Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hey all,

Ever since I read an article in Reptiles magazine praising them, I've been interested in getting a pair of Nicaragua Boas to start a breeding project. The article mentioned that they are smaller boas, and that they have good dispositions. However, after reading a couple of old posts, I'm beginning to wonder about their dispositions. Are they aggressive snakes? One of the main reasons I was thinking about getting a pair is that they are smaller than Colombians, and I really like their colors. However if they're nasty, it's not something I really want to mess with. Any advice/experience would be greatly appreciated. Thanks,

-Mack

No such thing as an "Aggressive" snake
Look the word up for proper definition,wild animals arent aggressive.
As with most CA BCI they can be abit nippy and defensive,proper care and regular handling can have most of them socialized/conditioned by 6 months of age.
Their cheap enough and make good starter boa IMO.

TnK

I've had a few Nicaraguans over the years. Personally, they are my favorite. Most of the ones that I have encountered have decent dispositions. There have been some that I've had that were just mean. Just like there are nice people in the world a mean people. depends on the snake. Generally they calm down with handling. My suggestion would be to look for a pair that you like, and talk to the breeder/seller.

Currently I have 12 nics and only 2 that I never take my eyes off of when handling. 2 of my bigger nics are nice enough that my children can handle them.

There is a post a little further down mentioning adult sizes. Males should get to be 4.5 feet, and females 5.5...but they can be 6.5 - 7 feet.

Amie

I have a male and he has a great temperment. Ive been bitten once but was completely my fault. The snakes have great colors and males are tiny. They make a great pet, and would be a nice breeding project.
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Steve Irwin you changed the way people look at reptiles forever. Crocodile Hunter you will be missed.

There's actually a local pet store by me that's got a baby Nic for sale that I'm considering buying. I'm pretty sure it's a pure Nicaraguan b/c first of all it's tiny, and secondly, this pet store tends to know their snakes. I came in today and asked about its disposition and one of the guys told me that it was aggressive. Since it's so young, do you think with regular handling I could turn it into a calm snake? I really just wanted to take it out and hold it to see how it reacted. When I came up to the cage and put my finger near the snake (it was halfway crawling up the glass) it didn't pull back into an S-position or anything, so I'm just wondering if one of the guys was bitten accidentally and then just labeled it as mean. What do you think? Thanks,

-Mack

like i said the one bite i took was my fault besides that he is the best
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Steve Irwin you changed the way people look at reptiles forever. Crocodile Hunter you will be missed.

My opinion is that if it was active when you saw it, and if it didn't act aggressively when you came anywhere near it, then it probably has a decent disposition or is at least "trainable".

If you like it, ask to hold it. Since it's a baby, it's not like it's going to hurt if it does happen to bite you.

Amie