Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I approached my local animal shelter for advice and possible references for more help regarding what size cage is best for adult boas. I expected help but what I got was an arguement that keeping a 6-7' snake in such a cage may be considered cruelty to an animal and may actually be illegal. Jeff, my local expert on boas, agreed, and when we perused the adds with pictures that clearly showed cage size for large boas he was shocked that they were being caged in what appeared to be a cage too small for the animal. He said that an adult boa should be in an 8' cage at least.

He is somewhat of a crusader for animal rights and half jokingly said that he should look into this on the legal level. I told him good luck in his crusade since reptile control laws are almost impossible to pass!

They started in 15 qt tubs but now that they are almost full grown, I moved them to a large setup.

A 4 x 2 cage is plenty big for an adult boa. So much for being an expert if he doesn't know that size cage is perfect for housing and breeding boas.

from animal rights freaks, or the humane society, or peta. they hate private ownership of animals in every form and are more liekly to turn you in for cruelty than answer a simple question.

You Hit the nail on the head!!!

Andy
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lol...yeah, it's about the same as asking a vegetarian in a restaurant which is better, the pork or the veal!
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-David

1.0 ball python (Pandora - don't ask)
1.0 argentine boa (Prometheus)
0.1 hogg island boa (Andromeda)
0.0.1 brazilian rainbow boa (Inara)
1.0 kenyan sand boa (Diablo)
1.0 nornal corn snake(Cypress)
0.1 amery. corn snake (Morgan LaFay)
0.0.1 banded cali. kingsnake (Cain)
1.0 tangerine honduran milksnake (Narcissus)
0.0.1 sandfish skink (Slick)
1.0 dog (Luke)

The sad thing is he went to a shelter. Half those animals if not more are going to be put down anyways. I can never understand why animal activist work at shelters/pounds if they are gonna kill off most of their animals anyways. Where are the animal rights at?

I had a funny argument with a bunch peta vegans awhile ago on myspace. The funny thing was they talked about how their pet dogs were on vegetarian diet dog foods and how their dogs loved the food! When I asked them how long it took their dogs to switch foods, they said something like a month and that was all they offered their dogs to eat. Is it me or is that considered starving your animal?

I believe it is Florida or at least some counties there that have regulations on minimum cage size for snakes. The requirement is either that the perimeter must be equal or greater than the length of the snake, or that the cage must be as long as half the snake's length. In either case a 4'X 2' cage is plenty of room for a full grown boa up to 7'. Most Boas fall under this category, with the exception of a few Colombians, Argentines, Amarali, and BCC. In those cases a 6' X 30" cage is good. Too large of a cage poses risks to the animal's health in being able to properly control the temperature and humidity.

Boas are ambush predators in the wild, they lie under a pile of leaves for weeks before prey walks by. They move a little to warm up or cool down, to drink and to breed. The drinking can be done from rain on their bodies. So how is this different from lying in a cage waiting to be fed, moving from hot to cold side, taking a drink, and the occasional breeding?
Explain that to these people and see what they say.

First off.
I own four foot cages for all my adults.

These are my beliefs. So, don't get too wired up if you don't agree. LOL!

I believe that if a boa does nothing but spend it's time in a four foot cage......This is cruel. It compares to leaving a dog outside in a 20x15 backyard and say it gets enough exercise. To me, neither animal is getting the proper exercise it needs to stay healthy physically and (just as important) mentally. It's like throwing a human in a bathroom and saying that I can curl up approximately 6-8 times in the bathroom. I have enough room. I don't know about you............But, I would go bonkers!

Now, if you keep a boa in a 4ft cage and let them out so they can move and exercise. I do not believe that a 4ft cage is detrimental to them at all.
Right now, we have a small yard. I walk my dog twice a day so he can get the physical and mental exercise he needs to develop. If I couldn't do that..........I shouldn't have gotten him in the first place.
Same with boas. I've been running ragged for the last few months. I made a decision to slim down the collection a bit because I knew that I was not giving them enough attention. (Snakes here get out at least once a week. And, that's when I'm running ragged. I shoot for at least twice a week.)

So there are my beliefs that are true for me. I don't begrudge others who don't do what I do. (Unless it is outright cruelty)
Take care,
John
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"To be the best..........You must lose your mind."

Thanks John. Your advice is what I was hoping for to validate my explaination to the local activists. I also believe that snakes need to get out and exercise once or twice a week if they are in a small cage. I also try to keep my collection small so that I can take them out more often and handle them and give them exercise. I have built a snake tree/playground for my boas to climb on when they want exercise. FYI,I have columbian boas. I have 4' cages but am purchasing and building some 6' cages for the near future, expecially for the female columbians.
I have a 5000g female ball python that is about 5.5 feet and she lives in a 4' vision cage but gets out a few times a week to roam around. Even she seems cramped in this cage!
I think that the people who keep adult columbian boas in 4' cages are fooling themselves and would definitely get better results with larger cages.

And when that Boa gets to were it wants to be ,,what does she do? make herself as small as she can and stay there for days if left be?....A 4 by 2 cage is the idea size for adult boas..I would say even smaller for males..
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Forever Trust in what we are,and nothing else Matters

...but i keep my 9 footer in an 8x4x4...

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0.1 c.b.97' 9' 60 lb. common boa "scarlet"
1.0 c.b.02' 6' 15 lb. "hi pink" common boa "maverick"
0.1 c.b.06' 17" firebelly x pastel boa "betty boa"
2 savannah monitors Ozzy & Uggy

1.0 everglades x yellow ratsnake c.b. 04' 4' "pooh"
1.0 c.b.06' redear slider "dweezil"
1.0 c.b.04' emorys ratsnake "zeus"
1.0 Snow Corn "Snowcone"(say it slowly...yes cheesy i know)

"...does it bite?"