Gorgeous boa, what a little cutie! =) I've really been developing a passion for these guys over the past few weeks, and that little girl is just beautiful. Whats the locality? Hehe, I believe I'll be making a similar topic in here soon. I'm no longer just a lizard guy anymore Belletair!
Thanks for the comments. Hmm... I'm honestly not sure, as the guy a bought him off of (at an expo) didn't seem to have any idea. Wish I knew though. :/ You make me happy with wanting to branch out into the snake world. And honestly, RTB's are one of the easiest snakes out there to keep. Sure, they get a little big... but really, they're just an awesome snake. And a good choice, if you go that way. Now all I need to do is get into the lizard world. ^_^
I actually have a boa now =) LOL, I picked up a male Hypo Hog a couple of weeks ago and he's AWESOME! I have to admit, I've really been missing out by not keeping snakes for this long. I've been trying to decide on what species will be next on the list! Probably another boa of sorts to be honest, they're just too cool...and the guy is a total sweetheart with looks to boot, but I'll be throwing a topic together soon enough here once I get some time and snap some photos, I've only got several on my phone as of now =P One of my buddies picked up a nice hypo colombian that same day with me and just got a JCP at the Cleveland show today; and I got another bud hooked on getting a hoggie himself just last week. It's like a disease, I almost feel like I betrayed the lizards at the show today because all I was interesting in looking at was the snakes! haha But regardless of what it is, that boa is a beauty =) I love that color and how much contrast is in her tail there. I'm not going to lie, I'm pretty jealous of the size you have there too. The one I picked up is a little on the older end at about 3.5', and it would have been nice to watch him grow up a bit but I just couldn't resist. Anyway, good luck with her! Shes certainly a keeper... and if your going into lizards I would highly recommend taking a look at the Rhacodactylus geckos, they're my favs with bearded dragons being on top if your looking for a pet with dog-like personality
im still debating on wether or not to get one since they get so big but still amazing snakes. very pretty baby you have there
Shanna, I was a little iffy at first too but there are many out there that maintain a more manageable size for the most part...and you you can up your chances further by sticking with a male and feeding at proper intervals. It's my understanding that a lot of the BCI stay on the smaller end like hog islands, caulker cays, and the Nicaraguans stay smaller too. It probably wouldn't be too tricky to find one that will max out at the 4-5ft range =)
lol, well my fiance will have you to blame when i bring home a new baby to the reptile collection XD im not sure whats the largest size i can manage since the biggest snake i own is around 3ft and still has some growing to do so maybe i could handle a full sized boa. how is their personality on average? are they nippy, cuddly, or prefer to explore?
Awesome to hear about your new boa, JEFFREH. I thought you meant you hadn't gotten one yet, not that you hadn't gotten a topic up yet. Mah bad. XD I'll check into the Rhacodactylus gecko, but man... I've been wanting a bearded dragon or leopard gecko for so long it's not even funny. I just don't think I'd be able to keep a good food supply on hand, as the nearest place that sells crickets is a good hour away. Are there any other ways of feeding a bearded or leo besides live crickets, or is it possible to keep a supply of crickets alive for a good solid month (we don't get down to the shop but once a month or so)? Other than that... only thing that worries me is UV lighting (for a beardie), because I use it little. All my babies are nocturnal... not to mention snakes... and don't need it. Shanna, Red tails are one of the tamest snakes out there (if that's the one you've been looking into). I've got a 7 foot male who is just a doll to handle, gives even the nicest balls a run for their money. And really, if they're well cared for... that tends to be how they turn out. Great, friendly snakes. And not that big, imo. I suppose if all you've ever owned was a ball python or corn snake, yeah. It will be a fairly large size difference. But they're so kind and easy to handle that I don't notice it. Now, if you're thinking about a green anaconda, burm or retic (both pythons, I know)... yeah, that's a big snake. XD So I guess you'd say they're cuddly with a bit of an explorer attitude in them. They tend to check you out and move around your body when holding them, but not in the way a corn does (i.e., do everything in it's power to check out everything in the room... and never hold still. lol, <3 corns). Now that baby girl in the pic is fairly nippy, but then again... she's young. Born in May of '09, and pretty cage shy. She's fine once you get her out of the cage, no different than my tame adult. I guess you'd classify her as "cage nippy", but she's quickly growing out of it. Anyway, I agree. Boas are freaking addicting. So much so that I'm debating whether or not to go pick up another RTB or two from the guy I got this girl from (just gotta make sure I've got the room. which you wanna plan for btw... these guys need at least a 4' X 2' X 2' cage as adults, and bigger is better). So I very much agree with them being addicting. RTBs especially, which are mah favorite snake out there. They're not too big (not that there is such a thing, as long as one has room), and not too small. That's just personal taste though. ^_^ Anyway, I'm rambling. Sorry, I tend to do that...
