So recently I have made contact with a guy who through bad circumstance has to get rid of his prized Peruvian red-tailed boa - and me being a snake lover I happily jumped aboard to adopt her. Here's the kicker though, according to him (I've only talked to him on the phone), Alice (the boa) is 14 years old and 12 FEET LONG. He has raised her since birth and says she is extremely tame; he takes her to elementary schools and the children love petting her.

Now that actual length shocked me a bit, and according to wikipedia a resonable length is actually around 10 feet for females. Then again, it's Wikipedia, and then again, that's still 10 feet. My main experience has been with kingsnakes and cornsnakes.

However, I like to think I'm good with snakes and I certainly look forward to taking on this new responsibility on one so large. I asked him what kind of terrarium/cage/enclosure he has to contain this beast of a snake and to my surprise he told me he just lets it freely move around his home at all times. Yikes.

Anyway, like the title suggests, I have never owned a boa (no snakes past 6 feet) and apparently I'm starting with one as big as they get. I'm assuming I'll have to build her enclosure... the local pet store probably doesn't have an 8x7 tank on the rack.

Asking around, no one I know has owned a snake of this size, so I have no advice to work off of, thus I came here. Do any of you own a large sized snake like Alice? I want to make sure that I know of particular issues that may arise when dealing with snakes of this calibre. I certainly won't let this thing get too close to hugging my neck.

Any insight or help would be much appreciated. The plan is to call and meet up with him tomorrow afternoon (Saturday) and meet her for the first time. Hopefully I can snag some pics.

[ Show Entire Thread ]