Im very interested in purchasing a Boa Imperator but I’m concerned after I’ve seen conflicting advice about whether adult Boa imperators can or should be handled alone. If it’s a prominent risk, I personally don’t want to have to ensure someone’s nearby and also be worried about being constricted. I’m a minor, but I’m 5’10, so I’m wondering how much that factors into safely handling a large adult boa.I would also get a juvenile meaning I’ll be quite a bit older once it’s full size. If i purchased a female and it were to grow to say, 8 feet, would I need someone nearby to supervise? If so, I will likely decide to find an alternative.
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Let me put it this way, Boa Constrictors are among some of the strongest large species snakes. I’ve had experience with my BCI for almost 18 years, she’s around 7ft and 20lbs and I don’t handle her alone.
She is a gentle giant, most Boa Constrictors are, but she is incredibly strong and if she wanted to have something her way and I was alone while handling her I would not be able get her out of that situation by myself. She has never constricted me, she has bitten me though a few times as an adult and those bites are absolutely no joke, a well placed bite from an adult could easily be worthy of a few stitches. She has gotten herself wrapped up in things that I had a really hard time getting her out of though.
All around it is much safer to have someone around while you’re handling an adult BC, I don’t consider them a threat to someone’s life… but I do consider them dangerous just for the fact that they are strong.
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You can’t go wrong with a boa. In my opinion boas are the best pet snake out there. I have owned boas since 1976.
In my opinion Colombia BCI boas make the best first pet boa.
I personally like Northern Brazilian BCC and Southern Brazilian Amarali BCA. I also like BCI sunglow motley jungle morphs.
I personally don’t like most dwarf boas.
Most of the smaller dwarf type boas are naturally more aggressive, in my experience. So they take a little time to tame down. Most will tame down but I will never trust them 100% like I do with my BCI, BCC and BCA boas. I know BCA’S do fall in the dwarf boa range but they are at the bigger end. My BCA are all over 6 almost 7 foot.
In my opinion new boa owners should not buy an adult boa. Most adult boas that are for sale are old breeders or problem boas, such as sick or aggressive boas. None of them are good for first time owners.
New boa owners should buy a baby boa or a 1 year old so you and the boa will grow up knowing each other habits and tendencies.
Do a little research first on their care and what type of boa you like. Such as morphs or pure locality boas. They come in a variety of colors and patterns. They can live 20 to 30 years and female boas get bigger than males. Depending on what locality boa you get they can get 6 to 12 feet. However some localities can get bigger but it’s rare. Dwarf localities get 3 to 5 feet.
Most male BCI boas top out at 6 to 7 foot and 15 + lbs when they are adults. I would get a baby boa, don’t buy a adult one. This way the boa will grow up with you. When it’s adult it will not be afraid of you. Boas will associate you and your scent with a safe place and be very comfortable around you.
Boa constrictors can make good pets for the right owner because they are generally calm, long-lived, and relatively low-maintenance once their habitat is set up properly.
Also captive-bred boas often become quite tame with regular, gentle handling and are less prone to defensive behavior. Hook training helps with this. Start this from when they are babies. Gently tap there head or body with a snake hook. Every time you go to take them out of there cage or cage cleaning day. Don’t use the hook on feeding days. They will associate the cage opening and hook training with interaction with you and tolerate handling well and can become calm, predictable pets when socialized.
There are a lot of people on MorphMarket selling baby boas. You should be able to find one you like. Just be picky and get what you like best.
I personally would not worry about the size of most boas. But if your concerned about the boa getting too big just don’t get the ones that can get over 10 feet. However even they can be gentle giants. I still think the best boa is the BCI Colombian for a pet. They are tame and easy to take care of.
Just get the type you like the look of the best. Morph or pure locality boa, but get a baby or a 1 year old. This way as the boa grows to adult hood you will not be scared of it and the boa will not be scared of you. Baby boa learn quick that humans are not a threat or food source with proper handling. Even my 8 foot, 30 lbs boas anyone can handle.
I tell people all the time get the snake you like best not what snake makes the best first starter snake. Most people only want 1 or 2 snakes. I find if you start with what you like best you will take better care of it. If it’s not the snake you really wanted some people neglect the care of the snake a little.
If you can find someone with a collection of boas near you just go see if you can handle some babies and adult boas. I think most people will be surprised at how easy a big boa is to handle.
All snake have a very good scene of smell and they learn what is a food source and what is not. They do know human scent is not a food source and I believe my snakes think the same about my dogs after sometime. When I first got Tigger my retic she would follow my dogs around the room when they went near her cage as if she wanted to eat them but after about 6 to 8 months she did not do this any more. She does not even give them a second look any more. There dog hair is all over the house and me sometimes. So I believe all snake big or small do get use to having cretin scents around and consider them safe and not a threat or a food source. I have also noticed my boas and pythons seem more calm around me then when someone else is holding them. I also believe they can tell the difference between humans by are scent. They are smarter than most people think.
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I do not own a boa… but from the concerns about handling:
I have a approx. 7 year old female dwarf reticulated python around 8 feet. I’m also 5’10.
She’s not as chunky as a boa would be at that size…but she’s moody and extremely food motivated. I got her at around 7 and a half feet in Jan '24.
