Boas vs Balls

[Razaiel]

Well I'm due to pick up my new girl this weekend. It will be my first ever boa (although I've held someone else's adult before) and I'm starting to wonder how different the personality will be vs a BP - my BP (a year now) is so sweet, docile and has never, ever attempted to bite anyone. Like I said, it's a year old already, hasn't been handled much I would imagine as the breeder has just over 200 snakes. He was going to keep this one for possibly breeding but has decided to let her go.

With my BP I lift her hide, talk to her, then gently stroke her before lifting her out - does the same apply to boas?

Any insight into these critters' personalities would be much appreciated

[fish21]

i have boughten many boas from big breeders who dont handel there snakes. i will give you the same advice that was given to me. day 1 put the boa in the new cage, then leave it extreemly alone for one hole week. day 7 feed it a appropriat sized rat or mouse. then leave it alone for another 7 days. on day 14 pick it up slowly from the midsection. hold for about 2 mins. do this every day for about a week. after this breaking in period you should have a well settled in snake. boas are good natured and quite gentel but juvies can be a bit nippy. avoid sudden movement. once you snake gets used to you they usually become puppy dog tame.i love all of mine and they all have there own personalitys. i wish you the best of luck with your new boa. if you have any questions dont hesitate to ask.

fish

[Nate]

I am a previous ball python owner, never owned a boa...but i've *read* that boa's are not near as picky eaters as ball pythons. When i get back into reptiles, I am going to pick up a BCI.

[frankykeno]

Sue I can only speak from my limited exposure to Rauri and now Severus. They both seem very calm and easy to handle snakes, not given to being terribly shy or overly head shy. Given that this one you're getting is a year old and hasn't been handled much that will probably be a factor but I'm sure with patience you can overcome it.

Boa's seem to have stupendous feeding responses and don't seem to be as prey specific as ball pythons. Again though, remember I have very limited experience so hopefully someone like Kara or Gerry will jump in that have years upon years of working with these wonderful snakes.

[Pork Chops N' Corn Bread]

Hey Sue, hows it going? I have my 2 boas and they are as gentle as can be. I would trust even my little 3 y/o cousin holding her because of her calm tempermemt and she is so perdictable. Only heard her hiss 1 time and thats because she was in shed. As far as feeding goes, boas will usually eat any time food is offered except in shed for me at least. I like them a lot more than balls because of there great attitude, always willing to feed, and large yet handleable size.

As for taking her out of her cage, I just open it up and pat the substrate and she sticks her head out of the hide box, thats when I reach in and pick her up. You don't want to just reach in because since boas are fairly large, their bites can leave a good mark and a full grown boa could possibly threaten your life if it got ahold of you. Very rare for a cbb boa to bite you can go into full constriction though, smelling like food is the only thing I would think that could cause this. Good luck!!

Jake

[JimiSnakes]

I am going to agree with Fish on this one...if you're buying from a so-called "bigger" breeder then expect the boa to be more aggressive and more apt to hiss and bite. It is a good rule to let them "settle" in for a solid two weeks before beginning to handle them. You have to remember that when they come from a bigger supplier they are not handled nearly as much as they should be. They are used to be left alone and never bothered with except for cleaning and feeding. They WILL calm down though, it just takes some TCL is all. The Salmon and 2 Hybrid Hets I have are awesome pets...now. They weren't when I first got them though. They didn't like to be handled or messed with at all. TLC finally brought them around and now they are fine and friendly boys and girls. Good luck.

[Razaiel]

Thanks for your input guys Yep, it's going good for me, Jake ATM anyway like what have I let myself in for tomorrow? LOL


I'm going to go along with the advice and leave her alone for a couple of weeks except for feeding and cleaning (sit on hands time again).

So when it comes to it I should never take her out of her hide? I do that quite a bit with Emily (BP) otherwise it seems I would never see her sometimes. She comes out every day except for the 2 feeding days.

Jimi - the snake I'm getting is a Salmon Hypo BCI - I've been told it should only get to about 6-7 feet as that's the size of the parents - though you never know she might get bigger.

Here's the pic of her from the breeder's page

http://boamorph.leeardern.com/stock_...p?stock_id=440

[Pork Chops N' Corn Bread]

Thanks for your input guys Yep, it's going good for me, Jake ATM anyway like what have I let myself in for tomorrow? LOL


I'm going to go along with the advice and leave her alone for a couple of weeks except for feeding and cleaning (sit on hands time again).

So when it comes to it I should never take her out of her hide? I do that quite a bit with Emily (BP) otherwise it seems I would never see her sometimes. She comes out every day except for the 2 feeding days.

Jimi - the snake I'm getting is a Salmon Hypo BCI - I've been told it should only get to about 6-7 feet as that's the size of the parents - though you never know she might get bigger.

Here's the pic of her from the breeder's page

http://boamorph.leeardern.com/stock_...p?stock_id=440

Thats a very pretty boa!!! Let us know how his temperment is when he arrives!!

[fish21]

I'm going to go along with the advice and leave her alone for a couple of weeks except for feeding and cleaning (sit on hands time again).

good move. it is just not worth rushing things. getting bit is as termatic for you as it is them. i have 12 bci's. you could easly keep it at around the 6-8 ft mark. just dont power feed. just a good sized meal every other week and you should achive that smaller size. but bci's that are power fed will reach monsterious sizes. i have a 10ft 45lbs male normal bci that was a rescue.

fish

[Razaiel]

Thank you! I've just heard from the breeder - he said she's nice and tame so hopefully she'll stay that way for me. Don't worry - I shall leave her well alone for a bit, just let her get used to seeing me about. I've got her viv up in my bedroom as it should be more peaceful there, things are always hectic downstairs in our house and we have a dog (and sometimes a monitor) wandering around.

Should I just be feeding her once every two weeks? I currently feed my BP (she's also just a year old) once a week - though I'm starting to stretch it out now to once every 8 days. I don't want to powerfeed but I don't want to underfeed either.