BCI Male or Female

Is there any great difference in regards to pet quality. I mean, is one or the other more friendly or does one sex make a better pet?? Is one sex predisposed to aggressive behavior like biting??

Just curious.

Not that I have noticed.

If I were interested strictly in a pet I would get a male as they usually stay smaller and are less expensive to purchase and keep (smaller caging needed, smaller feeders needed, etc).

I asked because in the past I had one male BCI that was a terror - I had to give him up because he was very aggressive. Then again - years ago I had a female who was a sweetie.

I am just getting back into the hobby with one pet - A male BCI young and am hoping for a good outcome as far as aggression is concerned.

I see no difference between my male and female, they are both sweethearts.

While husbandry issues and breeding mode may contribute to "agression", the two main types are usually defensive and hunger/feeding mode.

For defensive (cage aggression), hook training can help quite a bit. For hunger, well that one may seem obvious, but can sometimes need finesse. Either additional rodents are given, or size up with the meal. If you are sure that the meal is proper, sometimes it takes some snakes longer than others to snap out of feed mode. When that is the case I try to stay away from their cage for a day or two after feeding, then they are fine.

For me pet-wise, I get the snake that I really like regardless of sex.


Punch, Common male BI
http://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/2016...5d3bf1ef09.jpg

Elenore, common female BI
http://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/2016...767d9e25b5.jpg

When it comes to bites my females have hit me more often and harder than my males - but those were all food responses.

For overall attitude and ease of handling my male pastel hypo beats the rest. He's also bright pink which helps with the "pretty" factor when introducing him to non-snake people.

Good responses above.


There really isn't anything else to consider if you are NOT breeding. IF you ARE, a female may exhibit some nasty behavior when gravid or fresh after giving birth. Otherwise what the others have said holds true. Feeding mistakes, or scared/defensive behavior due to caging, husbandry or newly acquired/unsettled animals.

As far as a "pet" you would be fine with either. Males can attain the same size as females if you do not have any other female boas in the home giving of pheromonal cues which would signal breeding behavior and loss of appetite.

Husbandry and feeding frequency play the biggest roles in the growth rate of your BC.

This is my male.

I don't get tired of showing him off. He is a Gus Rentfro bred, Barranquilla, Colombian, pure locality boa.

http://i772.photobucket.com/albums/y...a/IMG_3176.jpg

He will hit 4 years old late June and he is 6 feet long on the dot.

After learning a great deal about boas over the years, I feel I probably overfed him to a certain extent when he was younger. Now I feed him once a month in the summer and not at all over the winter months.

If he lives 20 - 40 years I'm sure he will make 7 feet.

In general BCI are very hardy, more forgiving of husbandry and feeding mistakes than BCC and also are said to be more docile. These statements are "general" and a great deal of BCC are becoming equally easy to care for and handle because of captive breeding and better understanding of their requirements.

If you are getting back into boas, get what tickles your fancy the most. Giants are not the norm within either species and there are very successful keepers of both BCC and BCI.

I only have females but they are both puppies. My normal tends to be more independent and will cruise around when I take her out but my little sunglow girl seems to like to sit on me. If I put her down, she just sits there lol. But then if I put my hand down next to her, she climbs right up my arm onto my shoulder haha. I personally don't think there is a predetermined temperament for a sex. Each snake regardless of sex will have its own personality.

this is a really interesting thread. As i contemplate my 2nd boa, its sex has been one of my main concerns. Would a co-ed situation (i have a male now) create some sort of breeding responses in either animal as alluded to above (i have absolutely no interest in breeding)? Also i am looking for size; i adore my little Central American, but yearn for length and heft, and yet i have seen some females who seem to be disproportionately girthy in the middle (not gravid) and aesthetically that does not appeal to me. with regard to overall body shape, i was thinking about carpet pythons although the consensus seems to be that they are generally not as chill as boas and i have young kids, one of whom is still learning to be gentle; thus far my boa has had the patience of a saint. I think about BCC's as they have the rep for getting bigger, but again, the temperament issue comes up. I suppose the BCC vs BCI thing is for another thread, but in the battle of the sexes i am still undecided and am really enjoying the insights here.