Feeder insects aren't too hard to come by, you order anything online for WAY cheaper than pet stores sell even after shipping. I can get 1000 crickets for about $16 shipped, and you can can order in almost any quantity and whenever your running low. Honestly though, crickets are really quite annoying, and if your really thinking about a beardie I would consider getting ahold of some feeder roaches soon and get a colony going over the next few months. You can literally have an endless supply of feeders at your fingertips with those guys =) plus, unlike crickets, they don't smell, require almost no effort to care for, and they dont chirp or jump! Good feeder roaches include blaptica dubia, discoid roaches, and turkistan roaches (lateralis). They dont fly, climb, or smell and they are all great feeders and have a greater nutritional value than crickets. I might actually have excess due to winter cooldown for my herps this spring, so I'll let you know if I have any available by PM. The lateralis are really cheap to get ahold of now, typically only about 10 cents a piece, and the dubia are usually about $30 shipped per hundred mixed...they're initial investment is pricey but you may never need to buy another feeder again once you get them. Other feeder options include silkworms which are extremely nutritious and healthy feeders, but they are very expensive. If cost isn't an issue, order silkworms and hornworms for the little guy. Superworms make a good treat or occasional feed for adult beardies and mealworms are a no-no for them. BUT, leopard geckos can take mealworms as a staple and they are probably the cheapest feeder out there and the easiest to breed. UV isn't a major problem, I use the Mega-Ray MVB (SB) from http://reptileuv.com , they have the best bulbs on the market and I just replace it once a year due to UV decay. About $50 a year to replace (although tests show they still give good UVB output for up to almost 2yrs), but thats both my basking bulb and UV producer and it's literally 10x better than most florescents that need replaced every 6months anyway. Anyway, both leos and beardies are great. Beardies are certainly a little more work, and young ones IMO aren't the best beginner lizard, but they are very well worth it. You going to end up spending a lot more time and money on a beardie due to their husbandry and cage needs, salad every morning, and if its a baby the possibility of feeding almost a hundred insects every day...whereas leos eat only a fraction of that amount daily and simply need spot cleaning and water changes as their primary care regimen. Either way...after owning a snake now I can safely say that ANY lizard is a lot more work that a snake =P Snakes are certainly the lazy mans reptile lol Sorry for the length of that sucker...thats just a nutshell summary for ya. I ramble a lot too Belletair haha As for the Boa shanna, I'm seeing exactly what belletair stated with mine. Granted, I only have a 2.5 week experience under my belt, but on a scale of 1-10 I would give docility a solid 9.5+. Mines a little older and used to people so he's a doll both in and out of the cage, and I've heard that almost any boa can tame down very nicely with regular interaction. I've handled some colubrids and ball pythons and IMO, boas seems to have the best of both when it comes to handling. Balls kind of just sit there, and the others seem to always be on the move. I've got my out boa now and he'll explore and move around a little, but when it comes time to relax he'll find a nice warm cozy spot on me and sit there for hours if I'm watching TV or chilling on the computer. Couldn't ask for a better pet. And the BCI's (other than the colombians) generally stay under 6ft in length and maintain a little more slender look, I think pure hogs are usually only about 4.5-6ft, and nicaraguans are generally only about 4-5ft adult size...males being smaller than females and there are always exceptions of course =)
Thanks for all the info. I had no idea you could order crickets. They come live? I found this site here: http://www.southerncricket.com/supplies.html Are they a decent place? Can't tell for sure if those are live ones... but man, that's insanely cheaper than going through ANY pet store. EDIT: they are live, I just didn't catch it at first. XD Also, really... I'm leaning towards a leo for a beginner lizard. As much as I want a beardie, I dunno... they get a bit big. Which isn't so much a problem (loooove big reptiles) but space is fairly limited atm. So I'm thinking a leo for starters, and if it's a success (the info you've given so far helps greatly) then maybe I'll move onto a bearded dragon. I know whether or not a leo needs UV seems to be debated. What's your opinion on it? I've heard some say all lizards do, and some say they don't because of being nocturnal. :/ And I concur, snakes are the easier of the two to keep. All I've had were a couple of green anoles, and they weren't the easiest pet ever (they were my first reptiles when I was nine or ten, though. so it could be just that I had absolutely no experience). Again, thanks for the help. And congrats again on getting your first boa. I'd bet real money you'll be going back for another soon-ish. ^_^ Please post pics whenever you can. I'd love to see him.
