anyone with experience please help me

[hoggislandlover]

Im just recently gettin into snakes and im ready to buy my first snake. I want my first one to be a hogg island boa. I have found alot of information about them but i would like to here from some of you who have had hands on experience with hogg islands. From everything that i found out i like hogg islands but i need to know what im getting myself into and if this is a good choice for a beginner. Also what am i looking at as far as overall cost for the snake and the housing.

[Aleria]

One tip other than reading the available care guides from this site is if you want a hog that stays smaller (~5') then it would probably be best to buy from a breeder that can give you the current size of the parents so you'll know what to look forward to. My hog is already at 6' and still growing fast. But I know a lot of people expect the hogs to stay much smaller, like a large bp.

[hoggislandlover]

how much am i looking at in price for the snake and setup

[Aleria]

I bought mine back in 07, I believe the prices have dropped since then. I paid $135+ shipping for a female back then from LLL Reptile. Breeders may be slightly more expensive.
I bought an Animal Plastics t10 + all of the usual necessities for around $450-500.
But I started her off in a modified plastic under-bed storage box, it gave her plenty of room to roam but wasn't too tall with her being a baby at the time and all. It worked out well for the first year, until she finally needed something with a little more space.

[hoggislandlover]

Thanks. Do you know any good breeders i could go to

[Aleria]

I'm not really sure of any hog island breeders out there, but maybe someone else can chime in. I found both of my boas using kingsnake, fauna and this websites classifieds. So if you do find someone with ads up for a nice hog you can always check here or the boi for reviews on that breeder.