As a pet owner I prefer to buy males, in the hopes they will stay smaller. I don't breed, don't need a monster sized snake, just want a nice looking animal to enjoy. I have a male bcc I bought as an adult and a male dumerils I got as a baby and both are fantastic. Eat great, good tempered. I don't know that sex factors into any of that though and that's my extent of boa experience.

I do have a pair of borneo pythons both from the same breeder and the female is a dream while the male is a struggle so it can go either way. Health wise last year my hognose became eggbound and needed a couple vet trips, something that would not be a risk with a male. So currently when I look for a new addition I give preference to males but ultimately will go for the one I like best regardless.

Reinz, how do Punch and Elenore compare size and age-wise?
Gio, "The Baron" (i forget if you've mentioned his name but i thought, Barranquilla:Baron ;-P ) seems like a pretty big specimen, does this have to do with his genetics and locality or just luck of the draw? If i'm not mistaken, you abide by a winter fast feeding plan, right?

dk, I believe that there is a strong possibility that Elenore may be a male and Punch a female due to their size. But until confirmed I'll let it be.

Elenore is between 5-6 feet and her largest girth is about the size of a Coke can. I don't know her age, but suspect that she is 4+ years since her growth rate is so minimal it can't be seen over the course of a year.
http://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/2016...c90fd380f2.jpg


Punch is right at 7 feet and his largest girth is almost the size of a half gallon milk jug. He is in his 11 th year.
http://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/2016...9622c38c54.jpg

Punch may have gotten big due to overeating. Going by the size of the rat that came with him, it was the largest I've ever seen. It was about the size of a 8-9 week old kitten. And punch was being fed every 1-2 weeks rather than monthly like now. Going by the previous owner's feedings, Punch could very well be a male.

Elenore was a rescue. Without going into all of the details, I am confident that she was underfed before I got her. So, Elenore may just be a female after all without the resources to grow as she could have.

Bcr229 I was just wondering do you have a photo you could share of your pastel hypo?

Sent from my SM-G800R4 using Tapatalk

Quote:

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Originally Posted by chargethebeach34

Bcr229 I was just wondering do you have a photo you could share of your pastel hypo?

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Sure!


http://i477.photobucket.com/albums/r...pswceu0lei.jpg

Thank you absolutely stunning

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Reinz. thanks for the details, they are both really awesome! I'm super interested to see if/how punch slims down on a more appropriate diet.
bcr, wow, what a beauty! I really love hypo, i mean anery is cool and different, but those orange/ochre tones just blow me away.

here's a quick shot i got tonight of my little man. I like this one b/c you can see his "rouge", just a touch of pinky orange on his cheeks.

https://scontent-lga3-1.xx.fbcdn.net...31664526_o.jpg

From my experience individual genetics play a much bigger role than people think in how big a snake can get. Feeding rate absolutely is a factor, yet I have two female boas that were born within a month of each other, are on the same feeding schedule and kept at the same temperature that are very different size wise.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by dkatz4

Reinz, how do Punch and Elenore compare size and age-wise?
Gio, "The Baron" (i forget if you've mentioned his name but i thought, Barranquilla:Baron ;-P ) seems like a pretty big specimen, does this have to do with his genetics and locality or just luck of the draw? If i'm not mistaken, you abide by a winter fast feeding plan, right?

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Everything combined is the answer with maybe the exception of locality, but that is hard to figure. I have heard the Barranquilla boas are not know for size, but what that is based on I'm not sure. It might be young specimens or maybe adults, but how old I don't know.

This boa will hopefully live 30 or more years, and maybe he will end up larger.

At this point I'd consider him average for a BC of his age.

This is a picture of him last fall. There is still growth, but it is quality growth.

http://i772.photobucket.com/albums/y...a/IMG_2487.jpg
He is feeding properly and staying very lean like a boa constrictor should be.

A beginner mistake is the rush for size. Feeding is fascinating and a great interaction between owner and snake.

With boas especially, you have to resist the urge to feed too frequently. They simply have not evolved to deal with large quantities of captive bred prey year round.

