What are some smaller boas?

[stangs13]

HOGG island boas are a cross. HOG island boas are the real deal.

[Shelby]

HOGG island boas are a cross. HOG island boas are the real deal.

I've never heard that before.. I just figured it was two ways to spell the name of the island.. which is supposed to be 'hog'.. (cayos cochinos).. I just forgot and spelled it wrong again. lol

[Hardwikk]

Here's a good info page on candoia boas: http://www.kingsnake.com/candoia/

From what I remember they are difficult to switch to eating rodents. I know viper boas are (they're the biggest of the candoia). You can occasionally find CB candoia.. but it can be hard.

How hard is it to obtain a Viper Boa?

[qiksilver]

Wow, that is one intriguing little boa. Where can I find more information? Any other pictures? How did you acquire? Any other special considerations?

I have a few other pics, she's a beast, real healthy and eats mice like a champ. Got here from an importer and babied her for a year until she finally got healthy. Did the same with a few others. They usually start as frog and lizard feeders.

Here's a good info page on candoia boas: http://www.kingsnake.com/candoia/

From what I remember they are difficult to switch to eating rodents. I know viper boas are (they're the biggest of the candoia). You can occasionally find CB candoia.. but it can be hard.

Good site ref. Some of them are hard to switch, and nope, C. bibroni is the largest. Vipers aren't that big.
Not many people work with candoia. If you can stand to listen to/deal with jerry conway he sometimes has SI ground boas and halmahera's available. Other people sometimes breed tree boas, but don't usually post them for sale.

[cassandra]

Hehe, you guys basically listed everything but BCC, BCO and BCI...=D

[Shelby]

How hard is it to obtain a Viper Boa?

There's usually at least a couple of them on kingsnake..

Good site ref. Some of them are hard to switch, and nope, C. bibroni is the largest. Vipers aren't that big.
Not many people work with candoia. If you can stand to listen to/deal with jerry conway he sometimes has SI ground boas and halmahera's available. Other people sometimes breed tree boas, but don't usually post them for sale.

I was thinking viper boa = more heavy bodied more than being the longest. I'm not super familiar with all the candoia though.. I'd like to be they're some of the coolest looking boas.

[Skiploder]

What are some smaller sized boas? Im talking 8ft or less. Im thinking about a RTB, but not sure if i want one b/c of the size. But for the most part I want a boa.

When people ask for a smaller alternative to a RTB, I usually assume - perhaps mistakenly - that they are asking for a smaller version of the arch-typical BCC or BCI.

If that is the case, some options that fit the bill are the locality "dwarves" of the imperator genus (the Sonoran, Tarahumara, Crawl Cay, Caulker Cay, Corn Island, etc) variants. As others have stated. the amarali and longicauda fit the bill as do the venezualan red-tails. I've seen too many super-sized hogs lately..............

Eryx (sand boas) and Charina (rosy boas) are not in boinae subfamily - the are in the Erycinae family.

On the other hand, the Pacific Island Boas (Candoia) while in a different genus than the RTBs, are in the boinae subfamily - as are the "traditional" BCI, BCC, BCA, and BCL.

I have both Sonoran and Tarahumara BCI and after over five years of ownership, the largest has barely cracked 4.5' in length with proportionally narrower girth. Except for the size, they capture most of the essence of the RTB experience without the bigger food bill or caging expense.

I am always very cautious in recommending candoia or corallus (tree boas) to people looking for a "small" boa. The require more stringent husbandry practices, can be difficult eaters and are, as a rule, not as amenable to handling.