looking ......

[CloudtheBoa]

Growth for boas varies a LOT. My boy was 2.5ft at a year old, which is pretty common for Colombians. But, for a year old you're normally looking at 2.5-4ft, although I've heard of 5-6ft even. As to whether or not they were power fed I could not tell you. I've always been told the most growth is during the first year. That was not the case with mine. He grew less than a foot his first year, and by his second year he grew just over 3.5ft and at 2.5 years old he's about an inch shy of 6ft.

My experience has been that they're much much easier on the nerves because most of the time they do not refuse meals (mine never has except for 1-2 months where I was feeding rather large meals and he went back to normal when I stepped back down in size), but their temp requirements are basically the same as ball pythons. 90F hot spot, 85F hot end, and 75-80F cool end. They do require higher humidity at 65-70%, but I haven't had any problems with that (until now, but he's only 5-6ft away from the heat source now so that's probably it). There is absolutely no need to drop temps at night unless you're breeding. You can if you want, but it's not needed. I have never provided night drops for mine and I've had no issues. I find if he wants a nighttime temperature, he just hangs out on his cool end. Because of that, I feel there's no need to give a drop if you have a cool enough cool end.

As far as male vs. female I have no clue, I only have a male. Size is subjective as well, and depends on the subspecies. Colombian males can average 5-6ft and females 7-8ft, but even males can get as big as 8ft.

I kept my boa in a tub the first 1.5 years I had him, so that will be fine as long as you make sure to upgrade in size as it needs it.

[Shann]

Slow grown is healthier.

Feed on the conservative side. No need for rapid growth, you can still get a nice sized snake if you feed properly. The longer they live, the more they grow. Captive boas, unless provided with it, get less exercise than wild boas, so let them feed, clear and actually hunt a bit before the next meal.

I agree with this. I see so many boas achieving massive sizes at only a couple years old, and I think that it seems to lead new keepers to want to raise their boas up fast. Yes, you'll get a big animal, but I don't think it's healthy at all. I also see a lot of these large, fast-growing snakes dying much younger than those brought up slowly. My best friend's oldest boa is 20 years old now, and has been on a conservative feeding schedule her whole life, and still healthy and active.

I also keep my girl on a more conservative feeding schedule, and she is more muscular and active than other boas her same age that have been grown up too fast.

[Evenstar]

Kali- If all goes well with the new guy I'm getting and I end up wanting another boa, I may have to get the name of the breeder you got your cherry / hypo cherry from. They're both gorgeous and the fact that the colors actually seem to get better as they grow is awesome.

Sure! I'd be happy to follow up with you any time. Take note though - the 2 cherry animals I posted here in this thread are NOT hypos. I do have a hypo cherry pastel, but he is not pictured here. The Cherry Jungle and her father in this thread are not hypos - they are that red due to the cherry line of pastel and not hypomelanism.

[artgecko]

Ahh.. I guess that explains why there are still some darker elements to their patterns as well. During all of my browsing on the classifieds I'd so often seen "cherry" paired with "hypo", (and also, weirdly "cherry salmon hypo) that I must've gotten them confused. Thanks for the info!

[Evenstar]

Ahh.. I guess that explains why there are still some darker elements to their patterns as well. During all of my browsing on the classifieds I'd so often seen "cherry" paired with "hypo", (and also, weirdly "cherry salmon hypo) that I must've gotten them confused. Thanks for the info!

The cherry line was originally developed with Salmon hypos. Alex Burgos (my kids' breeder) removed the cherry pastel from the salmon line. He incorporated it into his jungles and then added Orange Tail hypos to it. The results were spectacular to say the least.

I have three cherry pastels - a normal, a jungle, and an orange tail hypo.

[steve_r34]

I think im going with a motley I love the black and grey and it looks like they stay true to the colors as they get older I seen on boaconstrictors.com from 08 that kept his color .. I think that's the one for me

[artgecko]

Good choice! I've seen some very striking dark motleys in photos before. I hope you find one you like.