I am a bit off track here, but if you want size, get a BCC and keep it alive a LONG time and you'll more than likely end up with something large.

If you want something smaller, the island boas will fit the bill.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by bcr229

Sure!


http://i477.photobucket.com/albums/r...pswceu0lei.jpg

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I've looked at this a few times now and have concluded this is a fricking cool picture.

Worth quoting the post and seeing it again.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Gio

I've looked at this a few times now and have concluded this is a fricking cool picture.

Worth quoting the post and seeing it again.

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I'll let my husband know you like it! It helps that he has much better than average equipment.

Thanks to all of you for the responses. It's been very helpful. I am getting a young male bci coral albino.

Here is my new boy "Owen" Male BCI Coral/Albino

http://i302.photobucket.com/albums/n...psdleaddkp.jpg

http://i302.photobucket.com/albums/n...pspkcolqkw.jpg

Let me know your thoughts on him.

Thank you

Nice choice, beautiful!

I'm sure that you will be happy with him. :)

Owen: what a looker! Congratulations, I am sure you will enjoy him immensely. Pursuant to this thread, I would certainly be curious to know his measurements now and in the future but regardless I think you've found yourself a fantastic slithery new friend.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Gio

Good responses above.


There really isn't anything else to consider if you are NOT breeding. IF you ARE, a female may exhibit some nasty behavior when gravid or fresh after giving birth. Otherwise what the others have said holds true. Feeding mistakes, or scared/defensive behavior due to caging, husbandry or newly acquired/unsettled animals.

As far as a "pet" you would be fine with either. Males can attain the same size as females if you do not have any other female boas in the home giving of pheromonal cues which would signal breeding behavior and loss of appetite.

Husbandry and feeding frequency play the biggest roles in the growth rate of your BC.

This is my male.

I don't get tired of showing him off. He is a Gus Rentfro bred, Barranquilla, Colombian, pure locality boa.

http://i772.photobucket.com/albums/y...a/IMG_3176.jpg

He will hit 4 years old late June and he is 6 feet long on the dot.

After learning a great deal about boas over the years, I feel I probably overfed him to a certain extent when he was younger. Now I feed him once a month in the summer and not at all over the winter months.

If he lives 20 - 40 years I'm sure he will make 7 feet.

In general BCI are very hardy, more forgiving of husbandry and feeding mistakes than BCC and also are said to be more docile. These statements are "general" and a great deal of BCC are becoming equally easy to care for and handle because of captive breeding and better understanding of their requirements.

If you are getting back into boas, get what tickles your fancy the most. Giants are not the norm within either species and there are very successful keepers of both BCC and BCI.

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I agree with Gio here! Do NOT get a male if you're worried about size, they still very very much have the potential to get the size of a female. There isn't as big of a dimorphism as people seem to think, I've even seen plenty of breeders the same size or bigger than their female mates (although whether that's because she's bred young or something else idk, both are usually a good 6'-7'). My male will be 5 here in August and he's slowly creeping up on 7'. He's 6.5' right now, and still growing (a few inches a year but hey it's growth).

I feed in the same way as Reinz does, and this past year (his second or third winter fast I believe), he put on 3" in just a couple of months after taking almost a year to grow 3".

Both of my current male and my female boas are super docile. My sunglow has yet to bite me, and I can count the amount of times my male has so much as postured/hissed at me on one hand. Even with food in the air, he won't strike unless food is actually in front of his face (not that I chance it but when I was younger and dumber I've walked by my rat breeding cages with him on my shoulders and he wouldn't even acknowledge them with a tongue flick).

Quote:

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Originally Posted by L.West

Here is my new boy "Owen" Male BCI Coral/Albino

http://i302.photobucket.com/albums/n...psdleaddkp.jpg

http://i302.photobucket.com/albums/n...pspkcolqkw.jpg

Let me know your thoughts on him.

Thank you

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Gorgeous! I was debating on a coral when I got my sunglow last year, but the fact she was female and the coral was male made her win out. Plus, I didn't want to wait a year or two to see how well it colored up with them being my first albino. haha I may get one in the future though!