Ball pythons vs. boa constrictors - key differences in care?

[Bogertophis]

I've only had one "boa constrictor", a (said to be Mexican) BCI- and she wasn't planned, she was a homeless yearling rescue, but she was a real sweetie once
I calmed her down. She was came to me as an inveterate biter that only got worse, more afraid that is, with every new "home" she passed thru on her way to
mine. I wish she'd been a male (so she'd have stayed smaller) but there are also dwarf species...or some that tend to stay smaller, if that's a concern. She
grew very slowly but got over 7.5' by 12 years of age. (After that she moved in with a couple I'm friends with, & passed at age 18, sooner than we expected.)

Anyway, her enclosure ranged from mid-upper 70's to about 86-87* basking or over UTH in warm hide. She stayed quite healthy & made use of all temperatures.
She was very dark coloration with amazing iridescence in the sun or bright lights, & liked to snuggle around my waist & "watch movies"...my biggest battle was
getting her back into her cage, not coming out... Strong feeding response, not a fussy eater (no blow drying her rats!) & btw, she never once bit me. She
certainly wanted to when she first came to me, but that was just self-defense & terror. (you should see me in the morning ) You just have to communicate
(tap train or whatever) so they know when it's social & when it's food. Fun snakes...& photogenic, I'm sure! No shedding difficulties either. You probably
don't need as much "clutter" for their sense of security as with a BP, especially once they get beyond neonate stage...they're naturally bolder than BPs. I was
lucky (after she had so much prior exposure) that she came with no mites or health issues...all I had to work on was her stress.

I attempted no breeding with her & she never passed any slugs* etc. Years back I took in a mature rosy boa -short version!- that had never mated but expelled
slugs several times before she was under my care, then also the first summer at my place along with a parthenogenetically-produced live neonate...so can't rule
out 'surprises' but you shouldn't have problems.

I can't answer all your questions...hopefully others will fill in the gaps. One thing...I never fed my BCI jumbo or even large rats, or rabbits. She was not under-fed
or over-fed: as an adult, she did well on a medium f/t rat every 2-3 weeks. When I gave her a large rat one time, she was clearly miserable digesting & I feared
it was coming back up, but fortunately she kept it down. Boas have a slower metabolism & can easily be over-fed...just have to be watchful. They are very willing
eaters: when I was feeding snakes (ie. had a platter of f/t rodents) she knew & took aim...it was ALL I could do to open her cage & get her rat in front of her using
my long tongs. Strong pounce & ready to launch!