how much harder?

[Jay633]

how much harder is it keeping a boa compared to a ball python? or different? are they more aggresive or less? any other key points. also how do breeders manage with the electricity bill, or is there a trick to heating up snakes with low cost electricity?

[j_h_smith]

how much harder is it keeping a boa compared to a ball python? or different? are they more aggresive or less? any other key points. also how do breeders manage with the electricity bill, or is there a trick to heating up snakes with low cost electricity?

As an adult, they will obvioiusly need a larger enclosure. Their food requirements will mean larger rats (depending on type of boa). Any snake can be agressive, it's more of an individual thing. The usual husbandry are close to the same. I'd recommend looking for a good care sheet on the boa that you're interested in.

Electric bills are what they are. If you can't afford a larger bill, don't breed snakes.

Breeding snakes will never make you rich. If anything, they will cost you money. If you think you can make money, you're kidding yourself.

Good Luck!
Jim Smith

[L.West]

After raising 4 bps for several years I tried two rtbs - they were both about a year old when I got them - they both ended up being really pissy, I didn't enjoy them and was disappointed so I traded them out for another bp. I might just have had bad luck with the two I got. Ive never had any agression issues with my bps

Good luck with your boa

[fire-eyes]

My first snake was a ball python. The second was a boa (BCI).

Keeping in mind that I only have one of each snake to base what I'm saying on, I wouldn't use the word harder, I would use the word "different" or perhaps "less tolerant of mistakes such as head smacks". Neither of these should shy you away.

Like any snake, you have the "general" behaviors and then the "exception" behaviors -- Most boas are entirely docile, but you can end up with one that is more aggressive or even more docile. I ended up with one that as a baby was _extremely_ aggressive. A snake that was coming close to flying off the ground due to lurching at me so insanely. This won't be the case with most boas.

With time and persistence, however, at a few months shy of two years old, he's now very docile. It took four months for him to calm down reasonably, and six for him to become docile. He's now about four feet long and is basically a lap snake. He will fall asleep around my shoulders or in my lap.

Compared to a ball python, the differences I have seen include not tolerating simple mistakes like a smack to the head (you're going to get bitten), they can seem very intimidating even when small, and they don't show much (if any) affection (my BP shows a lot). Some boas are tail insecure and they can quickly and often feel like they are going to fall, and panic, which involves swinging and flailing and if they aren't quickly convinced that they've got a firm grip, bites. Mine seems to be far more tail insecure than most boas that I know of, he panics if he doesn't have something for his tail to hold on at all times -- this includes while on a flat surface, and he will drag the object around with him. Curiously, he does nothing like this while in his cage.

Boas have much larger teeth, although they are by no means "large" compared to the rest of the snake world. Unlike ball pythons, the teeth are curved towards the back of their mouth. They aren't fangs, they're just teeth that have a rear curve towards them. All the better to hold onto with. The important thing to know here is that if you get bit, you can NOT yank your hand away. Not only will you slice up whatever he grabbed onto, but you can break teeth out, and these can get infected and lead to a very serious situation. You want to break boas of the idea that biting you makes you go away while they are young -- before they are adults. This means you may have to take a hit here and there, and learn to react minimally, and certainly not put them back into their home. Baby boa bites aren't a big deal, adult boa bites are a fairly big deal. I haven't been bitten since day 0 through about month 3. Most of those were in the first week, and further, most of those were in the first day while he was upset about his ride in a box. The only bite attempt since then was yesterday, when he took an honest swing at me because I accidentally whacked his head with my hand. He missed.

Because of the initial challenges I had with my boa, which again are far beyond what almost anyone else has experienced, I found great satisfaction once he went calm. Even on a day to day basis, managing to hold him as a baby for just a few seconds was amazing. Eventually it progressed to a few minutes, and then the building of trust as he would tolerate me (barely) and begin to come up and explore my face. These were threats at first, but eventually it became him exploring me and me exploring him. Once in a while he would see if he could push me around while in my face, at which point I had to stare him down and make him back off. As such a curious trust/respect was formed in both directions. Again it is much better to face (no pun!) these issues while the boa is small, compared to a 5 - 8 foot adult.

