Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I have long kept many BP, rats, milks...run of the mill type snakes. Recently my ex-wife helped to completely disseminate my collection (without my help). Now that I have my own place, which is small, i would like to get one maybe two snakes. I just thought that I might want more of a challenge in the husbandry and wanted to get some ideas about the type of snake I will pickup. I was thinking along the lines of a CP redtail boa. I want something that will be a little bigger than my BP's but overly thick and over the last few months this snake has resurfaced several times...
I'm not really into the breeding or show side of this hobby, this will be a pet that I keep for my personal enjoyment. I will likely hold off until the expo in Daytona in August before I make a move but it's a good time to start a serious dialuge that will help me make a decision.
thanks
Jason

>>I just thought that I might want more of a challenge in the husbandry...

Well then you don't want a redtail.

They might be easier to keep than ball pythons. (Unless buying rabbits and building/buying a larger cage are what you mean by a challenge.)
-----
What goes up must come down...unless it exceeds escape velocity.

Rainbow?
-----
----

0.1 Peruvian rainbow boa (Amaru)
2.0 Brazilian rainbow boas (Arco, Olho)
0.3 Honduran milksnakes (Chicchan, Chanir, Hari)
1.0 Thayeri kingsnake (Coatl)
2.7 corns (Cetto, Tolosa, Uce, TBA)
1,000,000.1,000,000 other critters

Tom Cruchfield has several types of carribean epcraties boas a really nice red mountain boa from the DR but they are a bit pricy and if you want a larger boa the Jamacan boa or a Cuban boa all of these are seldom kept boas.
Rob

I remember Tom and Bob's Dominican Red Boas too. They are certainly very impressive!

~Doug

-----
"a snake in the grass is a GOOD thing"

my website -serpentinespecialties.webs.com

I want a challenge but not a death sentence for the snake or extremely high expenses...i looked in the rainbow, might work except for the space issue. I will have to see how much room they need but from my reading seems like the enclosure needs 4-6 sq ft foot print?

When you mentioned a Boa Constrictor being a strong possibility, they would certainly get every bit as large, or even much larger(depending on the sex and subspecies) than a Brazilian Rainbow Boa would.

Among many other things I have a pair of Colombian(imperator), and the male is exceptionally large at a good 7 plus feet. But males are usually notably smaller.

~Doug
-----
"a snake in the grass is a GOOD thing"

my website -serpentinespecialties.webs.com

Whenever I do get anther snake it will be a juvenile so I will hopefully have several years before a larger enclosure is need. I have seen several red tails that were 2 yrs old that live in a 50 gal tank with plenty of room. Does that seem about right or perhaps they were under fed or crowded. Red tails seem a little more reasonably priced and I don't have tons of cash to pour back into the hobby at the moment. But I think I can provide good husbandry to a snake that does not need too much however I don't appreciate owners who don't even handle the snake or really care for it much.

Yes, a juvenile Boa Constrictor can do well for a good while within that tank size range. They tend to grow much larger in their first couple of years with more frequent feedings, and/or larger prey items.

Many pet stores and hobbyists often tend to label common Boa Constrictors(Boa constrictor imperator) as "red tails", and although they do have red tails, true red tails(Boa constrictor constrictor) are actually subspecies from the Amazon basin region and can grow larger than their common Colombian counterparts do, although just not quite as fast as Colombians do, and of course the females are always the larger of the two sexes. There are several insular forms that stay fairly small compared to many others too. Record lengths of up to 12 to as much as 14 feet have been documented for these Amazon Basin subspecies, although such sizes are much rarer to find.

Many Mexican imperator and certain Central American forms can be limited to the 4 to 6 foot range, and some specific forms such as the Tarahumara Mountain Boa will only attain an adult length of around 3 to 4 feet max. length.

As you can see, there are quite a few choices regarding size, you just have to do a little research prior to making a commitment. Below is a link to the smaller Tarahumara Mountain Boas.

~Doug
Tarahumara Mountain Boas

-----
"a snake in the grass is a GOOD thing"

my website -serpentinespecialties.webs.com