I was in the same boat (looking for a smaller, manageable snake to add to/start my collection - this is what happens when you get one snake, you start looking at other varieties, colors, species, etc and the next thing you know, BOOM, you need a new house, etc). I did a lot of research and was thinking Dumerils, Hog Island, and other boas. I went into Pets Unlimited and they had just got a young Hog Island in. I handled it a couple of different times and after some time decided to rescue her from her crappy store life. She (not really sure of gender) is a beauty and is so much fun to handle and watch - very entertaining snake to own. I expect that she will grow to be six feet or so long and is quite long now for her age but not very heavy yet. That will change as she is packing away rats now. My ball really changed her look (thickness) a lot when I switched her up to rats. My Hog will hiss occasionally when I pick her up but usually only when she is starting to shed. And the hissing means nothing as she has never struck at me.