I try not to do much heavy work while I’m home alone. I’ll do small check ins and refill waters. Cleaning I prefer someone around because it involves moving them from the enclosure entirely. Feeding time is definitely something I wait until at least someone else is in the house.
Feeding time is the only time I really worry about the damage potential. I want someone in the house in case she somehow managed to get a grip on me and not her food. As mentioned a well placed bite is no joke. You may need another hand or two to get a food motivated animal off of something. The positive is, that’s not a common occurrence. An adult snake doesn’t need much if the meal sizes are right.
That said… I have only been nipped a twice by her. Never a full bite or coil. Still bloody? Yes.
Again though… a larger snake I purchased from her long term owner as an adult. That is different than raising one up yourself. One I purchased as a 5 month old is the sweetest little guy, but personalities can also vary from animal to animal. If you’ve owned smaller snake species before, knowing some of the body signals can help. Or if you have a friend with snakes maybe ask if you can handle them or help with chores to get that kinda hands on as well.
Boas are great. I don’t mean to deter you from them, just definitely do your research (posting and reading here is a great start). There’s a handful of knowledgeable boa keepers, so I’m sure you’ll get more feedback as well from them. LOL Tom beat me to the commenting
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Forgot to mention I have owned boas for 50 year. Only been bitten 20 times. 5 adult and the rest were babies. Only 1 adult held on all the other bits where defensive or food motivated bites. The bits scare you more than they hurt in my opinion.
But they do bleed alot as boas have a lot of teeth. The bigger boas also did cause a little bruising.
The one that held on bit me in my neck and squeezed my neck. She was 5 foot long. All I did was unwrapper from my neck and pushed her teeth into my neck to dislodge them before removing her. I did this in front of a mirror. This was my fault to as I was a teenager, and she was extremely hungry I shouldn’t have had her out to play with.
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I have owned a pair of CA boas in the past as well as a BRB. I was only bitten once by my BRB but it was my mistake. Feeding error on my part.
I totally agree with @tommccarthy. Boas make outstanding pets. They are gentle giants for the most part except for a couple of reasons that Tom mentioned. It truly is best though to begin with a baby or juvenile if you want to pet. Right now I have a baby of my original pair. He’s a little over 3 months old and a sweetheart.
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I’ll chime in too because boas are just perfect for me. I’ve had boas/taken care of boas in some capacity since 2017. They are just perfect.
If you are concerned about constriction then get a male. I like my snakes as big and beefy as the next boa lover, but I keep solo. I have three males of various sizes and they are fantastic.
Tbh tho, more important than the constriction concerns, (because a well socialized boa, and the experience that intently raising a boa to become well socialized brings does a lot to address those initial concerns over time) is the difference in care requirements that female boas have over males. Make no mistake, the enclosures are BIG.
My adult males live in 6x3x2 pvcs. (However, for the moment I am still setting up after a move so they are in temp pvcs but I digress.)
Just 1 of those enclosures is the size of a twin bed, sq ft wise, so, really consider that when making your choice because my boys top out at 6ft. Females get to 8ft. An 8x3 is a serious enclosure. (And i do actually recommend going for a larger depth like that because the 2ft wide enclosures are just desperately too shallow for you to do anything fun with if you ever see yourself doing anything bio or even custom in the background department. And living in a hallway is no fun for them.
So consider the space you’re likely going to be able to provide, then take what you think you’ll have to work with in the future, halve it, and then ask yourself if you’re willing to sleep in the closet of whatever studio apartment you’ll find yourself in, so that your boa’s enclosure can take up the only space in your home designed to be large enough for a real bed.
If that doesn’t sound like the lifestyle for you, then pick a smaller snake.
If that or creating some convoluted raised platform mess to sleep on top of your enclosures does sound like something you’d do if it came to it, for the love of the game, then awesome!
Here’s some boa pics to get your boa fever burning.
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So maybe I’m reckless, but I’m a 5’2" woman, single, and have a female BI. I do live with a housemate, but she’s terrified of snakes, so while she’s a wonderful housemate, she would be worse than useless in a snake-related emergency.
I don’t really worry about my boa constricting me to death. When I’m handling her, I do make sure to never let her cross her body around my neck if she’s on my shoulders, and she’s calm and lovely, so that’s easy enough to do solo. She is very, VERY strong, so I know she 100% has the power to cut off my air/blood supply if she got wrapped around my neck…so I just ensure she doesn’t get wrapped around my neck.
The only time I have to be on my toes with her is when I first open up her enclosure. She has a very strong feeding response (which is normal for boas), so she’s tapped trained, and I have to touch her with a snake hook a few times to let her know she’s not being fed. I highly recommend tap training if you get a boa, and learning to read their body language when they’re small and can’t do any serious damage. I do have to watch myself when I’m feeding her too, just because she gets pretty amped up when she smells that rat. These are all things I learned to read and manage when she was still a baby, so now that she’s bigger, it’s all become pretty routine.
It might be worth mentioning that I was a horse trainer for years, where I worked with 1000-pound mammals with bad attitudes, so compared to that, owning a boa feels reasonably safe to me.
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