Gypsy,

BCIs are smaller than BCCs but the range of BCIs is enormous, and their size varies a whole lot from the tiny insular boas to giant Colombians. I keep BCCs and BCIs and my biggest boa ever was a BCI.

"Red tail boa" means nothing. It could mean the tail is red! Technically it means BCC but every pet store I have ever been in marks their BCIs as "red tail boas." They don't want to scare people with that big nasty word "constrictor." So never go by that. BCIs are most common, and yours is likely one, but we really need a pic.

I respect you for taking a mature rescue, but know you job is going to be much harder. That boas is set in her ways, used to someone else's care and conditions, has had weight issues in the past. When you raise a baby they are completely used to you and your ways. The way you use a hook, they type of cleaning products you use, what substrate, the temps you run, are familiar to you by the time they are 7 feet. Now you get to do all that with a big boa that doesn't know you or your ways. In my whole collection I only have 3 boas I got as adults, and there were boas I knew for years before they were mine. They are super nice too. Hope yours is as nice.

Why would you want to breed a normal anyway? The babies sell for what 40 bucks (?) and rescues are full of them. The reptile rescue where I live has over 10 normal boas all the time. Think about getting a male with a codominant trait like a hypo or a Motley. Btw hypos are not a good idea either, too many now and they have no $ value. Or better yet, use this girl to learn all the subtle and not so subtle things about keeping boas, then buy a pair of better babies to breed and raise. You are not going to find a good breeding prospect in a rescue. If they were that good looking and that interesting a prospect, someone like me would have taken them already. There's no shortcut to babies. And your description, dark brown with a dark tail, unless it's some locality boa, wow you'll have a really hard time getting homes for those babies. It's also not the right normal to breed if it's all dark brown and black. I really would like to see a pic, so we can determine if it has value as a locality boa. But from her size and color description she sounds like a Colombian that is undersirable for breeding. But it's just possible she's a BCO (Argentine) or something else.

Hope you have some good hook skills, good luck!
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Caden Chapman
slithering.serpents@gmail.com
http://slitheringserpents.com

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