Boas obviously are larger, as well. In addition their body structure is quite a bit different. A ball python isn't what I would call fat or flabby, but their muscle structure isn't anything special. A boa on the other hand is a chiseled chunk of muscle, and you can see this even at the skin level. A ball python grips rather gently, but a boa often grips firmly, sometimes extremely so. Sometimes my fingers go white when he's gripping hard. He's not trying to hurt me, it's just a 4 foot snake that is trying to hold on. I find their muscle structure quite amazing, sort of like the Arnold of reptiles. Interestingly, he goes easy on this holding on business when around my neck. That being said, I always make sure I have four fingers between his body and my neck so that I can pull him off if need be.

Boas seem to get a sense of "I'm going to fall!" much easier than a ball python. As such it's important to learn the giveaway signs of your particular boa that it's getting upset, and try to avoid him starting to thrash, at which point it's difficult to stop it. These can include sudden pupil diameter changes, full-body muscle tensing, or gentle hisses or sudden exhales through their nostrils -- At least with my boa.

Do your research, and then do more. I would spend a good solid 3 months doing nothing but research. Which type of boa do you want, what is different about each one, is care more difficult or easier for a given one, how big do they get, and so on. Go to a store and ask to hold an adult boa. Before doing that, drill it into your head that you will NOT be buying one there. If they don't like that, just tell them you'll be buying supplies there. You want to get your snake as a baby, as young as possible, from a respected breeder. Handling an adult for a few minutes will give you an idea what you're going to be dealing with. If the size truly freaks you out and you just can't shake it, you might want to look at something else.

I have a ball python, a boa, and a northern pine snake. The boa is by far my favorite, primarily because of the work it has taken and the challenge it has been to stick with it until he was docile. I had to learn more subtle body signals than any other snake to keep tabs on him, even if he is docile, to avoid him getting upset and avoiding bites.

Boas are tough snakes. I spent six days driving across the country with each snake in their own pillow case, tied off, and that put into a second pillow case, which was then tied off and put into a plastic bin. These were then stacked on the front seat, and I monitored the temperature with a digital probe for each bin. All of them did remarkably well as I checked on them at the end of each day in the hotel room. The boa did particularly well, seemingly not even caring at all what was going on. He even regularly drank water when I held him and brought him close to a cup of water. He also insisted on checking out each new hotel room each night, wanting to check out the beds, walls, floors, and bathroom. The other snakes did not show that level of curiosity.

I have found owning a boa to be a VERY rewarding experience, and I can see getting another, making it the only type of snake that I have two of. Do your research, find a respected breeder, check your details, and if it's right for you, pull the trigger.

[llovelace]

^ I agree, hey fire send me some benne wafers!!!!!

[tsealock]

My first snake was a ball python. The second was a boa (BCI).

Keeping in mind that I only have one of each snake to base what I'm saying on, I wouldn't use the word harder, I would use the word "different" or perhaps "less tolerant of mistakes such as head smacks". Neither of these should shy you away.

Like any snake, you have the "general" behaviors and then the "exception" behaviors -- Most boas are entirely docile, but you can end up with one that is more aggressive or even more docile. I ended up with one that as a baby was _extremely_ aggressive. A snake that was coming close to flying off the ground due to lurching at me so insanely. This won't be the case with most boas.

With time and persistence, however, at a few months shy of two years old, he's now very docile. It took four months for him to calm down reasonably, and six for him to become docile. He's now about four feet long and is basically a lap snake. He will fall asleep around my shoulders or in my lap.

Compared to a ball python, the differences I have seen include not tolerating simple mistakes like a smack to the head (you're going to get bitten), they can seem very intimidating even when small, and they don't show much (if any) affection (my BP shows a lot). Some boas are tail insecure and they can quickly and often feel like they are going to fall, and panic, which involves swinging and flailing and if they aren't quickly convinced that they've got a firm grip, bites. Mine seems to be far more tail insecure than most boas that I know of, he panics if he doesn't have something for his tail to hold on at all times -- this includes while on a flat surface, and he will drag the object around with him. Curiously, he does nothing like this while in his cage.

Boas have much larger teeth, although they are by no means "large" compared to the rest of the snake world. Unlike ball pythons, the teeth are curved towards the back of their mouth. They aren't fangs, they're just teeth that have a rear curve towards them. All the better to hold onto with. The important thing to know here is that if you get bit, you can NOT yank your hand away. Not only will you slice up whatever he grabbed onto, but you can break teeth out, and these can get infected and lead to a very serious situation. You want to break boas of the idea that biting you makes you go away while they are young -- before they are adults. This means you may have to take a hit here and there, and learn to react minimally, and certainly not put them back into their home. Baby boa bites aren't a big deal, adult boa bites are a fairly big deal. I haven't been bitten since day 0 through about month 3. Most of those were in the first week, and further, most of those were in the first day while he was upset about his ride in a box. The only bite attempt since then was yesterday, when he took an honest swing at me because I accidentally whacked his head with my hand. He missed.

