Advice on first boa

Originally Posted by AbsoluteApril

Just to give you a size reference - here's my adult BRB (this is an old photo! lol, I sold him in '05) they retain bright vivid colors as adults, they are very slender:


And an adult classic looking (high speckled) hog isle boa, photo from '09, he's 8yrs old in this photo, I still have him and he hasn't gotten much bigger:


both species tend to be nippy as young, both hog isles I have hissed a lot. Good luck!

Those are both beautiful!
I figured out a solution......I need to get 3 different types of boa =)

Originally Posted by big b

Those are both beautiful!
I figured out a solution......I need to get 3 different types of boa =)

LOL yeah that's what I thought a few years ago, and then I learned about Brazilian Rainbow Boas, Dumeril's Boas, Dominican Red Mountain Boas, Savu Pythons...

Don't discount rainbows. Only the oldest, best fed females get up to seven feet -- usually they top out at six. Males stay even smaller at five feet. They also stay very slender, which means there is a limit to how much force they can apply. They're a great pet species. 'Course, I'm a bit biased. ;-)

Originally Posted by AbsoluteApril

And an adult classic looking (high speckled) hog isle boa, photo from '09, he's 8yrs old in this photo, I still have him and he hasn't gotten much bigger:


both species tend to be nippy as young, both hog isles I have hissed a lot. Good luck!

Oh man this is awesome. Sorry to hijack the thread but I have to ask - have the hog isles been nice as adults? Have they bitten?

Rainbows were high on my list when I was researching snakes last year, but then I ran across the Dominican red mountain boas. Lower humidity requirements, max out around the same size, but simply never strike or bite. Only defensive behavior is to musk.
We currently have 2 pairs of those, a pair of mixed red tail boas, a carpet python, everglades rat snake, Okeetee corn snake, and just picked up a baby diamondback water snake at repticon yesterday. I got lucky with the carpet python, even as a baby it's never been defensive or troublesome (aside from holding out for several weeks before eating, then had to have a live hopper mouse, but now takes live or f/t.)
The only one of the lot that's bitten me was the corn snake, because I had handled a mouse immediately before picking up the (hungry, about to be fed) snake.
Ya, snakes are addictive...

Just to correct one thing, Caulker Cays are a true dwarf. They are an insular boa from off of the coast of Belize which is in CA. They are among the 3-4 smallest localities. I had 1.2 and at 3.5 yrs old, one of the females was just over 3'. I wouldn't recommend them as a pet, though. They are defensive when younger but more importantly, true Caulkers are still rare and need to be in the hands of an experienced breeder.

Nicaraguans, Hog Islands, and any other mainland boa with the exception of the Tarahumara's are not dwarf boas. There are only a handful of those locales, but Caulkers most certainly qualify as one.

BTW, That's an awesome Hog, April!

Here is my two cents worth .. I have a Hogg .. nice looking and good snake.. hisses 50% of time when first take out and then very tractable after perhaps a minute. I have a pair of Tarahumara which are now 2 years old and the female hisses more than male while in tub .. once out both are very easy to handle (Mike Beach is the man to go to for these). I do have BCI boas but range in size .. all are easy to deal with but have different personalities. Of the ones discussed here ... my recommendation would be a Dumerils .. I have a pair and both are amazing to deal with and very easy to handle ... both are 6 feet and have never hissed, struck, or been difficult to deal with ... they are my go to snake if someone wants to hold a bigger snake.

Hope this helps a little --- Ace/Alan

I have often heard that Hog Island Boas hiss a lot and may be nippy when young. I do not doubt this and do not doubt that other keeps have experienced that. None of my Hog Island Boas have ever hissed once or attempted to strike me. I got them as very young new borns in 2008 and raised them to adults To this day they remain very calm. My pair came from many generations of established, captive bred lines and the parents were very docile. I think that has a lot to do with inherited docile behavior. Bill

Originally Posted by big b

I figured out a solution......I need to get 3 different types of boa =)

There you go! haha
The BRB and Hog I posted photos of are both males, males will usually stay smaller.

Originally Posted by trainedmermaid

Sorry to hijack the thread but I have to ask - have the hog isles been nice as adults? Have they bitten?

Neither of my pair hisses anymore but the female has an insane feeding response and has struck at me, she will puff herself up sometimes as well in threat display. I'm rather cautious and do my best to not get bit by any of my snakes, the only ones that seem to get me anymore are the BPs by surprise and the Amazon Tree Boas simply cause that's what they do.


Thanks James!

I'm surprised to see durms mentioned so often, I recall the ones I used to see at Prehistoric Pets back in the late 90s being massive, thick 8' monsters. But that could have been because of how they were being kept/fed.

edit to add - I have also seen some hog isles in the 6' range as well.