First bcc

[richiquick]

Hi, I got my first bcc today!I have 15 ball pythons but I always wanted a boa!Balls are awesome but boas always stuck me as a cool snake, much more active, can anyone gi e me any advise on how to keep her happy and healthy,boa is not a python,I know basic snake care but is there anything I should know different?She ate as soon as I brought her home,she was hungry,way different then a ball already😁This lovely girl will solely be a pet,no breeding.She is about three weeks ny best guess,I gave her a pretty big home for now but I want to get her something permanent soon,what is best,life long?,I have her at 85f-90f and 50%h ,is that good?How long after feeding should I wait to hold her?etc etc,lol,sorry just want to do right and best from owners and lovers of the breed!I'll do some reading but I think I would get the best advice here

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[Eazyyyb]

welcome to the wonderful world of owning boas! Lucky for us, care is almost identical to that of a ball python. Yor husbandry sounds good, but id switch to an appropriate size enclosure asap. If she is young and on hopper mice, etc, you only need to wait a day to handle, but once he/she gets up to eating small/mediums you might want to wait a couple days for their metabolism is much slower than that of a BP. She is young to i would feed every 5-7 days and then make it every 10 days when you start feeding small or medium rats. Hope this helps!

[Rob]

Welcome to the world of boas! Like said above husbandry isn't too far off from bps, just know you'll be needing a larger enclosure
Biggest difference I found is personality. They have great/big ones, a lot more adventurous then the average bp. They seem to want to come out and hang with you rather then tolerate it. This could be completely false, but my theory is the larger the snake the smarter it is there for giving it more of a personality and awareness of what's going on. As I have recently gotten into retics, they seem to be extremely smart and take everything in. Not a knock on our Beloved bps just my observation. Enjoy your boa!


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[Raven01]

There seems to be some correlation between the length of time an animal takes to reach sexual maturity and overall intelligence. I don't know if this applies to reptiles the same way it seems to with mammalian species or, if that theory has since been blown out of the water after I saw it.
But, BCC's do take longer to reach that stage than BP's so if it is correct the observation that they are smarter could be correct.
One thing is for sure, they exhibit much more curiosity about their surroundings (including who is handling them) than your average BP.

You are bound to soon find out that these animals can be a bit of a chore to put back in an enclosure when they think they want to be out longer. I average 3-4 tries to get my BCL girls head back in her enclosure when handling time is over. She loves to back up and go around the door instead of inside.

[Rob]

You are bound to soon find out that these animals can be a bit of a chore to put back in an enclosure when they think they want to be out longer. I average 3-4 tries to get my BCL girls head back in her enclosure when handling time is over. She loves to back up and go around the door instead of inside.

X1000 lol they are like a kid that doesn't want to come inside from playing.


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[Daybreaker]

Is the 85-90 her hot side temps or is that her temp gradient? If that's the gradient I'd actually bump that way down to 77-79 cold side/ambient temps and hot side 88-89, these guys are much more sensitive to warmer temps than pythons in my opinion and seem more comfortable at cooler temps.

I leave my guys alone for 1-3 days after eating but that's just personal preference, and feeding schedule for boas differs than pythons in that you shouldn't feed them as much. Babies start at 7-10 days (5 is much too much for babies IMO, you want these guys grown super slow as it's the most healthy long-term), sub adults 10-14 days, and adults can go 2-3 weeks. Over feeding can lead to obesity. I feed mice up to the boa's first year then switch over to rats.

Depending on the individual ad species/locality some boas can live in tubs for up to their second year (on average: this is when it was time for them to be moved into their appropriate 4-6' enclosures).

Do you have any pics?

[richiquick]

I'm trying my best to figure this picture thing out,lol,not to bright with tech!I have already had the tank issue,lol,but I like her out so its okay.She is so curious,she keeps typeing on my phone.I love my bps but she is gonna be awesome.It took awhile to get one my wife is scared of them so I suckered her in,she was part of a Bp deal for my wife,almost free,but she is mine now lol

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[richiquick]

Oh I did want to post this i think its funny,I have not been bitten in years and my wife never!So when I was feeding baby Elsa,I guess the food was to cold so she smelt it but didn't see it,so she launched herself the five feet out of her feeding tub to my wife's heat signature!I have never seen a snake do that,she missed by an eighth of an inch,I actually caught her but to see her fly that far mouth wide open when she is the size of a pencil was awesome!Not great for my wife's fear of boas but still awesome.

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[Raven01]

Oh I did want to post this i think its funny,I have not been bitten in years and my wife never!So when I was feeding baby Elsa,I guess the food was to cold so she smelt it but didn't see it,so she launched herself the five feet out of her feeding tub to my wife's heat signature!I have never seen a snake do that,she missed by an eighth of an inch,I actually caught her but to see her fly that far mouth wide open when she is the size of a pencil was awesome!Not great for my wife's fear of boas but still awesome.

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Ya, in my limited experience that is the other thing besides being out that many boa's seem to enjoy.
Food.
That might be why they are a snake that is easy to over feed. Really not looking forward to the day mine goes on a 14 day schedule and I and warming food for juvies or hatchlings and she doesn't get any that day. I expect I could be donating blood on those days.

[Gio]

Obviously photos are KEY here LOL!

Everybody loves a nice BCC.

You will want to look at Daybreaker's advice and Evenstar's on feeding.

Just as boas are different from BP's. BCC's are different from BCI's and excluding Peruvian BCC's they can have digestive issues if overfed.

A good read is THE COMPLETE BOA CONSTRICTOR by Vincent Russo.

And any post on the internet by Gus Rentfro regarding boas is also gospel.

Have fun!!