considering a boai

[scorps101]

I am really looking into getting a boa soon. I've had every snake but a boa so this is new to me. I am stuck between a male BCI, hog island, or a dumerils. I'm looking for 3 qualities:
1.stays very docile and tolerates handling well.
2. Stays small.. bigger then a ball but not over 6 or 7 feet. My fiance is very short and she would like to handle the boa alone, or kids supervised.
3. Can feed on large and jumbo rats since rabbits are pricy.

I was leaning toward hog islands but have heard they are cage aggressive? And what is the max size of a male dumeril?

Thanks!!

[Evenstar]

All 3 will fit your criteria. Hogs can ocassionally be touchier as far as temperament, but there are many that are quite docile. Male dumerils usually Max out at 7-ish feet, although the females can get larger.

Personally, I would recommend a Dum as a first boa. They are highly underrated. And even though they are at the upper end of your size limit, they are extremely easy to handle and often very sweet.

[BFE Pets]

As usual Kali beat me to it and is 100% correct imo. I personally like dumerils boas and highly recommend them as a first boa. Male dums can get up to 7 feet but average 6ish and it takes them a very long time to get there on a correct feeding schedule. If you buy a neonate by the time its that large the wife and kids will have grown in experience with it and won't be an issue even if it hits the large end of the scale. I have 3 dums at the moment all of which are rescues and I can't believe how resilient and forgiving they are. They were neglected and poorly kept animals and they are just as sweet as can be!

[Gio]

All 3 will fit your criteria. Hogs can ocassionally be touchier as far as temperament, but there are many that are quite docile. Male dumerils usually Max out at 7-ish feet, although the females can get larger.

Personally, I would recommend a Dum as a first boa. They are highly underrated. And even though they are at the upper end of your size limit, they are extremely easy to handle and often very sweet.

As always, the above advice is pretty spot on. If your soon to be wife is small, female dumerils boas can get big actually they all can. The dumeril boa female I see frequently is about 6-6.5 feet but VERY thick. The males are 5.5 and have good body as well.

Jumbo rats are OK, but they have a lot of fat. I've been reading a lot about boa diets. You can get smaller rabbits and also quail to feed. Jonathan Brady of Deviant Constrictors has a nice blog on feeding. Too many boas are fed like pythons and get way too fat and die early.

Sorry for the off shoot on food, but huge rats are not always the best for boas.

Gus Rentfro also has a great article on feeding and in it he states "the biggest boas are the oldest boas". Interesting because power fed boas get big fast, but a lean healthy boa will live MUCH longer and end up much bigger in the long run.

Make sure you get a pure Hog Island if you go that route. A lot of mixing has gone on and they can suddenly be a lot bigger than the smaller island locality boa that you thought you were getting.

It appears you've had a lot of snakes so I assume you've had larger pythons? No need to go into caging, but I will tell everybody that wants a snake, especially a larger species. Get the cage and get it set properly long before the snake.

Then of course lastly,,, Have a blast!!

Male Barranquilla Colombian BCI in a 48" x 23" x 14" Pro-Line cage.

[mackynz]

One of us!

One of us!

One of us!

Mine doesn't have any cage aggression issues plus I don't really think it's aggression, I think some boas just have an insane feeding response. But I know a few people that hook train them just in case.

I was torn between Hog and Dum when I got mine, I don't think you can go wrong either way.