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Thread: Smaller Boas

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    Smaller Boas

    I have been trying to search for a list of boa adult sizes and species. I know there is Hog Island and Tarahumara for smaller boas. Are there any other small boas that have close to the same husbandry as a BCI? Also I believe Solomon Island boas are another small boa.

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    Re: Smaller Boas

    I've been looking into Nicaraguans lately and, as far as I've been able to tell, they seem like a good option for a smaller boa

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    http://cuttingedgeherp.com/ has a lot of information about locality boas, including pictures and adult sizes.

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    Re: Smaller Boas

    Quote Originally Posted by bcr229 View Post
    http://cuttingedgeherp.com/ has a lot of information about locality boas, including pictures and adult sizes.
    Thank you very much. This helps ALOT!.

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    Re: Smaller Boas

    I bought my crawl cay boas from Vin Russo. He's a great guy to do business with.

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    BPnet Senior Member CloudtheBoa's Avatar
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    Hog Islands and Tamaulipas are BI. Hog Islands do not stay smaller than any regular Colombian-type BI. Expect 5'-7' adult size on average, with the potential for 8'. Yes, even for pure. Some lines may be bred for smaller size, or some breeders may feed to keep them smaller longer, but 6'-7' is very very common. I believe some of the first WC imports were 8'.


    For boa constrictors specifically, look to Nicaraguan, Crawl Cay, Caulker Cay, Tamaulipas, etc. BCA also tend to stay a bit smaller, and BCL get up to 7' but are some of the leanest-bodied of the boa constrictors. Costa Ricans are another locality often said to be "dwarf," but the biggest boas I've ever seen in person were Costa Ricans I saw while in Costa Rica. They were a good 8'-9'.


    Outside of the Boa genus, Kenyan sand boas and rosy boas are more commonly kept and bred species.
    Last edited by CloudtheBoa; 08-06-2019 at 06:49 PM.
    8.3 Boa imperator ('15 sunglow "Nymeria," '11 normal "Cloud," '16 anery motley "Crona," '10 ghost "Howl," '08 jungle "Dominika," '22 RC pastel hypo jungle "Aleister," '22 pastel normal "Gengar," '22 orangasm hypo "Daemon," '22 poss jungle "Jinzo," '22 poss jungle "Calcifer," '22 motley "Guin")
    1.4 Boa imperator; unnamed '22 hbs
    3.3 Plains garter snakes
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    0.0.1 ball python ('06 "Bud")

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    Re: Smaller Boas

    Quote Originally Posted by CloudtheBoa View Post
    Hog Islands and Tamaulipas are BI. Hog Islands do not stay smaller than any regular Colombian-type BI. Expect 5'-7' adult size on average, with the potential for 8'. Yes, even for pure. Some lines may be bred for smaller size, or some breeders may feed to keep them smaller longer, but 6'-7' is very very common. I believe some of the first WC imports were 8'.


    For boa constrictors specifically, look to Nicaraguan, Crawl Cay, Caulker Cay, Tamaulipas, etc. BCA also tend to stay a bit smaller, and BCL get up to 7' but are some of the leanest-bodied of the boa constrictors. Costa Ricans are another locality often said to be "dwarf," but the biggest boas I've ever seen in person were Costa Ricans I saw while in Costa Rica. They were a good 8'-9'.


    Outside of the Boa genus, Kenyan sand boas and rosy boas are more commonly kept and bred species.
    Thank you for the in depth answer. I have been tossing around the idea of getting another boa. I really like normal boas. I also like dumerils, but they are hard to find. I have a 2x2x2 I've been thinking about filling with a brown amazon tree boa. My local pet store just happens to have a woma. They also have a bel ball. I've also been looking at my next purchase if I decide to breed. I have my number in to get a female t- matrix blood python. So there is that. This is just one of those decisions that will affect my collection for years to come. Every time I think I've made up my mind it changes again in a few days. I just dont know what to pursue. I love snakes, and I love many different species, but I love blood pythons too, and I would like to eventually breed. That being said I would also like a collection with more than 2 species. I have caging to hold up to an 8 foot snake. I have space for 6. I need to get a CB-70 for the sub-adults though. So as far as caging is concerned I am covered.

    I may go really small and get an adult hoggy. I dont want a hatchling. The more I hang out on this board the more I am growing to like ball pythons. You guys are starting to convert me.

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    Re: Smaller Boas

    Remember there some amazing leopard boas which don't grow big at all and some have some amazing paint jobs, they come from the locality sonoran boa so stay nicely under 5ft and not to girthy at all

    Most of the blood boas stay small too as they originally came from the little el Salvador boa about 4/5ft, some have been outcrossed so just check first
    Nicaraguan boas are really nice too Nd as mentioned Peruvian longtail (bcl) arnt massive and girthy at all

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    Girth is so much the issue as is length. My largest enclosure is 4ft by 3ft, so I am trying to keep snakes that are 8 foot or under. Also 8 foot was the limit imposed by my SO. I'm sure 9 foot wouldn't be too big of a deal, but I am trying to follow her direction to a t. Right now I have only Males, but I want a larger female. I am not sure what species. I am leaning towards a Boa, Woma, Ball, Dumeril, Blood, or ATB. If I can find a Dumeril, I will get that in a second. The others come in close second place. All the Dumerils I have found were adults, and right now I just don't have the room for my adult enclosures.

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    Re: Smaller Boas

    Quote Originally Posted by sur3fir3 View Post
    I have been tossing around the idea of getting another boa. I really like normal boas. I also like dumerils, but they are hard to find. I have a 2x2x2 I've been thinking about filling with a brown amazon tree boa. My local pet store just happens to have a woma. They also have a bel ball. I've also been looking at my next purchase if I decide to breed. I have my number in to get a female t- matrix blood python. So there is that. This is just one of those decisions that will affect my collection for years to come. Every time I think I've made up my mind it changes again in a few days. I just dont know what to pursue. I love snakes, and I love many different species, but I love blood pythons too, and I would like to eventually breed. That being said I would also like a collection with more than 2 species.
    There's nothing wrong with holding off a bit to figure out what you really want, especially when you're dealing with an animal that can live 20+ years. It sounds like you're making a pretty big decision that will determine the course of your snake keeping for the next few years, if not decades. I were in your shoes, I'd talk to breeders and experienced snake keepers with larger collections to see what their experiences are, spend some quality time with the snakes I already have, and sit and think on it all for a few months to determine what I really want to do. You seem to be going down a similar path already, so keep it up! Breeding snakes takes up a lot of space, time, and resources, so I'd lean towards keeping your collection on the small side for now if you're serious about breeding blood pythons (which it sounds like you are).

    Now that that's been said, I would highly recommend checking out to Tommy Carpenter at TC Reptile if you're interested in smaller boas. He's a locality boa breeder who works with many of the localities mentioned on this thread (along with Solomon Island ground boas) and maintains a pretty informative website and Facebook page. I've been trading emails with him recently regarding some smaller ( < 6 foot) locality boas and he's been nothing but pleasant, professional, and informative. A few other people on this forum who have gotten snakes from him have reported similarly pleasant experiences. He'll be happy to talk boa and steer you towards the locality that's best for you.

    You may want to check out Tamaulipas cloud forest boas. Tamaulipas boas top out around 4' - 5' and tend to be on the girthier side compared to other boas -- some have even compared them to members of the STP complex in terms of stature. They are either Boa imperator or Boa sigma (they've been reclassifying a lot of boas recently), so care should be similar to your typical BCI. Good luck!

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