could use a hand

[kjay]

hi all , i have many herps , proper setups and attitude, that being said i am considering purchasing a columbian redtail boa.

How have your experiences been with handling, do they tolerate it or are they a hard snake to handle, i enjoy my bp's very much and have been pretty successful with them so any added info would be appreciated, would like to educate myself before i get it not after


thank you

[CARLiTO_]

they are alot like bp's except they are not..:D. Way more fun IMHO and great eaters. Don't go off feed like bp's. They seem to be semi arboreal. I have a baby female and she likes to stay up on the branches. 50-60% humidity. Ambient temps should be 75 degrees and higher. A hotspot of 85-93 degrees should be provided. They seem to be mean when they are younger but once handled often, they calm down. There seem to be 2 subspecies: BCC and BCI. BCC's are more sought after since they are rarer. Colombian BCI's are also known as common boas. The difference between the 2 seems to be the attitude and scale count. The BCC's tend to be a little meaner. Good luck.

[BOA68]

I enjoy BCI's much more than my BP, Boas are much more active than BP and i think they look a heck of a lot nicer too. They are very docile and don't mind being held. However they r much more active while being held. They will explore and crawl all over u, unlike a BP. They are also much stronger than BP and get much larger. So that is also something to consider. (growth rate is much faster also)

[Bartman]

I’d say for the most part boas are not bitey. I’ve had to handle big adults many times now, that don’t really get handled at all (since there at the store) and they get curious as to if your food or not, but if you move slowly to a place where their head isn’t and make them aware it isn’t feeding time, they should not strike.

I have 2 BP's and recently bought my BCI. I love them both for different reasons, but find the boa has an incredible feeding response and is much more visible.

Great snakes though!

[BoidKeeper]

I have a male and female Colombian here. The female has always been fine. The male on the other hand started off as a devil and even today I don't fully trust him.
Cheers,
Trevor

[lostwithin]

Hi, with my experience boas are generally tolerant of handling, They are more difficult then pythons not because they are aggressive, but because they tend to grab and move allot more, for example you can pick up a ball python or burm and they pretty much go along with it, just hanging there. If you pick up a Boa it holds on to you and everything else it can get at. As for temperament both my male and female are fine, they are not regularly handled but are still docile enough for children to hold. (with supervision of course).

Devon

[bistrobob85]

As for temper, i think the BCI is almost as tame as a BP... I've seen a few snappy babies but if you take care of it the right way, it tames down within no time... It's thrue that BCIs will really hang on to you or things around you when you want to move them around but i just think it's their way to say ''don't move me, i'm alright here...'', it never caused me any problem and BCI have a very good feeding response, which is very fun to deal with, unlike the BP which will starve itself for weeks and laugh at the food you offer, hehe!

[cnb]

I have 2 common boas and both are easy handled and great feeders. Both were bought as babies 2 & 3 months old . I think this is important if the boa is to be a pet.

[cnb]

One more thing the adult size of the common boa is 6 to 9 ft. This is a little smaller than some of the true red tails.
Good luck with whatever you decide.

[DeviledDiablo]

hey.. i might not know too much about snakes in general.. but back in fed-april i was either plannin to get a bp or a boa.. and i chose a boa.. im actually glad.. the boa i got is really nice.. hasnt hissed or try to snap at me once yet :P and i handle him almost everyday ( expect feedin days ) they are great lil guys.. but they can be a pain if u leave em unguarded outside their cage lol.. like the others said.. they tent to like to explore!! ALOT lol but anyways i suggest that if ur interested, definatly get one.. they are really nice snakes to handle, and i kinda like a snake that likes to move around.. although they do need alot of room when they grow up.. i think the space is worth the companion of a docile 6 footer :D
peace

[Linds]

Boas can be a good choice, but they cannot be matched to Ball Pythons in anything, other than they are both relatively easy to care for. They are very different from eachother in all other aspects.

As mentioned above, boas won't be like a lump of coal why handling them, unlike Ball Pythons. Also, a Ball's first defense is to either become still or tuck their head away from the threat, whereas, boas will not hesitate to bite in many cases. (captive bred) Bci also tend to have a great feeding reflex. They are very powerful, and even at 6 or 7 feet, can be quite a handful, especially if they aren't so mellow. The husbandry requirements are similar to Ball Pythons, with a a temp gradient of 78/80 - 90/95, and humidity around 55%, but they grow much faster, so upgrading is much more rapid. You can expect a boa to reach 3-4 feet by their first birthday, and 4.5-6 feet by their second.