Thinking about making the jump to boa's

[Evenstar]

I'd check through more boa threads on here, there's been many people recently who made the jump and there's great info there.

The main differences for me with my boas is that they prefer slightly cooler temps than my pythons and they don't eat as frequently. Babies every 7 days, subadults 10-14 days, and I feed my adults every 2 weeks. Feeding weekly for older boas is not recommended as it can lead to obesity = lower lifespan/less healthy.

For housing I recommend at least a 4' cage for Colombian males and 6' for large males and Colombian females. Smaller "dwarf" locales can be kept in tubs fine but the larger locales (the BCCs and BCOs) will need cages/vivariums. These can be heated with flexwatt or radiant heat panels.

Excellent advise here. I agree. I also keep mine at slightly cooler temps at 78 with an 88 hotspot. Be careful with feeding. Boas have a much slower metabolism than pythons do and do not handle as large a prey relative to their size as well as pythons do - especially babies. Less is better with boas. While their care requirements are similar to ball pythons, just always remember that they are NOT ball pythons and there will be some differences.

Boas are AMAZING animals and once you get one, there's no going back! But be warned - they are addictive! Bet you can't have just one......

Sorry if this is a dumb question. Is there any concern with keeping boa's and pythons in the same room at all?

No concerns at all. I keep my young boas, not only in the same room as my balls and Angolans, but actually in the same rack. They are fine. Just make sure to QUARANTINE any new additions before keeping them in the same room as your existing collection, whether they are pythons or any other species.

There is a disease called IBD that seems to be most common in boas (I'm not saying it is common occurring disease - I don't want to be misunderstood) and it can be spread to pythons and some colubrids I believe (usually proving fatal very quickly) but I don't believe IBD is as common as some believe. The key that I go by is to get boas (and any snake) from reputable people/breeders. Skiploder posted a very informative thread on IBD: I'd do a search for it.

And this is only one reason to quarantine well! It is generally recommended to q/t for a minimum of 60 days. I q/t for 90 days to be extra safe. The problem with IBD is that it can sometimes not show up for a loooong time - a year or more. There are no guarantees. But strict q/t is the best way to safeguard. There are actually other health issues (with any new snake, not just boas) that present more of a concern than IBD, so proper q/t is vitally important for any new acquisition.