Size of dwarf boa

So in about a month I’m going to get my first boa. Naturally my room-mate is scared of anything over 6 ft. but I want a bigger snake. I wanted to ask what the different types of dwarf boas will grow to. Like Nicaraguan dwarf boa vs Mexican. Any thoughts?

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I would say go with Nics, they tend to mellow out with some handling. Plus like you have stated, needs to be smaller then 6 feet, I would go with Nics 100%.
Do you have any other snake experience? Just asking, if your like me who decided to go with the boa for their first snake. But I went with the BI, because I wanted something bigger🤪

I have a good example of how I feel about taming snakes in general. If you do end up going with a Nic, or any snake, how are you handle it’s very important. If you are tagged do not immediately put the snake back in its enclosure, this reinforces that biting makes the problem go away. I would recommend A few short handling session throughout the day like 5 to 10 minutes. Course after it’s settled into the enclosure once you receive him/her. I really hope this works out for you. :grin::+1:

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Thanks! I worked with snakes as a child, my school had several and I was the ‘snake manager’ so I have some experience. I just really like boas. I wish I could have a bigger boa, plus I’m gonna move out in a couple of years, and it would take a while to get bigger. probably the biggest snake I’ve handled is a retic, though it was a small retic. I don’t know, I just really love snakes.

Been wanting a dwarf boa too so I have been in contact with those who breed them. The average size for a male is 3 to 4.5 feet although it is possible to have a larger male on a rare occasion and so far I have not heard anyone have a female exceed 5.5 feet in captivity but some import adult females were 6 feet or just a little over. If you want something down the road that gets a bit bigger than a dwarf but not as big as a BI you could get a half Nic half BI and it will probably max out at 7.5 to 8 for a female and a bit smaller as a male.

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thanks very much

First of all, Nicaraguans are a BI locality, so calling something a Nic X BI cross makes no sense. The species Boa imperator encompasses western Colombians (almost all Colombians in captivity) as well as all CA localities. Second of all, it is rare for Colombians (the largest BI) to reach 8 feet, much less one that had dwarf genetics (Nic cross).

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I recommend Tarahumara and Crawl Cay boas.

They’re both very small localities, and they’re both stunning.

Crawl Cay’s are more silver/grey color, they look anery without actually being anery.

Tarahumara boas can have very dark colors and get darker with age, an adult tarahumara can potentially look similar to a young IMG boa that has not yet turned black.

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Wait I have a question. My boa Kai is Hypo Boa, how long might he be at adult size?

Without getting off topic :wink:

He is almost 3ish years old and he is just 5’

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Hard to say, some male boas max out around 5 feet or so then they continue to grow at a rate so slow it’s barely observable, but some males will continue to gradually pack on some serious size.

If he has genetics for larger growth then he’ll steadily keep growing past sexually maturity at a slow & Gradual, yet observable rate until he reaches 8-10 feet, but it will take at least another decade.
Males from large lines stay about a foot smaller than the females.

males from smaller lines can fit in a tub with ease (Not Recommended), and stay significantly smaller than their female counterparts.

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I assume he is either near or done growing since he is three years old.

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@nathan_e and @jobforaretic

Thank you both for the wonderful explanation and insight. I did expect him to say smaller because when I bought him at eight months he was still feeding on pinkies. Even though other boas at the shop that were two months old were eating fuzzies, and he has developed a bone nodule/kink on his spine.

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This.
If I had to guess, he likely does not have a large bloodline, most of the morph boas tend to be smaller or medium sized.

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Best advice I’ve ever heard on the topic of ‘dwarf’ snakes comes from Garrett Hartle from reach out reptiles. He said if you want a small animal look at the parents. Most tend to get their size from the dam. If she’s on the smaller side, her offspring will be in the smaller side. Males are smaller than females. I’ve got a male dumerils boa highly recommend those if you want a smaller boa that has the potential to get big but will take many more years than a BI.

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There’s a lot of cases were boys that are supposed to be gargantuan, state abnormally, small.