hard time deciding

[confusious]

I'm serious in love with a variety of reptiles. And I want a snake for a pet really bad. I think that when I started researching different kinds of boas I became even more confused.

What I want is a boa that is colorful, relatively inexpensive to buy and care for, but most importantly I want a boa that is tame and easy going. I'm open to all sorts of recommendatios.

[Steve_M.]

I think a colombian would be a good choice you can get one with a nice red tail and pink highlights for around $100 and there easy to care for

[Panama_Red]

I love boas as much as everyone else on this site, and i'm guessing that you are going to get alot of boa recomendations, Why don't you buy a book on them, get some knowledge before you get a boa that will help you decide on what kind of boa is right for you.

[chris_peterman]

Were can I get some of those boas with the nice tails and pink Highlights for $100.00  ???


                                                      s32.gif

[Doug]

Hi,
I would consider buying on line from a reputable breeder, many of the snakes being sold as normals are proably going to have considerably more color than most commons, specially when they were from Jeff's breeding stock , I know of a sale that was from the Jeffs breeding stock they are really nice looking snakes. He'll ship to your door. mr C english ( another breeder of fine Boa's)
  http://www.redtailboas.com/colombian/index.shtml
  Youll pay 100 to 120 at the petsore for a common
these are gonna be gems. :D
  doug s31.gif
ps this male is only 100.00 plus shipping I want him if I had an extra cage
MALE BCIM515-08

http://www.redtailboas.com/colombian/pictures/bcim515_08_3.jpg

psps they be selling out pretty quick :P cwm8.gif

Here's a pic of  a Dubay pastel born jan23 2002 he's starting to shine give him another year.
cwm8.gifhttp://photo.redtailboa.org/albums/my-pets/samuel0929.sized.jpg
Breeder C. English

psps this is the parents of my baby see how much color they will get after they mature.
:Dhttp://photo.redtailboa.org/albums/my-pets/Sam_s_momndad_BreederClay_English.sized.jpg

[Larry]

As Doug mentioned, Clay English at www.redtailboas.com has some beautiful boas that were bred by Jeff. I recently ordered one of his females (I'll have her Tuesday or Wednesday) and, judging by the pictures, she is a beaut :D ! Most people on this site would recommend boas, but I also think Ball Pythons are a beautiful snake. They are very docile and require about the same conditions as boas, but on a smaller scale.

Good luck with whatever you decide.

[drthsideous]

I would not recommend a ball as good first snake, they are relatively tame and easy to care for, but they have a history of being picky eaters which can be really frustrating for a first time snake keeper. I would deffinately reccomend a columbian redtail boa from jeff, if you have made up your mind on boas. I only wish I had known about him when I purchased mine. My next will deff. be from him. I purchased my from Glade Herps i FLA. It's healthy and relatively inexpensive, but I had no idea what it looked like before I got it. Now I purchase all of my snakes from reputable breeders regardless of species. You know exactly what you are getting, and you can be very confident that it is healthy. Hope that helps.
jeff

[bangbang]

you know, i have heard a lot of people say that the balls are finicky eaters. and i have never actually experienced it. i have kept ball pythons for years and have never had a problem. maybe i am just lucky i guess. as long as the animal is cb and proper husbandry is adhered to. you shouldn't have any problems with them at all. i would recommend them as a good beginner snake over boas simply for the size difference.

[Larry]

Mine is a bit finicky...won't eat frozen at all. Also, she goes off feed typically from January to March or April. She is perfectly healthy. It is just a matter of understanding the individual. Even though she is finicky, I still would reccommend Balls for a first snake. Great dispositions, beautiful animals, and don't get very large.

I also keep corns and boas. Corns are probably the easiest first snakes. My first was a boa (BCI) and she was a gem.

[tatdaddy]

Something else you have to keep in mind when gettin a snake other that the price of the snake is also the price of the equipment you need to keep it health. Like if you were to get a baby boa you could get away with a 20 gal long for the first year, after that your snake will have out grown that tank. also you will need to get something to heat the cage with. And in most cases you will need to get thermostat to mak sure it doesn't get to hot or to cold for the snake. Then there is the temp gages so you know how hot it is on the cold side and hot side of the cage. Then you need to get a humidity gage to make sure your humidity isn't to low. Then you got to look at getting a water dish adn hide box's. So before you even get the snake you have spent anywhere from $120 to $ 200 and not to mention the cost of the snake. The info I have just given you is based on the bare minium to keeping a snake. What ever you decide make sure you learn every thing you can about the kind of snkae you are going to get before you get it. Good luck.

Joshua

[ophiophagus-hannah]

Hello Confusious! I would definitely recommend a Hogg Island for a first snake. They mostly don't get as big as the Columbians, but you'll have you're exceptions. They have very nice soft pastel colors and are very docile. Here is a pic of one of two I got from The Boaphile. Her name is Cher. I think Clay English has some nice Hoggs available that are a combined effort of Clay and Jeff. http://www.redtailboas.com/hogisland/index.shtml
They are well worth the price. Goodluck!

[Red]

Ok so I am not going to recamend any snake to you.. What I will do is give you a lil' back ground on some different types of snakes....
I think the very most important thing when buying a first snake is to know what you want... don't ask people what is the best snake.. Make a list of the thing's that would make a snake perfect for you... Here is an exaple...
I wanted a snake that would fit me perfect... so I made a list of all the traits that I was look'in for in a snake...
-docility, small encloser, easy to find(this is so I would be able to choose between alot of morph's and indiviguals.), lot's of published info, and just genraly interesting... easy cage set up and so forth...
So then I just started to put these snakes that I wanted into these catagorys to find out which one I would want.... Now with this one I infact did this one for my self and got a corn snake... it was probley the best purches of a snake I have made... Don't go and buy a snake because of what sombody else has said about a snake... I know people that have started with corn snakes and failed because they just didn't want it as much as some other snake... I aslo have seen people start with green tree pythons and have no problems.. As long as you inform your self about exactly what the snake need's and go to people that have this snake that you want and seen how they have done things then you are not going to have any problems no matter what snake you buy...
Now the problem with boa's according to people is they get big... this is not true... some get big but it is not hard at all to keep a male boa perty small.. like 5-6 feet... this is ok size for even perty darn small people...
ball python's have eating problem's according to some people... but guess what so do corn snakes, boa any type of python and many other speices of snakes... the fact is if you get a problem feeder you have a problem feeder... this can happen in any snake not just ball python's... I think with ball pythons people don't try enuf and just say they have a problem feeder... with ball python's you need to provide hidi spots that are just barly big enuf for the snake...(so when in side all side of the snake is touching the hidi spot walls and top..)(the tray to the bottom of clay pot's work's great... this will reduce the stress of the snake.. in the wild they are abush hunters and do best if hiding before they try to feed...)
corn snakes about the only bad thing is not bad to some people... that is they move alot... when handdled they will want to be moving like all the time...
king snakes are another one like the corn snakes they just don't really have a bad side to them... They move alot too
milk snakes have a stink pouch and they use it at first so that sux...
rat snakes differ from locality to locality
I have to say about the only snakes I don't recamend for beginners are the large ones like true red tails and burm, retic, ect... any way's just stay informed about what you are doing and there will be no problemmm
Just make sure you get a rep. that is and is going to be interesting to you.. People that buy snakes that they find out they don't like as a pet tend to not take care of them as well as needed and alot of the mis bought snakes end up dead or in a rescue... Well good luck on your purches
Eric aka....REd

[NavyHM]

Hog Island boas, colorful, easy going, and their med size makes it relatively easy to feed and cage.