After a very long battle I finally got my mom to cave and let me get another snake! Squee!!!
So I decided instead of getting another bp that I finally want to get a boa since I fell in love with them at the last expo that I went to.
My boas of choice were either a common red tail bci, a dumerils, or a hog island.
I decided on the Hog because of their relatively smaller size then the other boas I was deciding on. They are just absolutely beautiful, and that their care requirements arent too far off from a bp with slight differences of course.
So here is what I gather from reading several conflicting care sheets please correct me if I am wrong on anything and please feel free to chime in any other advice all you boa keepers might have.
Temperament/Size
I have read that the males get to about 4-5 ft, and females about 5-6ft.
I thought about getting a male if I had gotten one of the other species but it seems that even the female of this species doesn't get large. So I could get either and it still be easy to maintain by myself.
As far as temperament I read that they are generally really calm and docile, but can be hissy if threatened.
Enclosure size and husbandry
I was thinking if I got a male I would get a 70Q tub to start it off in and keep it very cluttered with lots of hides and some branches to climb on since they can be a little more arboreal then some of the other BCI.
Would this be a good size tub?
How long could I keep a male in a 70Q?
What about a 110Q?
Also if I got a female how long would she be able to live in those size tubs?
What would yall recommend?
I will have a hotspot temp of about 90 with an ambient of about 80. Does this sound acceptable?
Humidity I would have at about 50% bumping it up to 70% during shed?
I was thinking of using aspen instead of paper towel for my boa since they like to dig a bit more or so I have heard.
Feeding
This is where I need the most advice because I know their feeding schedules are much different then a bp.
So for babies up to about 1 year every 5-7 days?
Adults every 10-14 days?
At what weights should I feed what size prey?
Any and all advice will be very much appreciated. I just want to make sure I have all my facts straight and that I will have an appropriate home ready when I get my boa.