Red Tailed Boas Help!!

[fishmommy]

wow the reds on that girl are insane!

BCA won't have crazy glowing bright reds like that....brick red, cherry red on a good day...but not fluorescent red like that!

[Mike Schultz]

Most central american locales stay fairly small (especially a male)

I myself have a generic "central american boa" which is supposed to be a male but I have never had it officially sexed. Even if it turns out to be a female I am not too worried since even female central americans wont get much bigger than 6 feet (usually)

[JimiSnakes]

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Every one of those are very different from the other. I see Bolivians, Peruvians, Surinames and they are all intermediate boas and are not a first time Boa.

My opinion is to either get a Central American (male or female) or get a male Colombian for a first time boa.

[mricyfire]

I really appreciate the advice and the sites...i just got back from a pet store to see some boas first hand...have to say looking at a Colombian male...they say it should be 5-6' max and that is what I am looking for.

So I have a cage already to house a baby boa..so now just looking for prices.

The pet stores have them for $125-175 online I have seen $250-350, around what shouldI be paying for just a normal Colombian?

@Jimi; I know there were different snakes just trying to show the color I was looking for.

[starmom]

So.... you get what you pay for.

I have always gone through breeders and will always go through breeders. Breeders have healthy stock (the known and respected breeders), they have cared for their snakes very well, and they are there for you after the sale.

I urge you to not support pet stores but instead support the breeders who work very hard to provide healthy animals so as to make your initial foray into boas a positive one.

Jimi has amazing snakes and my favorite boa is the one I purchased from him. No kidding. She is an amazing example of what a boa ought to be.

Pay more- get more. Pay less (pet store) and you run the risk of paying a lot more in vet bills and hassles...

Just my 2 cents.

[Patrick Long]

I urge you to not support pet stores but instead support the breeders who work very hard to provide healthy animals so as to make your initial foray into boas a positive one.

Jimi has amazing snakes and my favorite boa is the one I purchased from him. No kidding. She is an amazing example of what a boa ought to be.

I understand that you LOVE Jimi, so do I. Hes a great guy, and I can actually call him a friend, not just "a guy I get snakes from". With that being said, I think its a little harsh to say, DONT SUPPORT PET STORES, THEY DONT STRIVE TO PROVIDE HEALTHY ANIMALS.

I know several pet stores that are extremely taken care of with exceptional service, and care for the animals.

YES these places are not petco/petsmart. But to say that kind of things, I think is a little blatant.

Of course I would push you to buy from Jimi as well, but If this is a pet store that you trust and know, dont let people talk you out of it.

[JimiSnakes]

I understand that you LOVE Jimi, so do I.

Who doesn't love me? I'm the cat's meow! lol

[cassandra]

I orinially wanted another Ball Python, but their prices right now are much to high for me, so I have decided to turn to the world of Boas which really intrigue me.

I guess I'm confused on this point. If ball pythons are too expensive, then how can you afford locality boas or even morph locality boas?

Unless you meant you wanted a morph ball...

[mricyfire]

I guess I'm confused on this point. If ball pythons are too expensive, then how can you afford locality boas or even morph locality boas?

Unless you meant you wanted a morph ball...

The ball python I wanted to buy Fire ball python an that was about $1000, from surfing the web I have found many cool boa morphs for well under $500 and to me that is much cheaper...the colombian boas and Nics I have seen for $350 or less so that is how I can afford...not saying they are cheap but they are much less then $1000 (which many bps are more than that)

And I would appreciate if your not going to help me, please don't post in this thread. Thanx for everyone that has helped thus far in making my decision.

[starmom]

I understand that you LOVE Jimi, so do I. Hes a great guy, and I can actually call him a friend, not just "a guy I get snakes from". With that being said, I think its a little harsh to say, DONT SUPPORT PET STORES, THEY DONT STRIVE TO PROVIDE HEALTHY ANIMALS.

I know several pet stores that are extremely taken care of with exceptional service, and care for the animals.

YES these places are not petco/petsmart. But to say that kind of things, I think is a little blatant.

Of course I would push you to buy from Jimi as well, but If this is a pet store that you trust and know, dont let people talk you out of it.

Yep, you're right Pat. I spoke with way too much generality and not enough clarity. I had Petco and Petsmart on the brain but never specifically stated that.

I agree that there are good specialty stores out there (somewhere) and those are not to be lumped in with the crummy ones.

Thanks for calling me on my sloppiness