Why sold in pairs?

[nikkubus]

personally have no experience with reptile breeding and it feels a little odd getting nudged in that direction. Plenty of time to warm up to the idea though.

It's not something to take on unless you are ready, but keep in mind that it will be several years before it's even appropriate timing if you are getting hatchlings. I'm not familiar with that locality of boa, but some of those dwarf boas can take 6-8 years to be ready because growth rate is so slow on appropriate diet. That is a lot of time to learn and get that breeding bug. If you don't personally, there may be some really serious breeder nearby you worth trusting who would kill to have a breeder loan of that particular locality and could be missing either the male or female. Watching Garrett's (Reach Out Reptiles) videos about Karompa retics can really put things in perspective about what some of these breeders go through to preserve them. You never know what legislation will come along entirely preventing a certain species being imported from outside the country which is the case with the retics. Even if your country doesn't do it, the country that they come from might ban exports because of over collection.

[Caitlin]

I have encountered this situation twice. The breeders for my Tarahumara Mountain Boas and my Rough-scaled Sand Boas each insisted on selling only pairs - and this after I made it very clear that I would happily purchase just males. I very much trusted and respected these particular breeders and didn't want to do business with anyone else, so...I got pairs.

In both cases, I had planned to sell one from each pair, but...having done rescue work for so long, and based on the godawful situations I see every day in the new keeper's group I admin, I have to confess that I probably would be way, way too picky about potential owners to ever actually sell a snake. And of course, it didn't take much time at all for me to fall in love with them, and now the idea of getting rid of any of them is just unimaginable.

The Sand Boa breeder occasionally reaches out with friendly comments about how he's sure I'll be producing beautiful litters in a couple of years, though I've told him I have no intention of breeding, lol. I confess I am tempted to breed the Tarahumara once because they are really amazing little Boas - but I wouldn't do it unless I was 100% confident about the people buying them. So chances are very good this will never happen.

[Nick_MD]

...I have to confess that I probably would be way, way too picky about potential owners to ever actually sell a snake. And of course, it didn't take much time at all for me to fall in love with them, and now the idea of getting rid of any of them is just unimaginable.

... I confess I am tempted to breed the Tarahumara once because they are really amazing little Boas - but I wouldn't do it unless I was 100% confident about the people buying them. So chances are very good this will never happen.

Pretty much my situation. I don't want to get into shipping or dealing to someone I don't know, so it would need to be someone local that I trust (or a group of folks if I got into breeding). Rehoming a pet is not something I take lightly, even after less than a week and with minimal handling. I was content to wait another year to find this locality boa, but when the breeder who has a great reputation offered up these two I jumped on it. I can live with it if the only negative is listening to my family asking me why I got two of the same thing.

[Bogertophis]

Looks like a pretty good decision to me. Some things are too hard to pass up.

[Caitlin]

Wow, they are gorgeous. And you didn't get two of the same thing! They'll grow to have their own distinct personalities . As I write this, my female Tarahumara is asking to come out of her enclosure, as she does almost every day. The male is tucked away in his favorite hide and while he's a sweetheart he just isn't as outgoing. Once I let Frida out, she'll climb around for awhile and then either settle on my lap while I read or she'll climb into an activity box I set up for her and spend most of the day there either exploring or hanging out in her favorite basket or on a piece of cork bark she likes.

Congratulations on a truly beautiful pair of Boas. I'll be looking forward to more photos and updates.