Boa constrictor question

This one’s for you @lumpy ! I know that boa constrictors can grow pretty large, but do they really come with the same difficulties as large snakes? Is daily care sort like a smaller retic, or are they easier? I have heard that males usually grow to around 5 to 7 feet, but is this true? I’m specifically talking about Colombian boas here. I’d like to be able to keep Colombian boas due to their morphs, but I have personal limits to what I’d keep. If Colombian boas break these limits, I’ll just keep one of the small subspecies.

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Though Riley (the other one lol) will be able to help more I think I know a little bit about their care and difficulty. They are larger snakes but are easier to handle, they are lighter (if kept and fed properly) than retics but still very strong, they tame down well but depending on your and your snakes size and strength and your comfort level you may want another person to be around when handling/performing maintenance. They have a huge food response (like a retic) so hook training isn’t a bad idea and you have to be sure to wash your hands well before performing maintenance (to avoid bites).

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A retic of equal length to a boa is actually lighter. Boas are a lot thicker than retics due to retics being arboreal.

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Boas are just pure muscle if you feed them right. Males tend to be smaller and thinner whereas females are longer and have more girth. It can take a long time for them to get to these larger sizes ( if you feed them right ). They also will live for a long time, up to +20 years if not bred. They are truly wonderful snakes that almost come off as they like to be handed. It is a feeling that I can’t really put into words besides that even with Kai at 5’ 5” I don’t manipulate him, we work in tandem together. They are awesome and very rewarding, I would definitely recommend that you get one. :grin: Though I am probably a little bit biased because they are my favorites snakes and what I am going to breed for a hobby business.

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You know what, I think I will get one :grin: I’ve always kinda loved them, at least since I got in to the hobby. I think I got my love for them from Doug, one of Snake Discovery’s boas. Anyways, I think I need myself a scoria boa now!

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Kinda off topic, but I know you have a few boas. How many do you actually have, and what morphs?

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Riley only has 2 boas to my knowledge. Just recently put the big bucks down on an anery sterling female too. His male is a hypo if I recall.

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Oh, ok. I knew about kai and he anery sterling, but for some reason I thought they had more.

Pound for pound they’re stronger than retics of a similar size. A defensive boa can be an interesting proposition to handle. If they’re defensive, they don’t back down for hook pressure the way retics will. They remind me of a pit bull sometimes. A lot of juveniles will go through defensive phases as they mature, but the hard to handle adult Colombian boa is fairly rare. I do however know of a couple of adult breeder females that are not snakes you handle for no reason.

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Yes, as @ashleyraeanne notes, I only have two boas as of now. I have a pet-only male hypo named Kai and an Anery (type 1) Sterling female named Willow.

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Scorias are a nice choice, but they do wobble so be prepared for that. And there are many boas coming soon, hopefully. :crossed_fingers:

It is probably because I talk about them all the time and am highly invested into breeding them.

Sorry, I was thinking of sterling boas. I get scoria and sterling confused sometimes.

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Sterlings are the best! @mattcookreptiles and Dave Palombo are the main reasons I fell in love with the morph in the first place. They are definitely worth every cent, in my boa obsessed bias.

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Yes, the BIG bucks lol :joy:

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Would y’all say a 5’ x 3’ x 3’ PVC enclosure is an adequate size enclosure for an adult male boa? If not, what size would be good?

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I love my boas and my biggest one is a 16 pound 7-foot male (who needs to lose some weight in all honesty). All my boas are friendly, I have 8, here are their morphs.

Albino (kahl) - Male 17 month old (not named yet)
Sunglow motley - Female 7 months old? Somewhere around that. (Athena)
Normal bci - Male 8-year-old. (bo)
Dark normal/maybe IMG? - Male 6-7 foot. (Django)
Hypo - Female 5-6 foot. (not named yet)
Sunglow - Female 5 1/2 ish feet. (not named yet)
Normal bci - Female 2017 - (not named yet)
True red tail - Female 8 foot. (not sure of locality): Name is Medusa

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That huge and would be more then adequate! Most people house theirs in 4x2x1s. Kai is in 4x2x15” or T10 from Animal Plastics.

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Great! Depending on the size of the boa I get, I may get a 6’ x 3’ x 3’, but I think I’ll just go with the 5 by 3 by 3.

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Your cage you have is a good size for the life of your boa. I would get a baby boa for your first boa. This way you and the boa will grow up together and you and the boa will be comfortable with each other.

As for care feed babies every 7 to 10 days. Adult every 2 to 3 week’s an appropriate size meal. Clean there cage when ever they defecate or urinate. Change there water every 4 to 5 days.

Males will be smaller then females most males will get 6 to 7 feet 15 lbs. Some will get bigger, I did have a 8 foot male that was around 25 to 30 lbs many years ago.

Adult 8 to 10 foot boa is 8 times stronger than a human. However most boas are gentle giants. I trust them more than my labrador retriever and he loves everyone. A tame adult boa is nothing you need to be scared of just learn to respect them and they can be a very nice family pet.

I have owned 100s of boas over the last 45 year. Only a few where mean but I could still handle them with out getting bit most of the time. I have only been bitten 15 time by my boas over the years. Only 3 adults all the rest were babies. Most bits were feeding response the others where defensive bites from the babies. The bits from the babies doesn’t even hurt.

Take care
Tom

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