How much....?

Okay folks, I have a conundrum, and I'm hoping that you all can help me out here.

One of my 18-year old students' has discovered that having snakes is a little bit expensive, especially since his fiance (also 18, also a senior in high school) is going to have a baby next month. So he needs to find a home for his Boa (sell it) so he can afford some sudden urgent expenditures. He doesn't have internet access. He will probably bring me the boa, and I'll take pictures of it, but thus far I haven't seen it.

The biggest part of my conundrum is that I can't even tell him how much he is likely to get if he sells it. So I thought I would ask you-all.

He says it's about 3 feet, doesn't know the age, says it's a Columbian Red-Tail Boa x Hogg Island.

I don't know the slightest thing about boas, what makes them cool, what makes them not so cool... what they are worth, etc. But I would like to help this student out as much as I can.

Oh, and he thinks it's male.

Check and see if there are any comparable snakes for sale here or on ks. You should be able to find something somewhere that is similar. Or see who is producing, or who produced it to begin with, and contact them.

I don't know what it would be worth either but, I hope that helps

Wes Pollock

At around 3 feet a columbian could go for about 150.00 to 200.00and a hogg island could go for about 250.00 +,but I have no clue on what a cross would bring,not as much I would guess.It also depends on the quality and look of the snake.

I'm going to try to get a picture. I've tried to look up stuff on KS and here, but I'm "Boa-Challenged" in that I don't know the slightest thing about Boas. I have a Rosy Boa, and I know a bit about them, but I also know that big ol red tailed boas are as similar to them as a ringneck snake is to an eastern kingsnake. I've seen Hoggs for 650/pair, and Red Tailed boas. at all kinds of prices. I just want to help out my student!

Thanks again for all the input, I'll get a picture up so hopefully we can see.

I understand where he's at; and applaud that he is willing to sell his beloved pet to help face his responsibilities. Could you instead perhaps find him some work, even part time, to help him through the urgent expenditures? Once he graduates I hope for his sake that he will continue his schooling part time but I am sure he will have to work to support his baby. A little effort might let him keep his pet; in the frazzled days after childbirth when he will no doubt be both working and up in the middle of the night to help with the baby, a few minutes gazing on his boa might bring him a lot of peace of mind.

Hey Wes, you're mayor of Hell and as I understand fairly (in)famous around here. Here is a young man willing to put up his boa for sale, I think such dedication to his new family is commendable. How about you organize a fund for this guy and see if our webmaster would hold the money, I'll send a few dollars and if we all do, he can keep his beautiful boa and still get things for the wee one.....How about it?

Lucille thanks for the suggestions. The biggest problem is that Buckeye is a rural town, with seasonal cotton-picking (no pun) work, and not much else. Half the buildings in town are closed because there just isn't enough commerce in this town. My stepdaughter tried to get some work here, but the only job she got was writing stories for the local paper, for which they paid her (I think) a grand total of $28 for three or four articles. Jobs are not easy to come by. The average student here thinks that teachers are rich, and compared to the standard of living that a lot of our students have, we indeed are paid a small fortune. I believe his extreme money problems have eased up, as he stopped asking me what responses I was getting and never did give me the photo of the boa so I could post it. I did offer to buy back a snake I sold to him (a blotched kingsnake male, since its father died I have no more males and actually quite desperately want the snake back), but he did not want to sell his kingsnake. He has a Ball Python and the kingsnake, both of which I sold to him before he found out he was going to be a father, and any number of wild caught snakes. He loves herps and might someday make a very good member of our society. I think he'll make it through. He's come a long way in the year I've known him, and it was nice to see his beaming face when he held up the paperwork to demonstrate that he IS going to graduate on time.

Anyway, if he contacts me after graduation with the boa in question, I've told him I'd take it from him, do my best to sell it, keep the shipping expenses, and give him any money I make for it, even FEEDING it until it finds a new home, but he really doesn't wish to part with his friend that badly. I don't blame him.