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Last updated : 11/03/2007

This page is indexed on our home page under Aspect: 8. Links - Species Specific and the Section: Snakes: Boas

Introduction

This page contains a selection of the best links found on the reptile species: Boa Constrictor. The navigation table on the top left will take you directly to the defined topics, such as  Natural Habitat, Captive care, Breeders, Pictures, More information, Other information and Taxonomy.

Please feel free to advise any incorrect allocations or descriptions and to request any additional links to your favorite website on this subject.

A brief snippet about Boa Constrictor

A brief introduction to the species will be inserted here ..... coming soon! In the interim we have a number of links on the species, listed on this page.

The following (assuming you have intelligently made the decision to purchase a Boa constrictor) are basic guidelines for proper care and maintenance of your new pet. Red Tailed Boas (or Boa constrictor constrictor, B. c. imperator, and a few others) range from Colombia, Mexico, Central America, and others. It should be noted that "Red Tailed Boa" is a trade name interchanged with just about all the ssp.

The following (assuming you have intelligently made the decision to purchase a Boa constrictor) are basic guidelines for proper care and maintenance of your new pet. Red Tailed Boas (or Boa constrictor constrictor, B. c. imperator, and a few others) range from Colombia, Mexico, Central America, and others. It should be noted that "Red Tailed Boa" is a trade name interchanged with just about all the ssp.

Enclosure: Hatchling boa constrictors can be housed in a 20-gallon aquarium, but they will soon out grow this enclosure. Usually only custom-built cages are the only suitable enclosures for adult specimens. Cages should at a minimum be 8 feet long by 2 to 3 feet wide by 4 feet tall. When constructing cages it is important to not use unfinished wood or other porous materials since these are difficult to clean and can harbor disease.

Distribution — The Boa Constrictor is found in parts of Peru, Bolivia, Brazil, Columbia, Venezuela, the Guyana's, Trinidad, Tobago and Central America. Habitat — Semi-arid to tropical rainforest, at both high and low elevations. Adult Size — Female Boa Constrictors can be expected to reach sizes of 305 cm to 375 cm (10' - 12'). Males stay a little bit smaller, generally around 244 cm (8'). Baby boas are between 36 cm and 56cm (14" - 22").

BOA BREEDING The first thing you will need to breed boas is a definite adult pair, males 18+ months and 4 feet, and females 3+ years. Both boas need to be in top condition, not fat or thin, but in peak condition. I don't breed my boas like many others do. I don't try and force a breeding season on my boas. Cooling may work some times but it can be very hit and miss. I believe that a female boa will come into "season" at any time of the year.

General Information about Breeder Animals In order to produce offspring, you need at least one female and one male specimen. We point this obvious fact out, because some proud boid keepers realized in their first attempt at breeding that they had unknowingly acquired two specimens of the same sex when they purchased their animals a few years ago.

The common boa (B. c. imperator), also referred to as the Central American or Columbian boa, is the most common and popular subspecies of boa in the captive market today. They range from central Mexico through Central America and into northern and central South America. Most of the boas imported into the country in the past and today are common boas, mainly originating from Columbia. The B. c. imperator is often mistaken for the red-tail boa (B. c. constrictor). Red-tails are generally heavier-bodied and larger than common boas, but the variation in pattern and coloration often means that there is confusion between the two subspecies.

Scientific name: Boa constrictor imperator Other common names: This is the boa subspecies most often encountered in captivity. There are in use a variety of different names all referring to this subspecies, including simply "boa constrictor." This form of boa may be referred to as the pet store boa constrictor, redtail boa, Colombian redtail boa, pet store redtail, and red-tailed boa constrictor.

Take a moment.... ...and ask yourself a couple of very important questions such as: do you really want a snake that will get to be 10 feet long, weigh over 50 pounds, urinate and defecate like a St. Bernard, should live more than 30 years and for whom you will have to kill mice, rats and, eventually, small rabbits? Many people think that it will be easy to find someone who will take it if they decide they don't want their Boa when it is 8 or 10 feet long.

The following boa care information is intended to be a general, down to earth approach to the things we need to know to properly maintain our boa constrictors. There are many, many other publications that tend to delve very deep in every aspect and attempt to cover every possible situation that may arise. Sometimes to the point of confusion. I will cover what has worked for me as well as other boa keepers. Also PLEASE note that this discussion covers Boa Constrictor Imperator, such as Colombian and Hogg Island Welcome to the Ultimate Red Tail Boa Care Guide. Boa Constrictors are unique and amazing animals. It is this fascination with them that has led to this care guide and my entire website. I hope that the information that you find here will help with you day to day husbandry of boa constrictors, and help you in providing excellent care for your boa constrictor.

Ultra Fine Boa Contrictors

CUTTING EDGE HERPETOLOGICAL INC. is Vincent Russo, Professional Breeder Specializing in Locality Specific Boa constrictors, Color Morph Ball Pythons, Locality Chondro Pythons & Hognose Snakes.

My name is Henry Piorun, I live in British Columbia Canada. I have been fascinated with reptiles all my life. Hunting garter snakes when I was a kid, driving my mother crazy with requests for baby alligators, boa constrictors or whatever the local pet shop had in stock. Well, things have changed, now I am an adult and I drive my wife crazy with requests for baby alligators, albino ball pythons.

We are proud to keep one of the most significant collections of purebred and rare subspecies of Boa constrictor worldwide We keep and breed only unsophisticated wildlife forms of Boa constrictor

Rio Bravo Reptiles breeds top quality boa constrictors including redtail, insular, island and dwarf boas. We also offer selected captive crotalids. You'll find information on these animals as well as care and 'how to' guides here!

A Breeder located in Milano, Italia, with some good picutes and back ground information on different Boa morphs.

In this page I will attemp to post as many locality boas I can possibly find. Most of the pictures are photos given to me from Boa Breeders from around the world. If anyone has a picture of a known locality of boa, kindly email me a picture in JPEG format and I will gladly post it with your name.

Keepers around the world associate VPI with pythons. Not many realize that we also work with boa constrictors. Here are some pictures of our collection of outstanding Central American boas and Colombian boas.

Boa Constrictors belong to the family Boidae, which includes 5 genera of boas, 3 genera of sand boas, 8 genera of pythons. Some of the Boa Constrictor species are less than 1 meter; others are the largest snakes in the world.

Being the serious boa enthusiast I am, I wanted to display the many different morphs of boa constrictor imperator in the marketplace. If you are at all confused about genetic terminology or morphology used in the text, feel free to click on the "Basic Genetics" link below. Well deserved credit will be given to the owners of those photos not belonging to Class Reptilia. Enjoy...

Section: Getting a Boa Constrictor As snakes go, the boa constrictor is considered primitive. They still retain anatomical features that reflect their lizard descendents. If you are thinking about getting a boa constrictor, here are a few things you need to know about this popular snake.

All the boa morphs defined with breeding history on each.

Lots of information about natural environment, care and health of BoaConstrictors.

A NEW SPECIES OF DWARF BOA FROM CUBA S. B. Hedges and O. Garrido [1999, J. Herpetology 33(3):436-441] describe Tropidophis spiritus, a new species from the province of Sancti Spíritus in central Cuba. This small, spotted, gracile species differs from all others in the genus by a combination of scalation, head shape, and color pattern. It is tentatively placed in the semicinctus group of gracile, boldly spotted species, but it does not appear to be closely related to any species in the genus.

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Last updated : 13-01-2008