New BCI, husbandry help?

[TXpythons]

I found myself with a new/young BCI. The person whom I got "her" from had her in a 10 gallon just didn't want her anymore. Right now I have her in a 20 long quarantine tank. Aspen bedding, hot hide/cold hide, large water dish, climbing branch, UTH on a rheostat keeping it at 90. The previous owner said that he got her from a breeder at a reptile convention last March and that it was being sold as a "Costa Rican boa". I'm pretty positive that it's BCI, but I know nothing other than that. I will buy a larger Vision or AP cage soon, but just want to do more research first. Any and all help an info would be appreciated. Locality? Age? Husbandry/enclosure size? Enclosure brand? ??? Thanks in advance for all the help

Here is the new girl, Loretta...

[Capray]

Congratulations!
I checked a care sheet, sounds like you're doing good! They have the same heating/humidity requirements of ball pythons, I'm pretty sure. It says to have a MINIMUM of one square foot per every foot of snake.. (in terms of BCI's)
She looks skinny! Anyone who knows more about BCI can help, too..heh, heh.

[Daybreaker]

I don't have experience with Costa Rica boas, but your "girl" is definitely some sort of BCI. Her body tones doesn't look bad to me but she does look pretty small for a boa who's over a year old (though boas grow at different rates). As for cages I hear AP cages, Boaphiles, and Boa Masters cages are good but I don't have any of those: I have custom cages for my bigger snakes.

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I don't have experience with Costa Rica boas, but your "girl" is definitely some sort of BCI. Her body tones doesn't look bad to me but she does look pretty small for a boa who's over a year old (though boas grow at different rates). As for cages I hear AP cages, Boaphiles, and Boa Masters cages are good but I don't have any of those: I have custom cages for my bigger snakes.

Also to add, my boas tend to like cooler temps than my balls/pythons do but it depends on the individual.

[notmyfault]

Definitely a BCI, but since there are so many localities its not easy to tell what type your little boa there is. Some localities are pretty distinct, however more look fairly similar. If the previous owner said its a CA boa I wouldn't put it past him to just assume so. Since there are so many kinds of localities within close geographical proximity from one another in the wild. It is very hard to really tell unless you trace the exact lineage of the animal.

The little guy is definitely under a year old, maybe a 4 months old give or take.

Husbandry is almost the same as BPs though you should play with it a bit to see which is most comfortable for the animal.
As for enclosure size, boas like the extra room to explore and move around. I find them to be much more active than BPs and therefore a good general rule as stated above is at least 1 square foot per foot of snake, but more is always better. Just to be on the safe side a 4x2 AP cage would be the better choice if space isn't an issue. If you snake truly is a female the 4x2 is perfect. A male will probably do fine in a 3x2. It all depends on what you want to do with the enclosure.

Good luck with her!

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[xFenrir]

x2 on the "liking it cooler" deal, my boa seems to be the same way. She was always on the cool side, so I notched back the heat on the hot spot(s) and now she travels all over the place. But my girl's an adult, and her tank is big enough that we have a UTH on one end, and a low-wattage heat lamp above her "tree", so she has a choice of where to go to warm up. Every boa is different, just like people, so yours might appreciate the traditional 90-hotspot, 80's-ambient, or "she" might like something different. Just observe and make changes accordingly.

Congrats on your new addition! I'm sure you'll grow to love boas just as much as the rest of us, haha.

[DooLittle]

Congrats on your boa! I don't think she's too skinny, boas don't chunk up like bps. They are more slender, and put on length before girth. I also wouldn't think that by her size she is anywhere close to a year old. Mine also hangs on his cool side most of the time, except for right after he has eaten.

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[Crazy4Herps]

Aww, pretty girl! Congrats!

Costa Rican boas are a locality of the subspecies Bci; it's impossible to be sure of a locality unless you know the lineage, but she certainly looks like a Costa Rican (or at very least some Central American) to me.

If she is Costa Rican (which I think is a safe guess), keep in mind she will grow a bit more slowly and end up a bit smaller than a standard Colombian Bci. My Colombian female was about that size at 6 months, so yours could easily be between 6 and 12 months (though probably closer to 6). But it's difficult to estimate age without knowing locale and feeding regimen.

As far as caging goes, "one square foot per foot of snake" is the minimum, but I prefer a cage twice that size (2 square feet / foot of snake). Boas are nothing like bp's in that they are not content to hide all day. Naturally, ball pythons hide in termite mounds and wait for food to wander by. Boas spend a lot of time in trees and are more active hunters. Both of my boas are very active snakes, and if they feel cramped they develop behavioral issues quickly. Enclosures that are a little snug can be ideal for babies because they provide additional security, but adult boas are rarely nervous snakes, and are going to need a pretty large enclosure. Imo a 4x2x2 is an absolute minimum for any boa up to 6 feet, but for particularly large females I think a 6x2 or 6x3 is a necessity. There are a lot of good cages out there, but I personally love AP's.

Have fun with her! Boas are wonderful snakes, I'm sure it won't take you long to fall in love with them.

[jjmitchell]

Costa Rican boas are bci, and dont get very large (probably as an adult wont see 6ft) I dont have a ton of experience with Coasta's but the experiece I do have would make me highly inclined to say yes..... here is a link to a page with some costa pics for you to compare on your own
http://www.boa-constrictors.com/en/B...tor_costa_rica

Your boa by no means looks underweight or skinny looks pretty good to me... Again I feed all of my boas pretty generously (not overfeed) untill they hit the 3-4 year old range. I think at that size a 10g tank should be fine, or the 20 long you are using either one. honestly with a smaller local like the Costa, you can probably use that 20 long for around a year... These guys dong grow very fast (I recently just passed on an opportunity to buy a trio of Liberia locality Costas that at 3 years old were only 4ft)

I would just fallow a basic bci boa care sheet as stated earlier my adult boas do seem to enjoy a bit lower hot spot I do around 86 degrees on my adults, but keep youngsters at a hotspot of 92 (balls boas and sd's alike) the warmer temp always seems to make them more agressive feeders and anything I can do to get my babies eating and growing is worth it..... may not make a huge difference toward adult size but every little bit of size on an adult female boa means larger healthier litters (unless you get them to the point of being FAT)


Congrats on the pick up and good luck