Could I handle an adult BCC?

[Gio]

There are a a few points I'd like to make here and I'll start with one that I feel you are the most concerned about, size. The size question often comes up in discussions when somebody is debating on whether or not to acquire a boa constrictor.

For reasons unknown, a lot of folks think all BCC/BC "get huge". It's simply not true, and most stay at average sizes even with continual, lifetime growth. Can they get big? Well, the answer is yes but these really big boas are exceptions to the rule. There are very tall people that walk the earth, however if you looked at the percentage of 7 foot tall folks VS. what is generally viewed as "average", the numbers favor "average" by quite a margin. Tall people are the exception to the rule.

I feel an 8 foot boa is a good sized animal, male or female and I'd consider 8-9 feet of BC a big boa. If you are able to find a copy of THE COMPLETE BOA CONSTRICTOR by Vincent Russo, you can read about his thoughts on the size of most boa constrictors.

There are 3 members here, one being a friend of mine that rarely posts, that have locality BC. They have the Pokigron, Suriname locality, which came from Rio Bravo lines. Gus Rentfro imported them to the US years ago and kept the line pure. Pokigron Suris tend to stay on the smaller side and I believe my friend has an adult female that is 7 feet long. His male is slightly smaller, which leads me to the next point.

Sexual size dimorphism does exist and females are typically larger. That said I was told by Mr. Rentfro that there is no reason a male BC can't reach the size of a female. Much of his reasoning related to breeding and how breeder males are kept.

I have a fairly large male BCI/BI. He isn't over fed, as a matter of fact he doesn't eat over the winter, but he is fed well during the summer months. He's 7 feet long which some people would consider large for a male. He is a locality, Colombian BI from Barranquilla, another Gus Rentfro creation.

Why is he maybe bigger than average or what is said to be average for a male? He's a pet that isn't used for breeding, he doesn't experience the pheromonal cues a female boa would give off and change his behavior (no female boas here) and he isn't intentionally kept smaller for breeding.

I feed him normally and because he's in captivity without the obstacles he'd have to deal with in the wild, he simply grew. What I'm getting at here is that a male boa can often be very similar in size to a female.

Your question; "Could I handle?" The answer is entirely up to you and that's where planning comes into play. You seem to want a larger animal. Generally boas are a great step up. They are actually the perfect pet snake in my opinion.

If you are a mature, healthy person you shouldn't have issues handling a boa. You will grow to know the animal's behavior as well.

There are many good suggestions above from others that you can look into. I'm sure you will find something you like in the boa world.

My full grown, adult, male looks like this.


He's thick but very easy to handle.


.

I hope some others post photos of their adult animals.

Good luck!