My big disappointment.....

[L.West]

Well, I made my decision and opted to trade in my RTB's but I did get a new Male Mojave - he is super sweet.

After struggling on what to do - I am happy now that I've traded them in - I think the Bp's are more my style.

Thanks everyone for your input.

[reptilebrett]

With a little extra in the cage to make it seem smaller a 3'x2' would work, it's obviously not perfect, but it will work. I started mine in a 2.5'x1.5' sweater box to start and ran into no issues there.
And also yes, you were given false info if you were told that ALL baby rtbs are snippy. One of my was the first week I had him, my other was the sweetest little thing from day one. You can't ever definitively say that ALL of one type of snake is going to act a certain way, they are all individual living things after all and will have their own personalities. Just like some never tame down no matter how skilled the owner is, that's just the way things are when it comes to living creatures.

Also, not sure what you consider moderate as far as price goes but I know I personally have fallen in love with a lot of the different bees out there if I had the spare cash I'd have one in my hands right now.

Every snake does have their own personality. I have a hypo boa and he's the most bitey snake I own, hense is name is Striker, but I have 2 other RTBs and they are awesome!

[Crazy4Herps]

This is one of the biggest reasons I've found that when getting into the larger snakes for the first time you should start off with neos.

Agreed. Personally, I actually find boas much more enjoyable to handle than BPs; they are generally MUCH more relaxed than BPs. Don't get me wrong, I love my BPs, it's just that they're so jumpy and skittish. My boa on the other hand is completely relaxed. In fact, she's fast asleep around my neck at this very moment. I don't choose favorites, but if I did...

Ultimately, it comes down to how often they've been handled. I've had my boa since she was a tiny thing and handle her very frequently. I've been bit once (and that was no fault of hers, I totally deserved it). I've got a BP who I bought as a 3 year old and had never been handled. She used to be nasty. Your boas were probably in a similar situation. The thing with hatchlings is that, even if they are a bit nippy, they're easy to socialize in a short amount of time. It takes much longer with older snakes.

I'm very glad to hear you ended up in a situation that you are happy with. Don't judge the entire boa species by a few individuals, though. Maybe sometime in the future you might try again with a smaller boa that would be more docile. They are truly amazing companions!

[Paysons Bps]

I think you should expand your ball python collection, I honostly dont like larger snakes. Ball pythons are just awsome in general, I like having snakes I can handle to.

Well good luck making decision!
-Payson

[Aleria]

I like having snakes I can handle to.

That almost sounds like you're saying large boas can't be handled, although I could be mistaken. I mean if a little girl like me can handle my 8' 20 lb girl on a regular basis as I do , even just for cuddles, then I really fail to see how large boas could be considered unhandle-able in comparison to bps.

[L.West]

Thanks to all of you who chimed in to help me out with this decision. As I posted earlier I did end up trading the two RTB's for one Male Mojave BP and I couldn't be happier with him. He is very docile and is a good eater - he ate his first meal after only 4 days of coming home with me and eats each week since. He is very good about being handled and is currently thriving in a 4' x 2' cage with lots of logs and greenery to make it feel smaller - he weighs 760 grams at this point.

My real problem now is getting that female of mine to eat again - she's been off feed since the 2nd week of December - I just don't understand her. Both my males are eating just fine.

[Edbean]

I like my redtail more than my bp. I think its much more calm and doesnt jump around as much. I think it flailing when you take it out is just the snake trying to get a firm secure grasp on you. They are climbing snakes and much more muscular than the hole dwelling ball python. Sounds to me like you just got a neglected (as an infant) redtail that now has an attitude. Good luck, I hope everything works out well for you and them.

here she is btw

[mrmertz]

But maybe consider starting off with neos and raising them up yourself so you can actually control them and end up with large docile rtbs rather than psychotic hissy ones.

You know my wife??