First large constrictor?

[JoshSloane]

Please understand that with these types of questions, the best that we can offer you is a highly biased opinion, of which you should probably not put much weight into. None of us could possibly know enough about you or your situation to produce an answer for you.

Now, with that disclaimer, here is my highly biased opinion: don't get a boa just because they are smaller than burms/retics, and bigger than corns. Yes, both retics and burms will get significantly bigger than boas. However, a smaller size in no way guarantees a more manageable animal, or a better experience. As with any animal, there is definitive individual variation for all three of these species. I have 4 boas, 2 retics and 1 burm. Out of all these snakes my most unruly and aggressive one is a boa. My burms and retics have never tagged me, or even attempted an aggressive posture. In the past I had a dwarf retic, much smaller than all the others, and it shredded my hand every time I handled him. Point is: your purchase of a large constrictor needs to be based off of your love and interest for that individual animal, rather than that it just fits the basic parameters.

We we have all heard the old adage that retics are smart and quick, and burms are slow and dumb. My experiences lend no credit to this. These animals are all MUCH smarter than we give them credit for.

Also, please don't let internet images of gigantic retics and burms frighten you away from them. The Internet is rife with people over feeding large constrictors just to show off their size, mostly resulting in a snake with a vastly shorter lifespan. Most male retics and burms can be comfortably kept around the 10' mark, with a healthy and planned feeding routine. It is also rare to find females of both species over the 15' mark in captivity. Specimens over this size are usually highly over fed. This means that most males can be kept in a 4' T8 size AP cage, and females in a 6' enclosure indefinitely.

I love my boas dearly, but as I have gotten into retics and burms over the last few years I found that many people wrongly discount them solely based on size.