Well, first thing - most boas do NOT grow to be 12 feet long. Most adults range from 6 to 9 feet, though there are some exceptions.

Also, male boas stay smaller than females, adult males are usually 6 or 7 feet.

You sound like you're going the same route I did - my first snake was a ball python, and after I got him, I wanted a boa, but something that stayed small. I got a Hog Island boa. They are a dwarf subspecies, take a look at the classifieds and you'll find some. Again, males stay smaller (so I got a male to start). Mine is about 5 feet, but not terribly thick.

Another thing is that some people overfeed their boas to get them to grow larger. I'm not saying that if you don't feed a boa, it will stay TINY (some people mistakenly believe that about snakes like Burmese, or silly notions like keeping them in a small tank will make them not grow). But if you feed smaller meals, the snake will grow at a more reasonable rate and probably have less health problems. You will sometimes see this in ads - "slow grown". People who want to breed boas right away sometimes powerfeed or feed on a heavy schedule to pack on weight very fast, to get an animal to be ready to breed faster, which can cause health problems later.

So food does have a little to do with size - though just like people, some snakes will get very large (long), while others will stay smaller, just like there are 6.5' people and 5' tall people.

Once I got used to my Hog Island, I started getting more boas... so be careful! It's a nice addiction though.

Other boas that stay smaller are Caulker Cay, Tarahumara (though these are harder to find), Corn Island, Nicaraguans (or "Nics". I'm sure there are a few others I'm forgetting. Check out Rio Bravo Reptiles, they usually have quite a few of the smaller subspecies. Though if 7 feet isn't too big for you, you might also consider a male BCI or BCC. I love my Hog Island male that started me on boas, but I'm crazy about hypomelanistic (hypo or salmon) BCI, they look so cool.

Make sure you get a healthy baby. Your girl might not be so nervous about a snake if she sees how cute they are as babies. That way, you'll make sure the snake is healthy, eating the way you want it, and tame.
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Lauren Madar - OphidiaGems.com | CageMakers
1.0 BP, 1.0 Hog Is., 1.1 Hypo BCI, 1.1 Surinam BCC, 0.1 GTP

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• What is a smaller boa? 4-6 feet? - envy_ld50, Tue Jun 12 00:52:52 2007
• RE: What is a smaller boa? 4-6 feet? - liquid-leaf, Tue Jun 12 06:37:43 2007
• RE: What is a smaller boa? 4-6 feet? - BRB_russ, Tue Jun 12 08:56:25 2007
• RE: What is a smaller boa? 4-6 feet? - iamsnakeshack, Tue Jun 12 13:45:52 2007