getting into boa constrictors

now to start this off: by no means can i afford (well, will i allow myself to afford) a boa this year. i have no heart to go out and buy one now.

but good lord it is like trying to un tangle thread trying to figure out what type of constrictor would be appropriate. i figured out from the start, i think, (set me straight if i am wrong) that i would rather a bci instead of a bcc. and as far as bci's go, apparently a lot of people have columbians? but i've read that possibly the smaller hogg island is more docile and does indeed not grow as long?

basically what i'm looking for is a docile snake (i can handle a nippy/talkative baby- but preferably a type that generally becomes a docile adult) that max's out around 7-8 feet. I would like 7 be the max, but i understand some go 'above and beyond' so i'm just preparing myself.

Any suggestions as to what type i should be looking for would be greatly appreciated as well as more care sheets or.. just.. a good place to look more in depth at the types. I know i could find this all in time on my own, but I'd like to have a little help narrowing my search! I keep seeing all these awesome guys and having to reference back and find out in fact they are not the type/local i am looking for :P

Also, do these vary in housekeeping greatly? It seems like what i've seen they're all fairly consistant/similar. Prehaps i am reading bad material?

Are you just looking to get a pet or for breeding purposes? If you're just looking for a pet, let me first recommend checking out some reptile rescues... many many people dump boas off as adults because they didn't realize that little neonate in the cage at PetCo was going to grow to 6 or 7 feet someday.


On to specifics: the most common boa as pets today are BCI, usually called Columbian boa. They can range in size and color... I've seen HUGE dark boa and I've seen little, light colored boa. Some have speckles, some are very "clean" in appearance. Typically, Columbian boa top out around 6-7 feet (as females), though I have seen some monster girls around 8 or 9 feet. Columbians are fairly easy to take care of, despite their size, and are usually very sweet tempered (I know I've haven't met a mean one, yet).

BCC ("True" red tails) tend to get a little larger than BCI in size. They also tend to be a bit pickier in their requirements... they aren't as flexible with variation as BCI are.

If you want some really good academic advise on the different types of boa, check out www.riobravoreptiles.com Gus Rentfro has been all over the world collecting boa from their natural environments and is crazy knowledgable about localities.

Hope all this helps!

thanks, it really does.

i keep seeing people mention rescues but the idea never crossed my mind.

and definatly for pet purposes only :sunny:

Yep, definately check into the rescues! Unfortunately, most of the boa you'll find there are already mostly grown... but if you think you're ready for it, it's the way to go. They need love, too :D

If not, there are plenty of people with beautiful little normals for sale right now. I'd still with a little boy if you're worried about the size. There's no guarentee that a female will top out at 6 feet. I'll see if I can track down a pic of one of those 9 footers.

Boas are awesome snakes. I myself have one as a pet. BPs are my breeding thing; I do no plan on getting any more boas nor breeding them, but I love the one that I have :) I went with a male BCI. I do not think that he is growing much more and seems to have plateaued at about 5-6 feet now. I would definately buy for temperament.. a nippy boa is no fun as a pet whether it is a foot long or 9 feet!

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Originally Posted by Ginevive

Boas are awesome snakes. I myself have one as a pet. BPs are my breeding thing; I do no plan on getting any more boas nor breeding them, but I love the one that I have :) I went with a male BCI. I do not think that he is growing much more and seems to have plateaued at about 5-6 feet now. I would definately buy for temperament.. a nippy boa is no fun as a pet whether it is a foot long or 9 feet!

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mhm.
i know temperment is not a guarentee, some change with age, but hopefully i plan to buy a nice, local-repute docile, male bci.
i've been looking at the boaphile cages, etc. i'll only ever have tubs/racks for my lovely bps (dont get me wrong, i love my bps) but i swore if i ever got a boa i'd get a really, really nice sleek dark-colour cage.

Boas do well in racks and tubs, too. I plan on keeping most of my male breeders in racks, and the babies, as well... and the large breeding females in cages.


