How big do Redtails get?

[alexrls]

Not that i would ever abandon ball pythons but i'm interested in a REtail at some point in the far off future.

so anyways i was just wondering how big they get

what prey items do adults eat?

and is the husbandry similiar to BPs?

[Pork Chops N' Corn Bread]

Well this question has no simple answer. There are many different kinds of redtails from the BCC (suri, guyana) which many willl get over 10' down to some of the mexican boas that get no more than 3'. The common boas often called Colombian boas usually average about 8' females and 7' for males although quite a few of the females will get larger. There are lots of 8-10' females around that weigh 50-70 lbs and I've heard of males that get over 8'. Since they continue to grow all there lives its hard to put a size on it. It really depends on temps and feeding schedule to how large/fast they grow.

For a large female colombian boa you can get by with a 6' by 30" cage pretty easily which many people just use 6' by 2'. They will appreciate all of the space you give them so a bit bigger won't hurt at all. Some people put it at 1 sq. foot of cage for 1' of snake there fore making a 6' by 2' pretty good size.

An adult redtail can be fed on the largest rats you can find. My big girl is only a bit under 5' and eats on XL rats or .5-.75 lb bunnies every other week. For full blown adults not breeding, you can usually do a decent size meal every 3 weeks with no problem.

Well I would say that once you have the cage set to the correct temps and humidity, their maintnace is very easy. They are almost always calm and always good feeders. Just don't let the temps drop below lets say 88 and you should be ok. I have a gradient of 76-92 and she uses both sides equally although 76 may be a bit cool. 80 is what most breeders like to keep the cool side around.
Hope this helps. If you have the space and time, redtails make great pets.

[alexrls]

woah, i didn't realize that redtail wasn't a single species.

i guess what i'm looking for is more similiar to a BPs size

thanks, i'll do my own research from here.

[Pork Chops N' Corn Bread]

Oh ya, I should recomend the Hogg islands to you. Females rarely getting up to 6' and males rarely get over 5'. They wouldn't out grow a 3' by 2' usually and can be kept in a under bed storage tub pretty easily. Not usually taking a big rat either. They are from an island so there is limited food sources available which is believed to be the reason they are smaller than the mainland forms

[Razaiel]

I was originally thinking of something just a bit bigger than BP size when I got my RTB - I was going to go with a Hogg Island (like Jake said) but fell in love with the BCI I have pictured here. She shouldn't get more than about 7 feet. If you go to a breeder you can "meet parents" and handle them too and see how it feels to handle a larger snake. Boas are cool


Jake - my boas enclosure, too, gets to about 92degrees, cool side hovers between 80-82. The viv is 4ft long and at first I thought she'd be lost in it, but she uses every inch of that viv (including hanging out on the high branches) and seems to be happy to be up in the "hotter than normal boa range" of 92 sometimes despite the fact she could be anywhere else.

[fish21]

there was just a big to do about this last week here is the link. it starts out about large bcc but all the other typs and sizes get brought up.
http://www.ball-pythons.net/forums/s...ad.php?t=32214
matt

[Shelby]

Hoggies are a good choice for a smaller redtail. My female hoggie is about 5.5-6' (haven't measured recently) and around 10lbs.

[amercnwmn]

I had 2 rescued RTBs..One was 6ft the other was 7.5ft, I think the largest one in captivity on record is at the San Diego Zoo at 14.5ft..I'm sure there are others larger, but no one has registered one in captivity with DNR.
Heres a link to the 14.5ft boa: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boa_constrictor

Rio Bravo Reptiles has a superb collection of boas, including the Tarahumara Dwarf Boas.. Link to photo Gallery: http://www.riobravoreptiles.com/imag...lle/index.html

[Sputnik]

The biggest I know of in captivity today is 13ft and owned by North Coast Constrictors!


10ft is still BIG for a redtail.