not because she didn't like snakes, because she doesn't like the freezer overflowing with rodents--and our electric bill was getting pretty obscene for where we were at the time) and he is the absolute sweetest snake you've ever met, and was since the day I got him as a hatchling. I don't handle him all that often, but I trust him 100% when our son's friends come over and they want to hold him. And, for the first time in a decade, I'll be adding another slithery member to the family (Motley BCI)--my son is pretty stoked about this, even though it's really going to be mine.

Here's my take on this type of situation....do what she wants. Chances are, that she'll love it and it will be easier to add a BCI once you're ready to add to your collection. There's a good reason for the saying, "wife happy, life happy"

Cheers,
Randy

edit: EDR, agreed with the others, that boa is a beaut...