boa cage size help

Okay, I know we all have our own opinions on what is the best cage size for an adult boa. I have 1.1 colombian bci's. Male is 10 months old, approx. 3 1/2 feet long. Female is 11 months old, approx. 4-4 1/2 feet long. Now... the question of the day... I am getting ready to start a cage project with my dad for them. I would like to build two cages, one for each of them that will suffice for them when they get to be adult size, as I would prefer not to rebuild, rebuild, rebuild. (3 small children and a deployed husband keep me super busy too) Question number 1: What size would be the best, as my house is not HUGE and I do not have a separate room simply for my snakes as of yet, so I have to consider spatial concerns, but address the proper amount of space for the boas that they will need as adults. Question number 2: If they are put in a cage that size from the 55 gal breeder cages, will they be super stressed from the amount of space available to them? My husband and I have discussed this point until we are blue in the face and want to ensure that they have adequate climbing room and stretching room. I have read that a good measure is 3/4 foot of cage to every foot of snake, and with the size of snake that I have as a female now, I am looking at a rather large cage for an adult... Any advice will be appreciated.
Thanks-
Melanie Brown

I am also in the process of getting an enclosure for my 6 foot BCI. He is in a 3x2x2 and does ok but I can tell it is definitely crowded. I am planning to get a 5x2x2. I wouldn't worry about climbing room too much as they do well with just a simple enclosure. The more stuff u put in the enclosure, the more you would have to clean. Something like a 5x2x2 would be quite adequate for each of ur boas. Boas are not like Ball Pythons and do not get stressed with space. I have my 1 foot BCI in a 50 gallon and it's doing fine.

Good luck.

adequate cage sizing can start at 4 x 2 x 2 - 6 x 2 x 2 m and the height ccan go from 12 inches + but most people like the 24 inch cages.
as far as the stress level... just make sure they have hides on both sides and maybe a simple branch or pvc or fake plant... simple stuff but make sure they have good hiding spots and that should eleiviate any stress problems

Carlos- In your post, you mentioned that your BCI is 6 ft, is it an adult or will it continue to get much larger? I have been reading a page which I will include a link to, in trying to figure out just how large my baby girl will get, and looking at the size charts, she is already around twice the size she should be. Scary thing is, I know her age... If I didn't, I would wonder about it, but I bought her as a month old baby. According to this, they will slow down quite a bit at the 3-4 year mark, but won't reach a max until around 16 yrs of age as a female.

"Growth rates over time are a great deal messier than the length-weight relationship, since growth is affected strongly by temperature, amount of food, sex of the boa constrictor, and probably the snake's area of origin. Figures 3 and 4 show age isoclines based on seven females and four males whose age is either known or can be estimated closely. The graphs show that the highest growth rates occur in the first three or four years of life. After this, males appear to approach a maximum of about 75 inches (191 centimeters) and eleven pounds (five kilograms). Females continue to grow to much larger sizes, and their data points indicate that a maximum has not been reached by sixteen years of age. The data include a ten-year-old imperator female that measures around six feet (two meters), weighs about nine pounds (four kilograms), and comes from Mexico, an area where individuals may attain a smaller maximum size than do the constrictor's of South America" (http://home.att.net/~crinaustin/BoaH...tm#Figure3And4)

So, with that mentioned, I am wondering if a 5 ft enclosure would truly suffice for her. I agree that my male should be fine in an enclosure of that size as looking at a growth chart and pitting him against it, he is right in the "normal" range and looking to be in line with the 6-7 foot range as an adult unless he really shoots up in the next couple of years. Thanks for the advice...
Melanie Brown

i keep boas up to six feet in a 4 x 2 x 2 if you are worried go for the 5 x 2 x 2 a 6 x 2 x 2 is generally the size for a ten footer which common bci normally dont even come close to that nut i have heard some stores about 9 and ten footers (just never seen one that large), biggest bci i have seen was a full eight footer maybe a few inches over... but common bci that big do not come around that often. generally once they hit the six and seven mark their growth slows WAY down

That is such a relief to hear!!!! I have never raised bci's before, so when I heard that, I was trippin! With reading that article about bci's and it talking about their growth pattern, I was really scared. I was freaked out thinking I am going to have a 12 foot snake to handle by myself if my husband finds a job after the military that requires him to be away from home. That was a scary prospect. So it is good to hear that once she hits a certain point, she will slow way down, even if it is prior to the age that she technically "should" slow down. I know this may sound funny to the breeders that have raised these snakes for a while, but keep in mind these guys are my first bci's, so it has been a learning experience. My husband has raised a couple of them with his dad, when he was a kid, but with all the action in Iraq, he has been gone since I got these guys, so I have been left here to learn the hard way, and look it all up on my own. I ask him ???'s but sometimes, he's not exactly available. So it is a great relief to have this as a sounding board for my questions. Thanx for the advice, Robin and Carlos, and we will definitely be looking at that as an appropriate size for the cages.
Thanks,
Melanie Brown

no problem.
good luck and if you have anymore questions do not hesitate to post or even email me and i will do my best to answer any questions you might have
good luck and have fun with your boas