Tarahumara newcomers

[Caitlin]

My newest arrivals, a beautiful pair of Tarahumara Mountain Boas from Michael Beach, have been doing great so far. I'm enjoying the fact that they spend so much time out in the open, and after they settled in, I started handling them as of a few days ago. Frida the female has been very calm while Paco the male has been a hissy little drama queen! He's all bluff, though, and both have been very nice to handle.

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[cletus]

Beautiful boas!! Congrats!

[richardhind1972]

Great new pic ups, nice smile for the camera too

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[Caitlin]

The baby Tarahumaras are still very hissy when I first pick them up, which is actually pretty funny in such little snakes (come on, you two - do you really think you're scaring me?). But as soon as they are out of their enclosures, they settle down quickly. It's just so fascinating to me to experience the temperament differences between the various species I keep - these little boas are very slow-moving, and it doesn't take long for them to apparently decide that I'm a nice warm branch, and become content to just coil up around my hand and quietly observe the world. Here's Paco, the little male. I never get tired of that beautiful Tarahumara headstamp.

[Luvyna]

Beautiful pair, congrats! I've been thinking of getting a Tarahumara boa sometime later down the line, love seeing pics from people who keep them.

[vivi]

They are beautiful!!!!

[Kam]

Congratulations! I have been looking at those. Again congratulations! Can’t wait to see all of the pictures.


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[Caitlin]

Thanks, all! I wanted a Boa, but I am a small woman and would rather not need to ask others to help keep an eye on things when I'm cleaning or feeding - so the bigger snakes aren't a great option. Thankfully there's a wonderful variety of Boas in sizes that are reasonable for handling! I seem to have a thing for some of the dwarf species (I also have Antaresia pythons), and when I saw the Tarahumara I was just smitten with them - my photos don't do justice to the soft pinks and silvery grey colors. I did more research and talked with a couple of breeders about their husbandry and temperament, and when I learned they are the smallest of the Boas, I was sold.

The mountain regions where they originated have shaped husbandry requirements that aren't demanding. And being Boas, they certainly aren't picky eaters, lol. Even though, as I mentioned, they are still a little nervous and hissy when I initially pick them up, they're calm and confident little guys who are usually lounging on their cork rounds rather than in their hides, and they're just wonderful to handle.

They'll be in quarantine tubs for a couple more months, and since Boas seem to grow slowly and the tubs have plenty of room for their cork rounds, clutter, and hides, they may well just stay in those tubs (Sterilite 24x18x7) for quite awhile. I'll eventually shift them into 3' PVC enclosures and if they get big enough to need it, ultimately 4' PVC. We'll see. In the meantime I'll update with photos and any interesting tidbits about how things are going with them.

[richardhind1972]

Thanks, all! I wanted a Boa, but I am a small woman and would rather not need to ask others to help keep an eye on things when I'm cleaning or feeding - so the bigger snakes aren't a great option. Thankfully there's a wonderful variety of Boas in sizes that are reasonable for handling! I seem to have a thing for some of the dwarf species (I also have Antaresia pythons), and when I saw the Tarahumara I was just smitten with them - my photos don't do justice to the soft pinks and silvery grey colors. I did more research and talked with a couple of breeders about their husbandry and temperament, and when I learned they are the smallest of the Boas, I was sold.

The mountain regions where they originated have shaped husbandry requirements that aren't demanding. And being Boas, they certainly aren't picky eaters, lol. Even though, as I mentioned, they are still a little nervous and hissy when I initially pick them up, they're calm and confident little guys who are usually lounging on their cork rounds rather than in their hides, and they're just wonderful to handle.

They'll be in quarantine tubs for a couple more months, and since Boas seem to grow slowly and the tubs have plenty of room for their cork rounds, clutter, and hides, they may well just stay in those tubs (Sterilite 24x18x7) for quite awhile. I'll eventually shift them into 3' PVC enclosures and if they get big enough to need it, ultimately 4' PVC. We'll see. In the meantime I'll update with photos and any interesting tidbits about how things are going with them.

They really are great small boas, have you seen the youtube channel "Brian's boas" he mostly has locality boas and did a whole video on these, I find him pretty good and quite informative

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[Caitlin]

Yes, I subscribe to the Brian's Boas channel! He only recently started making those videos, but I think he's doing a huge service to the hobby because his information is so good. And I may have watched the Tarahumara video more than once...