ive never used uv light on any ov my leos besides my rescue and they are all doing fine. as long as you dust with D3 you dont need any lighting at all assuming your heating with a UTH and about red tails, what do they eat as adults? and what is their care like? and cage size? does it need to be tall or long? needless to say you guys have talked me into becomming a boa owner sometime soon. cant wait to see the look on the fiance's face when i tell him lol he has you guys to blame
Ah, yeah I normally heat with UTH's. They work well. ^_^ My 7 foot male RTB iss on XXXL rats. They're the ones on the bottom of this page: http://www.rodentpro.com/catalog.asp?prod=...bel=frozen_rats Not those will easily be all he needs for the rest of his life, and really... that's all you'll need for any adult RTB, maybe even go down a size depending on the size of the boa (the XXXL's are a little bit too big right now, but I didn't know that when I bought them; they're seriously large monster rats). For care... you want the temps in the mid 80s with a basking spot of around 92 degrees. I highly recommend a UTH. Just stay away from zoo meds if you can, as I have many of those and I'm realizing they are just... too hot (the one on the new boa's cage heats up to around 126, which is far too hot). The t-rex cobra mats are great though, as they only heat up to 100 and stay there, and you can dissipate the heat a bit when you put bedding down (I've got a towel in the girl's cage as you can notice, it helps cool it down as I lack a thermostat). I've got a 11" X 11" coming in the mail. They're good stuff, best out there I've seen. But in general, mid 80s with a warm spot of 90-93 is fine. The humidity isn't that big of a deal with these guys. I'm at 35-40%, some say that's low. I don't think so, they shed perfectly and they're in perfect health. Hmm, what else. If you have a corn snake, really the care isn't all that different. They (RTB's) do require a misting about once a day from my experience when in shedding phase. Just don't drench the cage, as I found out that can give them respiratory infections. A good size water bowl is also recommended, as boa's tend to like a soak once in a while. As for a cage, length is far more important than height. The male is in a 5 foot long by 3 feet tall by 2 feet deep cage, and that'll be fine for him for the rest of his life. You can buy or build cages, whichever is easier for you. Custom built cages tend to be expensive, so I'd recommend going through animal plastics, NPI or reptile basics if you decide to buy one. They're not terribly expensive, and are high quality cages. Hope that helps, and sorry if it's confusing (if it is, just say so and I'll explain better XD). Kinda in rush mode atm as I'm heading out.
thanks for all the info. i think i can find the space for an enclosure that big at the new house. ill just turn the sitting room into the big tank room, i already plan on having 2 40gals in there anyways. i always use zoomed UTHs but i also have them hooked up to dimmers so i can control the temps since all of my guys need 90F. do i need any lighting or will the uth work for everything? and i know how big jumbo rats are. one of my pet rats is gigantic. he is much bigger than my other boys
Yeah, space is one of the things you gotta make sure of having. They're not the biggest snake ever, but they're certainly not the smallest. XD Ah, dimmers are good for UTHs as long as you've got a good one. And as to lighting... well, at the moment I've got lighting on all my snake cages as I'm up in Michigan and it's winter so it's... cold. Not to mention our house is usually on the cold side (64 degrees is pretty normal). So for me, I kind of need to use heat lamps (you don't need UV for these guys) just to keep the temps up. During summer however, I usually shut off all the bulbs just because they're not needed and heat the cages up waaaaaaay too much. So I guess it really depends on where you live and the temp of outside/your home. But I do know that a UTH is the absolute best source of heat for a boa. They truly love them. ^_^ So in the end, I'd suggest starting out with a UTH and seeing how it goes from there. Yeah, rats get huge. Thankfully rodent pro sells those big guys, as I'd hate to move on to rabbits. They're just so much more expensive.
thanks. now i need to figure out a way to tell the fiance i want one. it may be a few years because we are getting a dog soon and that will cost alot and take up alot of time at first
No prob, glad to help in any little way I can. Yeah, we had a dog once. It's amazing how much more work a dog is than herps. A good dog is worth it though. ^_^
