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Just recently caught the 'Boa Bug' and started building up a nice small breeding stock. Question for you pro's: is a 4' cage sufficient for breeding adult Boa's? If not, what do you guys use? Thanks in advance!

>>Just recently caught the 'Boa Bug' and started building up a nice small breeding stock. Question for you pro's: is a 4' cage sufficient for breeding adult Boa's? If not, what do you guys use? Thanks in advance!

Congrats on your recent acquisition... the boa bug that is

A 4'x2'x1' cage can absolutely be sufficient for a boa for life. But, it might not be. It really depends on how large the boa gets.

Two quick caveats before I make recommendations:
1) The numbers below are simply my guidelines. Others may have different standards/opinions.
2) Females are typically "thicker" than males and so an equal length male will weigh less and will probably not need a cage as large (although one can be provided with no detriment). Having said that, here are my recommendations:

A 4'x2'x1' cage is sufficient for any boa up to a 7' 15-18 lb female.

If a female boa is larger than that, say, 8' 25-30 lbs, I believe that a 4'x2.5'x1' cage or a 5'x2'x1' (or larger) would be better.

A larger female boa, say a 9' 35-45 lb female really needs a much larger cage, something like a 6'x2.5'x1'.

From my personal experience (again, others may have contrary experience), there isn't much difference between a 6' and a 7' female boa in terms of girth. It's noticeable, but not dramatic. However, the difference between a 7' and an 8' female boa is quite dramatic. The same goes for an 8' vs a 9' female boa. The increase in girth in these cases is almost exponential.

There are two main factors that will determine the adult size of your boas. Genetics and food/heat. Some boas are simply not meant to get really long and will top out at 5-7' no matter how much you feed them (they may get really fat though). On the other hand, some boas seem to grow at a pace similar to the larger pythons - almost like a 4" prey item adds 4" in length to the boa!

A few examples:
In one cage you could have a genetically small female that is fed conservatively (fed on a schedule to achieve adult size in 5-6 years - approximately one meal every 14-18 days after one year of age) and she'll be 5-6' long and 9-11 lbs.

In the next cage you could have a genetically small female that is fed weekly and that boa ends up being 6-7' long and 12-15 lbs at 6 years old.

In the next cage you could have a genetically large female that is fed weekly and that boa could end up being 11' long and 70 lbs at 6 years old.

In the next cage you could have a genetically large female that is fed conservatively (every 14-18 days) and she ends up being 7-8' long and 20-25 lbs.

Finding out about the size of the parents can be especially important to someone looking to avoid really large boas. In general, large parents usually leads to large offspring. Again, feeding can make a difference so it's not a "hard and fast rule".

Personally, I base my feeding schedules on what I believe is probably similar to what they get in the wild. I feel like in the wild, they probably get 15-20 meals per year. So, that's what my boas (over about a year of age) get in my collection.

None of my boas is over 7' and they're all in 4'x2'x1' cages.

Hope that helps!
jb
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What's written above is purely my opinion. In fact, MOST of what you read on the internet is someone's opinion. Don't take it too seriously

Jonathan Brady
DeviantConstrictors.com Site received a complete makeover! Check it out!

Thanks Jonathon your reply was really helpful, much appreciated!