| T O P I C R E V I E W |
| Derek FRS |
Posted - 30/06/2013 : 03:15:10
Hi every 1 i was round at a friends house tonight and he has a boa which is arround 8ft just now and this got me thinking of getting 1 as she is such a friendly giant are they all reasonably friendly or can som be a bit bitey and nippy i have never owned a snake that will grow to around 10ft as ive only ever owned corns and royals the housing of a large snake wont be a problem as if i do get 1 i have a lovely open area under my stairs that i could incorporate into a viv/tank so if any1 could help out with a few do's and dont's and other differences between boa's and other snakes please comment and help me out a bit :)
Thanks :) |
| 3 L A T E S T R E P L I E S (Newest First) |
| Kelfezond |
Posted - 30/06/2013 : 05:21:04
Glad to see this question to be honest as I always see Boa Constrictors praised as being the perfect snake and I find it simply isn't true, I've found that they're much harder to work with than you expect I've seen plenty that are still aggressive when adults, I've had torn ligaments from bites and I was genuinely put off of handling a boa purely because of it's difficulty.
That's the bad side, the good side is just as rewarding with my big girl (who'se 9ft now! :D) she's tagged me once through confusion and the rest of the time has been good as gold she's the perfect big snake and probably my personal favorite, I've bred her twice and I do really enjoy tending to the offspring (34 babies both times) but they seem to have the same split of boa personality as the adults, some are perfect and never make any problem - others are outright aggressive for apparently no reason. While they can be tamed down the truth of the matter is that some are much more difficult to tame, and while it's easy to say "handle them daily and they'll tame out" it's much harder to do after all the bites, the blood and the stains on the carpet and clothing - some days you wake up and you just can't be bothered with the fuss! I've been working at a reptile store for the last month and I actually use a snake hook to deal with a little 5ft hogg island boa purely because I can't be bothered with it first thing in the morning, it's a moody beast!
If you're not confident in your abilities with larger snakes my advice to you would be to choose a well established handle-able boa, don't just pick one up from a breeder or a shop and because you handled it successfully once assume it's going to be okay - I have one at the moment who is around 4 months old - has been handled every single day of his life yet always makes it difficult with strikes and hissing, he's called 26 (I'm original) and he definitely takes after his father for aggression: but there have been some rare days I've been doing the cleaning and I've wondered where he was only to realise I cleaned his tub out and handled him fine 3 snakes ago - the last thing you want is to pick a snake like him up handle it once and then take it home to get a month's worth of strikes to the face. So again if you're nervous at all best bet is to buy from somebody you can trust, preferably with a large selection who'se got hands on experience with all the boas and can recommend a good one. (Like me -cough cough-)
If you stay away from the nippy ones they're a pleasure! |
| jonnyc1988 |
Posted - 30/06/2013 : 05:02:52
Younger boas can either be puppy-dog tame or quite nippy. The nippy ones can be tamed with regular handling though. You will definately want to do this. Adult boas that havent been tamed are a handful (see kelfs videos of pilkington). A tag from an adult boa will sting and leave some little holes, but a bite (snake holding on) could result in losing a nice chunk of flesh!!
Boas generally do become very tame, but should still be treat with caution and respect. Especially whilst feeding or if the snake is in shed (this seems to be how most bites occur).
In terms of housing, an adult boa will need a 4ft viv as an absolute minimum. 5-6ft is more acceptable though. Younger boas will need some climbing space and branches, but generally kick this habit when they get big and fat and lazy.
Hope this helps. |
| Foremand |
Posted - 30/06/2013 : 03:41:31
You gotta be careful with the larger ones as my boa being 7ish foot. If he gets in a mood he could easily out power me. Not that I've had this. So going bigger will mean alot stronger. Females tend to be larger than makes too same as royals. So a 10 foot boa weighing around 5 kg won't be easy. Housing is the main issue but seems you have that covered. Some can be hissy but it's the same as any snake. My boa luckily has been good as gold. But I wouldn't like to be on the wrong end of him. His jaws have a tremendous opening size.
I wouldn't pull you away from the idea. As I love my boa. The only down side I have really is with kids. Especially young ones. Everyone fears a huge snake because of what they could do. But other than that. If your willing to take on a larger commitment. A larger house for it. Little more costly than small tanks. Bigger food in the freezer lol then I'd say go for it. |
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