Because of the initial challenges I had with my boa, which again are far beyond what almost anyone else has experienced, I found great satisfaction once he went calm. Even on a day to day basis, managing to hold him as a baby for just a few seconds was amazing. Eventually it progressed to a few minutes, and then the building of trust as he would tolerate me (barely) and begin to come up and explore my face. These were threats at first, but eventually it became him exploring me and me exploring him. Once in a while he would see if he could push me around while in my face, at which point I had to stare him down and make him back off. As such a curious trust/respect was formed in both directions. Again it is much better to face (no pun!) these issues while the boa is small, compared to a 5 - 8 foot adult.

Boas obviously are larger, as well. In addition their body structure is quite a bit different. A ball python isn't what I would call fat or flabby, but their muscle structure isn't anything special. A boa on the other hand is a chiseled chunk of muscle, and you can see this even at the skin level. A ball python grips rather gently, but a boa often grips firmly, sometimes extremely so. Sometimes my fingers go white when he's gripping hard. He's not trying to hurt me, it's just a 4 foot snake that is trying to hold on. I find their muscle structure quite amazing, sort of like the Arnold of reptiles. Interestingly, he goes easy on this holding on business when around my neck. That being said, I always make sure I have four fingers between his body and my neck so that I can pull him off if need be.

Boas seem to get a sense of "I'm going to fall!" much easier than a ball python. As such it's important to learn the giveaway signs of your particular boa that it's getting upset, and try to avoid him starting to thrash, at which point it's difficult to stop it. These can include sudden pupil diameter changes, full-body muscle tensing, or gentle hisses or sudden exhales through their nostrils -- At least with my boa.

Do your research, and then do more. I would spend a good solid 3 months doing nothing but research. Which type of boa do you want, what is different about each one, is care more difficult or easier for a given one, how big do they get, and so on. Go to a store and ask to hold an adult boa. Before doing that, drill it into your head that you will NOT be buying one there. If they don't like that, just tell them you'll be buying supplies there. You want to get your snake as a baby, as young as possible, from a respected breeder. Handling an adult for a few minutes will give you an idea what you're going to be dealing with. If the size truly freaks you out and you just can't shake it, you might want to look at something else.

I have a ball python, a boa, and a northern pine snake. The boa is by far my favorite, primarily because of the work it has taken and the challenge it has been to stick with it until he was docile. I had to learn more subtle body signals than any other snake to keep tabs on him, even if he is docile, to avoid him getting upset and avoiding bites.

Boas are tough snakes. I spent six days driving across the country with each snake in their own pillow case, tied off, and that put into a second pillow case, which was then tied off and put into a plastic bin. These were then stacked on the front seat, and I monitored the temperature with a digital probe for each bin. All of them did remarkably well as I checked on them at the end of each day in the hotel room. The boa did particularly well, seemingly not even caring at all what was going on. He even regularly drank water when I held him and brought him close to a cup of water. He also insisted on checking out each new hotel room each night, wanting to check out the beds, walls, floors, and bathroom. The other snakes did not show that level of curiosity.

I have found owning a boa to be a VERY rewarding experience, and I can see getting another, making it the only type of snake that I have two of. Do your research, find a respected breeder, check your details, and if it's right for you, pull the trigger.

Great insight! Thanks for sharing!

[Annarose15]

Just to add my own two cents as a newbie to the forum and ball pythons - I had a Colombian red tail boa from my fourth birthday (I can't tell you how thrilled Mom was!) until he came down with IBD nineteen years later. The day I had to have him put down was the saddest ever! Long story short - He only attempted to bite three times in 19 years (all justified). I took him to classrooms for projects as a kid, and he was my most laid-back companion all the way through college.

I absolutely love my new BP hobby (first breeding season!), but that boa will always hold a special place in my heart. As always, just do your research first and choose a quality animal.

[Jay633]

thanks to all of you, i like the idea of getting one, i have held adult boas and man are they strong haha they are cool and just holding the snake i can imagine a boa bite. i wll do more research and take your advice on purchasing a baby boa and see how it goes from there. thank you all