However, for my girl Kinkers (my first boa love and closest to my heart) I'm looking into building a very nice, furniture style cage for her. I've talked to Joanna and we've discussed taking an entertainment center or dresser and morphing it into a nice, large display cage for a boa... you know, decorations and all. I want something that will look pleasing to the eye as a display, where Kinkers can be seen by company---cuz she's such a sweetie and so pretty! Being as Kinkers is a pet first and foremost, and will never be bred, she doesn't need something that's utilitarian in design.

Just throwing that out there for ideas :)

Ansli, personally I'd recommend a nice young male colombian from a good breeder. Although rescues are a wonderful thing, with no boa experience I think you'd be far better to start out with a well started hatchling from a good breeder. Far less risks of things going wrong for both you and the snake.

My experience is only with colombians and I think they make wonderful pet snakes. They don't tend to be overly stressed by handling, they aren't terribly prey specific and usually have fantastic feeding responses. They don't have quite the strict requirements for humidity and temps that ball pythons do.

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Originally Posted by frankykeno

Ansli, personally I'd recommend a nice young male colombian from a good breeder. Although rescues are a wonderful thing, with no boa experience I think you'd be far better to start out with a well started hatchling from a good breeder. Far less risks of things going wrong for both you and the snake.

My experience is only with colombians and I think they make wonderful pet snakes. They don't tend to be overly stressed by handling, they aren't terribly prey specific and usually have fantastic feeding responses. They don't have quite the strict requirements for humidity and temps that ball pythons do.

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I would think a hatchling might be better to go also, but it is hard to pass up the idea of getting an adult :P esp one that needs it. I had originally thought a columbian might be the way to go- but it seems like i got a little steered in my reading adventures to the Hog Island. I'm talking to the person ladywhipple gave me their site to- well, by talking, i mean i shot off some questions! i'm sure they're already in daytona though.

I would just make sure that with any species you want, you get a little experience with handling and feeding an adult. Even if it's just at a pet store; ask them to handle their adult boas. This way you can see if they are really right for you.
Hoggies seem really cool.

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Originally Posted by Ginevive

I would just make sure that with any species you want, you get a little experience with handling and feeding an adult. Even if it's just at a pet store; ask them to handle their adult boas. This way you can see if they are really right for you.
Hoggies seem really cool.

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oh i'd love too, unfortunatly none around here (in any of our larger cities that i can get to) carry adults. the largest snake i've seen was a sub adult bp. everything else has been a baby.

hopefully i can make it to next month's dixie reptile show, i'll be sure and check if anyone brought theres or if anyone's near me that i can visit. every other time i've gone, someone's had a big girl forsale or to show off her babies.

i think that "go handle a adult of the species etc" is crap, if you buy a snake as a hatchling no matter what it is, you will grow with it in husbandry skills and confidence as it gets bigger, same with the "am i ready for this snake" how do you know if your ready or not? just go buy it and raise it!

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Originally Posted by jeffjr464

i think that "go handle a adult of the species etc" is crap, if you buy a snake as a hatchling no matter what it is, you will grow with it in husbandry skills and confidence as it gets bigger, same with the "am i ready for this snake" how do you know if your ready or not? just go buy it and raise it!

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This is a very poor way to purchase an animal, in my opinion. Many, many, many people see this little neonate snake in a cage at the pet store and think: "Huh, six feet really isn't that big." And then the snake gets to six feet and they no longer want it. Trust, I've worked in rescue, it happens all the time.

And as for making sure you're ready for the snake... hmm, to me, just going out and buying an animal without making sure you're prepared is about the most immature thing I've heard in a long time. If you've read up and have everything ready to go and just have that gut feeling, then you might be prepared. If you still have questions, don't have the right set-up, etc... nope. Just going out and buying anything---ESPECIALLY an animal of any kind---is not exactly the brightest thing to do.

Calling someone else's advice "crap" is not all that constructive, either.

i feel it is completely in your best interest to handle an adult- i just posted in another thread about people that get themselves 'killed' or 'attacked' by their giant and the news is always "oh they were an experienced keeper that raised it from a baby".... i dont feel like 'growing into' a snake is very effective. say someone makes many feeding husbandry mistakes on a baby burm- and they keep doing it- eventually that will come to a head when that snake is 8-10+feet.

i just dont see how knowing everything possible about a snake during every phase of its life is a waste.