Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hi all,I am interested in possibly getting a boa. I have had or have kingsnakes,ratsnakes and a pine snake. Now I do not know too much about boas so forgive me for being nieve in my questions. hence that is why I am here. Was just wondering how are boas as pets? because I am not looking to breed, just looking for a "family" pet. also how are thier personalities? how big do they get? are males or females bigger? do male or females make a better pet in temperament wise? anything else you all think I should know? any help is greatlly appreciated
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---------------I Fear two things in life.......My God and My WIFE!

1.0 Leucistic Texas Ratsnake
1.0 Mexican Black Kingsnake
1.0 Black Pine Snake
0.1 Albino Pacman Frog
0.2 Dogs
2.0 cats
0.1 Wife

Enjoy the forum Robert, there is so much information on this forum you will be so addicted to boas. To answer your questions it is best to ask some back as well to better understand what can suit you in boas. But in general I can answer a few of your questions, maybe others can add there input as well.

Your background is great because you already have experience with snakes and there care involved, so keeping boas is not that much different other than certain requirements, like space and each different care for that particular type of boa. Redtail are great, but as a first boa maybe consider something smaller and more common , like a "common or Colombian".

I would even suggest a smaller species like a Hog Island. As for temperament, there are a few in my experience that can be more aggressive than others but in general I would say each has its own personality, what works for 1 might not be the case for another. Although Hog and Colombians seem to be more relaxed than other boas. Again each case is different and each situation as well. Sex wise I think again from my experience males are much tamer and usually smaller as well, but this is not set in stone.

I have been interest in snakes for a long time, my first snake was a burmese, then corns, then BP's i like the corns and hated the BP's as they are finiky eaters and i got them all handed down to me. THen... i got introduced to boas, my first one was a Hogg X named Flicka that i've had for years now and she has grown into a beautiful gal, now i have 4 other babies, what can i say im addicted to boas. they are gentle natured, and awsome patterns, nice handeling size also. Im into boas and that's where ill stay.
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"Have you hugged your snake lately?"

Now when you say colombians, are you saying colobian redtail boas? or just colombian boas? excuse my ignorance, i just do not know anything about boas and I am trying to learn. how big do the colombians get? I am looking for a boa that one person could easily handle when it is full grown. so any suggestions are appreciated because I am new to boas. thanks again
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---------------I Fear two things in life.......My God and My WIFE!

1.0 Leucistic Texas Ratsnake
1.0 Mexican Black Kingsnake
1.0 Black Pine Snake
0.1 Albino Pacman Frog
0.2 Dogs
2.0 cats
0.1 Wife

Colombian and Colombian Redtails have had a long misunderstanding. Colombian or common is what the herp population has the most. From my underatanding years back the Colombian and the Colombian Redtail names were so confused and mislabeled due to marketing and misinformation. Also you will hear BCI which again is Colombian. If your into the color morphs they for the most part started off the lines of BCI, or Colombian boas. As for size they can range from 5 - 9 feet rather easily. Having a tame rather relaxed animal even at 9 feet is for the experienced, but each case is different. This is why I suggest the Hog Island, they are slimmer and smaller than Redtails and even the Colombians. For the untrained eye, they look somewhat similar. A Hog is a great way to train and if your considering upgrading down the road they do influence your experience into Redtails later on.

hmm, could you recommend a care sheet for a hog? also any recommendations on breeders? thanx
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---------------I Fear two things in life.......My God and My WIFE!

1.0 Leucistic Texas Ratsnake
1.0 Mexican Black Kingsnake
1.0 Black Pine Snake
0.1 Albino Pacman Frog
0.2 Dogs
2.0 cats
0.1 Wife

This site has some very good information on a vareity of boas.

http://www.boa-constrictors.com/com/com.html

One of the best sites is Rio Bravo.

http://www.riobravoreptiles.com/boas_island.htm

After reading the thread so far, I think there might be some confusion. First off, I assume by boa, you are talking about the genus Boa, which includes a number of subspecies and even greater number of locales and an even greater number of morphs. All, the same species though.

Now, Red-Tailed boas in culture (we are talking the breeders who work with them here) are of the subspecies Boa constrictor constrictor. Generally it is not suggested to start with this subspecies, they are not fogiving to mistakes in husbandry, get fairly large, and and not as easy to breed (though you mention looking for a pet).

I saw you asked about Colombians Vs. Colombian Red Tails. If you walked into a pet store and they had a boa constrictor for sale I'd be willing to bet the label on the cage said Red-tail boa. Likely however it is either a Nicaraguan (the most common locale out of Central America) or Colombian B.c.imperator.
"Red-tail" sells better than "constrictor." Just marketing, but also false information. While MANY Colombians do have red tails, they are not Red-tails. There are SOME Colombian B.c.constrictor but they are very rare and will be accompanied by lots of records to prove their origin (and scale counts give it away).

Males are generally smaller than females, though some girls may just have genes that they don't grow as large at males from other bloodlines.

I'd suggest you consider any CBB locale of B.c.imperator or BCI, to start. There are a lot of natural phenotypes and a great number of morphs to choose from. There are pure blooded animals, or crosses that might suit your preference.
Some to consider, that are available fairly often are:
Hog Island
Cay Caulker
Nicaraguan
Honduran
Colombian
Sonoran
Some others that fall to the rare end of the spectrum, at least for pure stock are:
Crawl Cay
Panamanian
Costa Rican (Western and Eastern phases differ in appearance)
Corn Island
Tarahumara Mt.
Cancun
Mexican (I've listed three specific locales, but Mexican in general).

A good site for information on most of these locales is RioBravoReptiles.com

If you find some that you like more than others, post a question about them, someone here will usually help you out and post pictures of the animals they have of that type.

Good luck!
Roatan Island

Roatan Island should be under Mexican, I tabed to put in Mexican and entered more text between the two.