Personally I think if you work with Jimi or another boa breeder of that knowledge and standard, you won't go wrong. I'm glad you aren't looking at a pet store purchase. I was in our local chain store pet store the other day and about fell over at the $169.99 price tag for the poor little BCI that got stuck being sold by them. Some new keeper is going to put out that cash and gawd help them and that underfed looking, stressed out little boa.

It sounds like you are taking your time and really making long term decisions about owning a boa. I'd definitely suggest a male as they have a tendency to stay smaller. There's a huge difference in our 3 year old male BCI (Severus) and our 16 year old female BCI (Tequila). While Luke can easily manage Sev on his own, Tequila isn't a snake I want my teenagers handling alone ever. For that matter, I don't handle her myself alone since I'm barely over 5 feet and she's between 8 and 9 feet long.

I will say BCI's I think are a great choice. They normally are even tempered if handled correctly. Aren't terribly picky about what they eat. Aren't easily stressed as compared to ball pythons. A very nice snake for a pet for the right owner.