What are the BIG kinds of Boas...?

[TheAceIsBack]

What big Boas are there? I know they're all big but which are the biggest? And what SIZE cages woudl THEY need? Also, what's the difference between BCI and BCC and BBC?

[BoidKeeper]

Green Anaconda is the biggest Boa. BCC set the standard by which all other boas are measured. They are the "true" red tail boas. They include but are not limited to the Suriname, Guyan and the Peruvian. The BCI include the common boas such as the Colomubian, Hog Island and the mexian.
Caging should anywhere from 4-8 feet long and 2-3 feet wide and 12-24" high.
Cheers,
Trevor

[Linds]

I'm going to have to disagree with the above and say that Argentines may take the cake as overall the largest ssp. of Boa Constrictor. BCC come barely in second, as Colombian BCI can reach similar size. Females of all tend to be on the larger tend of the spectrum than the males do. BCC and BCI are the most commonly seen subspecies of Boa constrictor in Canada. There are many subspecies of Boa constrictor, though not many are highly available, especially up here

As for caging, it all depends. In general, for minimum requirements, you want to give your snake 1 square foot of floor space per foot of snake. Boas can do just fine with 12" height, but if you wish to provide more that is fine as well. If you wish to provide decorations you will want to give your snake more than the minimum requirements.

[CHRISANDBOIDS14]

Well, I agree with the first statement in that the "TRUE" redtails, would commonly be the largest of the Boas. Green annacondas are part of the "boa" group but are not actual Boas. By the way, Green and yellow annacondas(the only two annacondas) are illegal to own in Alberta. For the BCC these are the true redtailed boas, they would come in at #1 for size being 13 feet long and some females topping out at 15 feet(uncomon),(that is the big end, they average 11-12 ish maybe a bit more).They may The record lenth for a boa is held by a BCC being 18.5 Feet(THATS ALOTA BOA!). BCI would come in next averaging about 6-9 sometimes 11 feet. BBC, im not sure what those are.

As far as caging, If you had an annaconda(illegally in alberta i might add), you would need a room sized cage. A 9-14 foot boa can be housed in a cage from about 8-12 feet long(with 15 being optimal though the biggest you can get is better)and about 2-3 feet wide(2 minimum). For boas that are from 4-9 feet a cage at least the lenght of the snake and 2-3 feet wide is good. A cage should always have enough space for the snake to stretch its ENTIRE BODY WITHOUT HAVING TO BEND. If you can follow that, your guarenteed to have a big enough cage.

Chris

[C.m.pyrrhus]

The largest known Boa constrictor species I know of was that of a B.c.o., aka Argentine boa. I know of many other large specimens out there as well. Bc.c. and B.c.i. are relatively generally the same size, but some B.c.i. localities tend to stay small, so that makes their average size to be a bit smaller in regards. As for B.c.i. not being true'red-tails' I disagree. Hard to clump them totally out of the circle.

IMO, 'condas are boas. No doubt about it. They are not 'boas', but they are boas. Anything that lies in the Boinae group is that, a boa.

I use the 'standard' rule of cage size. Cage length = 2/3 boa length. 6' boa = 4' x 2' cage.....

[Linds]

Originally posted by CHRISANDBOIDS14
For the BCC these are the true redtailed boas, they would come in at #1 for size being 13 feet long and some females topping out at 15 feet(uncomon),(that is the big end, they average 11-12 ish maybe a bit more).They may The record lenth for a boa is held by a BCC being 18.5 Feet(THATS ALOTA BOA!).

I don't think there is any documentation of a BCC reaching 15'. 11-12' is pretty much top of the mark for them, and 12' isn't all that common. 6'-9' is the most common range, with some females reaching 10'. My largest adult is an 8 year old female that is just pushing 7.5'. As for the 18.5' "record"... the 18.5' BCC that was written up in a book was later found to be a misidentified anaconda I think the largest BCC recorded was almost 13'.

[Simon Sansom]

Hi folks,

I seem to recall reading somewhere about an exceptionally large specimen of some form of Boa constrictor (I assume Bcc) which was reliably measured at 18 FEET in length.
That's the biggest I've ever heard of.

Cheers!

Simon

[bistrobob85]

well i just wish my little one year old Serge, wont grow up to 18'! It is a little male ( which i chose because males get shorter )... i wouldnt have any problem dealing with a 7' feet snake, but i just dont want to be endangered if i ever handle it when im alone ( at about 9'... ).