boa vs. ball python...

if you were new to owning good-sized snakes, which one would you start out with and why (list like 5-10 GOOD reasons)???


i am considering getting a ball, but some of the boas seem to intrigue me as well; however, i don't want a snake that grows more than 6 feet long!!!


thanks...

I'd own a Ball Python because there is an abundance of good information on them every where from internet sites to books to individuals who have kept them at some point or other.

(list like 5-10 GOOD reasons)

Sorry, I don't do requests.

Reasons for getting a snake as a pet have to be your own. No one should sway you one way or another because of why THEY want a certain type of snake. Do your homework, look around, and define what parameters you want to determine what YOU want in a snake. Seeing as this will be your first I'd stick with something relatively easy to keep with a lot of good information. Ball Pythons fit the bill very well.

I have both ball pythons and two species of boas, and while I tend to enjoy the boas more, I am glad that I started out with ball pythons. My first ball python taught me a lot. She had the typical "ball python" feeding pickiness, and she came to me with ticks and awful sheds. I got to work through all of those "common" problems on a hardy snake who, when I treated correctly, healed and progressed. Most people at some point will have a snake who sheds rough, has a parasite of some sort, and won't feed or is very picky about it's feeding habits. While some problems are better faced once more experienced, some problems are good to encounter up front - like riding a bike. I had all sorts of trouble figuring out how to increase humidity without turning the cage into a soggy mess. Eventually I got it fine tuned, but I would NOT want to learn that lesson on a rainbow boa, or even a columbian.

I would say to start out with ball pythons because:
1) They don't tend to get larger than your maximum length (although it does happen) - 6 feet, however do get large enough to be impressive, although if you start with a small baby it could take a little longer to get there.
2) They tend to be more predictable when handling, and make a more comfortable pet.
3) They are very hardy and don't get sick easily, although they do have habitat requirements similar to most boas so they are good snakes to learn on.
4) They are all very beautiful - I've never seen an ugly ball python, and have seen a bunch of "ugly" boas (although beauty is in the eye of the beholder).
5) Many of the smaller boas (adult size less than 6 feet) have different requirements, which may be easier to care for, but will allow for less learning.

How is that for good reasons? I love my ball pythons, and my boas. I can't imagine life without either of them, but if I had started with a boa I would probably have had a lot more serious trips to the vet instead of the occasional stuck eye cap. I think I would have had more respiratory infections and dangerous weight loss and been bitten a heck of a lot more. I've been bitten by a ball python once - I have three of them and have had ball pythons for three times as long as I have had boas. I have been bitten by boas three times in one third the time, with the same number of animals.

When it comes down to it it's up to you and what you really want. Either way the best of luck to you. I would recommend getting a slightly larger ball python, not a tiny baby, and maybe one that's already taking prekilled or frozen thawed. But whichever you choose - welcome to the world of boids!

I'd go with the boa. A Hogg island one. They're beautiful, tame, I like the feel of boas better than pythons, better eaters, and in my opinion just more interesting. I'm not much a fan of ball pythons though.

i would go with boas because i think they are better. i have a ball python but i tend to like my boas better

I agree w/ creepycrawly, i also started off with a ball. when i got him he was eating, very active, small, an all around good snake for a beginner. but that all soon changed he stopped eating stoped moving around, almost dormant and this is enough to freak out a new snake owner. i was told that sometimes they dont eat for months and months on end, for no good reason. he went 8 1/2 months before eating again. that was 3 years ago, i still have him today he is healthy and still eats when he wants. he has only grown a matter of 4 inches that whole time! If you dont want a ball, go with a male red tail, with normal feeding they will only get 6-8 feet long and are very easy to care for.

I have both boas and ball pythons. No special preference except for specific animals. Balls can sometimes drive you nuts as far as eating goes. In my opinion CB boas tend to be more "friendly" and of predictable behavior.

Regards.

I have a pair of Brazilian Rainbow Boas and a Ball Python, in addition to 4 colubrids. The Python was inherited from a friend that had to get rid of it.

Anyway... I got 1 BRB first, and fell in love with it. The key thing I've found to successfully keeping BRB's healthy is to use cypress mulch in a nearly sealed (plus some ventilation) enclosure. Humidity is much easier to manage then. BRB's are naturally tolerant of moist conditions and do not develop the blister disease that other boas can. To maintain humidity, either mist periodically (every few days at least, depending on humidity of the room) or put a small fountain in the tank(much easier). Be careful choosing a fountain. It should be heavy enough to at least prevent it being knocked over, but small enough that you don't create a rain cloud in the tank. You also want to make sure the snake cannot get stuck in it. I did have some problems with shedding while this BRB was still young, but using cypress mulch and a nearly sealed tank is all that is needed to solve the problem. Other "moisture retaining" substrates that I tried rotted quickly and just didn't work as well.

I took in the Ball Python next(about a year later), and just recently (few months ago) bought a male BRB for my now full grown female.
My female BRB is generally very tame and mellow. She can be a little nervous while being picked up, but is otherwise fine. She also frequently gets aggressive at feeding time, but ONLY at feeding time. I feed in a separate container because of the cypress (ingestion worries), so moving her when she smells the food is sometimes tough. She usually just gets a little jumpy and holds on to my arm tight as I move her to her food. She once bit me right after feeding time, when I was returning her to her cage. She immediately let go, and it didn't even hurt really. It was just a bunch of tiny pinpricks on my finger, which quickly healed. Another time she made aggressive strikes/lunges at me when taking her out to eat. I picked her up with a curtain rod instead, and she was fine once she was out of her cage. The Ball has tried to bite me once, but I reacted quickly enough to prevent it. He also gets jumpy sometimes at feeding time. A lot of snakes do when they smell food.

I definately like the Rainbow Boas more than the Ball Python I have. The Python refused to eat for several months after I got it even though it ate fine in the same tank for a year and a half when my friend had it. I have never had feeding problems with my Boa, even when she had a full shed skin stuck on her (humidity problems early on mentioned earlier).

My second BRB is still very young. He actually had a pretty bad case of mites about a month or 2 ago, but I quickly treated him with reptile relief. I also treated all tanks in the room with provent-a-mite. The provent-a-mite was both to prevent the spread to other tanks and to kill any remaining mites in the male BRB's tank. The combination worked like a charm and I haven't seen a mite since. He quickly recovered and is in good health. BRB's seem to be pretty hardy, and in my opinion, are among the prettiest of all snakes. A BRB in direct sunlight or quality artificial light will show shades of purple, blue, and green from the prism effect of their scales. I've attached a year old photo of my female BRB that shows this prism effect very well.