Question about subspecies

Which subspecies of RTB should I be looking into that stays possibly between 5 ft and 8ft tops. I am not all that familiar with these snakes but I love their appearance. I just bought my first BP about a month ago and that is my first snake and i love it. Im thinking around my birthday which is going to be in December of getting another snake and this is the one that Id like if i can find a subspecies that would stay relatively smaller, but a little bit bigger than a BP. Any suggestions or even a recommedation of another snake all together even that I should look into? A docile temperament is pretty important as well for any other recommendations.

Some sort of male. I'd try to go with a Central American locality such as Nic or Honduran, they do tend to be nippy so shop around. Hog island tend to stay under 6' but they can also be pretty nippy, some are, some aren't. Really the luck of the draw.

A nice Colombian-locality boa (Boa constrictor imperator) male is typically going to stay in the 5-8' range, with 6' being common. When you do see a bigger male, it's usually an older snake (5+ years). You're not suddenly going to have a giant snake on your hands overnight, especially if you feed on an appropriate schedule (i.e. 1x every 7-10 days). There are so many fantastic breeders working with Colombian boas that you should be able to find something that you like, from someone respectable, in a reasonable price range.

Also, Eco Publishing (http://www.reptileshirts.com) just released a lovely book called Boas in Captivity, written by Vin Russo, who is an esteemed boa keeper/breeder/enthusiast, as well as an upstanding member of the herp community. We just got several copies for our retail store last week, and it's a thoroughly enjoyable read. For under $10, it's a herp-library-find that no boa keeper should be without!

:)

K~

ok so it seems the smaller the nippier almost? maybe not every case but the ones yall are suggesting seem to be nippy atleast. I plan on attending the local expo that comes here to Jax i believe at the end of June and ill probably look around and get some info and maybe even a little first hand experience. But Ill probably look to buy a youngster at the end of the year after gaining more experience with my BP. What size enclosure is ideal for the smaller species of RTB through its lifespan?

My males get the equivalent of a 50-60gallon tank, most of that being floor space. the general rule of thumb is 1 square foot of floor space per foot of snake.

O yea, the RTB seems to be a more outgoing and less shy snake that doesnt mind being out in the open so does daily handling stress them much? How much handling is ok?

I could handle my boas every day if I wanted and they would be cool with it. Most people have problems getting the boa BACK IN THE CAGE!! lol I can walk in and within seconds, the boas line up waiting to come out. Its a pretty cool site. I would agree with Kara, any BCI male should stay in that range. I don't like the idea of males getting very big at all. I feed my male that is 13-14 month old now every 2 weeks on a small rat and he is still keeping a good body shape. Really, just feed them as you think they need it. If they seem hungry, feed em. If they seem to be skinny, feed more. If they seem fat, feed less often.

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Originally Posted by hardball

ok so it seems the smaller the nippier almost? maybe not every case but the ones yall are suggesting seem to be nippy atleast. I plan on attending the local expo that comes here to Jax i believe at the end of June and ill probably look around and get some info and maybe even a little first hand experience. But Ill probably look to buy a youngster at the end of the year after gaining more experience with my BP. What size enclosure is ideal for the smaller species of RTB through its lifespan?

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I start with an 18 qt. tub and move up from there. 18 then 32 qt. then 41 qt. then a 4' by 2'. You can keep bigger boas in the larger tubs(the 52" by 20" tub from www.reptiletubs.com) but I fell in love with my 4' by 2' boaphile. Awesome cage and a great deal. That will easily house an adult male boa and many adult female boas

Ya i like the idea of the tub. Which seems to be easier to regulate temperatures and humidities from what i have read and much much cheaper. Thank yall for your help. I will start looking around for a good breeder to get one of the suggested species and talk to the breeders of these species to confirm what details.

Now are hog's tolerant to being held just as much as the columbian's? I've heard some horror stories about the hog's so I was curious?

It really varies. I've handled a few hogs that were calm as can be and a few that were piss n vinegar.

I'm in the same boat as you. I recently got my first Bp and have fallen in love with snakes. And I am despretly craving a RTB :D

Now the only problem in convincing my mother to let another snake in her house. :rolleyes:

haha ya that definately sounds like me! Id love to find a nice one at the local show at the end of this month but that is probably too soon. The guy in my local herp store used to breed boas so i am confident buying from his store and his knowledge on this species so i may buy from them again when the time comes. Today he also suggested to me looking into the dumerils which i will do (they didnt have any of those in the store). I am definately looking forward to getting a more outgoing snake though and i love the boas designs and appearances. Its just a matter of finding the right one and good timing.

Dumeril's boas can get to the 8' mark overtime and they are a lot heavier usually. They aren't outgoing like rtb at all. They are sluggish ambush hunters that rarely move around. They are also a little bit harder to get feeding than rtb and are also more shy.

hmm ok, that doesnt sound like something im really interested in for my next snake. Im pretty excited about getting a boa in the future though.

Hopefully Jimi can chime in on Dums since he has some. I'd say go for a rtb before a dum because they are far more exciting, to me at least. Although dums are very pretty.....

Ya at the moment im leaning toward a male Columbian boa, but im definately still open to other options. When i was in the store today picking up my mouse for my BP i was talking to the guy about the boas and he took a baby columbian out for me and let me take a look. Its really hard to believe that they can get so big so fast because it looked so tiny, probably smaller than most bp babies i have seen. I cant wait until I can get a boa.

Just a peve of mine.
Its spelled Colombian with a O, not a U.
Also, most boas sold as Colombian aren't in fact pure Colombian but rather a Cross of various B.c.i..
A rtb is always the best choice if you ask me!!

Haha my bad. So is there any noticable difference between a true colombian and one that is just sold as colombian but is in fact a cross of other Bci's?

Well B.c.i. from Colombia are larger than most other B.c.i. There is no way to tell what is pure and what isn't unless you have paperwork from a reputable breeder(Gus Rentfro and Vin Russo to name a couple) that proves where the parents or even the Grand parents were collected. Unless you have that, there are no guarantees.