I've owned my BRB for well over a year now. He's a great guy, very personable and quite calm {except when he's hungry}. As Purplemuffin states, humidity is important with them and it must be kept a bit high.
As for hanging a BRB around your neck to do chores. It might depend upon the boa, but whenever I take my little guy out to hold and check him over, he's very active. Always moving about and exploring. So unless you can find a relatively inactive BRB you might have troubles doing chores with one.