Well, if he's a male, he might stay smaller - 5 to 7 feet. If "he" is a female, she might get larger - about 8 feet. But this isn't a hard and fast rule... just like there are short people and tall people, some boas will just stay smaller, and some will get bigger than the average.

A general rule is to have a cage with *at least* one square foot of floor space per foot of snake. So, an 8ft snake could be kept in a 4 foot x 2 foot cage. Floor space is more important than height in a cage for boas.

I can't recall the dimensions of a 55gal tank, but you should be ok for now. Depending on how much yours grows, you might want to invest in a 4ft plastic cage later on (plastic cages are much easier to heat and keep humidity at the right level). Most 4ft plastic cages tend to run a little above $200, and there are quite a few good manufacturers (look around the forum, you'll see). They also make 6ft cages, which should house the biggest female for a bit more.

But, you can also keep average sized adult boas in plastic bins - my favorite is the Iris VE-175 (sometimes available at Walmart as a "christmas tree box" - though I've never seen it locally) - you can get it online at reptiletubs.com. It's about 53" long and 18" wide and has a locking top. Just drill some holes, slap some flexwatt (with a thermostat) on the underside, and you have an instant adult cage for under $100. Not the prettiest, but works. Might not be large enough for a VERY large heavy adult female, but good for most boas.

Try not to be too afraid of the snake. I started off with a ball python, and boas can be much more intimidating. They seem to have better eyesight and "follow" you more with their eyes. Not to mention their faces are more "wolfish" than ducky-looking ball pythons. But really, if you are confident and handle the snake with common sense, you shouldn't get in trouble. I've never had my larger boas strike at me. Only gotten bitten by babies, and usually because I scared them for one reason or another.

The tips about newspaper or towels was good - I have a couple of snakes that don't initially like being picked up (never bitten, but just start "sliding away" if they know what's going on) - I use a pillocase inside out over my arm to pick squeamish ones up, and once they're out, I drop the pillowcase. (That's a good way to "bag" a snake, too, just invert the pillowcase around the snake's body after grabbing them up). Just so they don't get freaked out by seeing a warm human limb reaching straight for them. Once in hand, they pretty much treat you as a tree.
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Lauren Madar - OphidiaGems.com | CageMakers
1.1 Ball Python, 1.0 Hog Island Boa, 1.1 Hypo BCI, 1.1 Surinam BCC, 1.1 Saharan Sand Boa

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