boa for beginners

[tmlowe5704]

Well I just got my BP about a month ago and my girlfriend is now in love with it and wants me to get something bigger as well. There is a 5 foot red tail boa at a pet shop around here for $200 and she said she would buy it for me. Are they hard to care for? Is there much difference between them and BP's? A friend of mine had a RTB for his first snake and did well with it until he had to sell because of the apartment he moved into.

[sweety314]

Check out the care sheets.


My BCI's are pretty much the same as the BPs but the warm end temp is a couple two/three degrees cooler.

The big thing (pun intended ) is the caging, and making sure you have enough room for the hides/bigger bowls. Needing bigger prey items and if you get tagged, it can be quite the experience as compared to a ball.

There are soooo many different locales to choose from, it's basically personal preference and how big is TOO big. ?

I really enjoy Wrigley as my first, but he's still only a yrling. Hera is pretty much (far as I can tell) done growing, & still only about 5.5+? feet long, 12#. But I think they're beautiful snakes, and I've bought some of the morphs to eventually start breeding them.

Good luck!

RuLyn

[tmlowe5704]

I don't think 5 feet would be too big for here. I would build a cage to make sure I got the right size enclosure without having to spend a ton of money.

[Shaun J]

But remember,alot of these snakes don't stay 5 feet long, only a few. They can reach up to 9 feet, needing a cage size of at least 5x2x2

[joepythons]

The largest boa i have ever seen was a 12fter.It was huge and very well taken care of.If you do get a boa buy a pair of welders gloves to use when you are taken it out of its home.If it does decide to bite you you will not feel a thing unless he goes higher up .I had a 9fter and she thought everything that entered her home was food .I never felt any of her bites,and they realize that your not food after a second or two(gloves taste nasty lol).

[J32A2]

12 foot BCI? Or was it a BCC?

[joepythons]

12 foot BCI? Or was it a BCC?

I can not remember right now as it was like 3yrs ago.It was a boa i remember that part for sure as i was just getting into boas at the time.

[Shelby]

a 12' boa (of any subspecies) is very uncommon. Likely a female BCC.

Male BCIs typically stay in the 6-8' range. If you feed conservatively (not starving it, but not stuffing it either) you can keep them towards the smaller end. Feed once every two to three weeks as an adult.

They're typically very calm and docile animals, though there are exceptions. They're a good step up from a ball python.

[joepythons]

a 12' boa (of any subspecies) is very uncommon. Likely a female BCC.

Male BCIs typically stay in the 6-8' range. If you feed conservatively (not starving it, but not stuffing it either) you can keep them towards the smaller end. Feed once every two to three weeks as an adult.

They're typically very calm and docile animals, though there are exceptions. They're a good step up from a ball python.

Yea thats why when i saw that snake i was shocked:eek: .I even asked the people if that thing was crossed bred to something else .They stated nope all boa,i wish i would have had my camera with me then.