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still undecided about boa or royal.

1K views 35 replies 15 participants last post by  jimmy_pompey 
#1 ·
we are still a little undecided whether to get a boa or royal. i prefer the boas but royals i also like and they have the beneficial factor of being kept in a smaller viv, but have feeding problems sometimes. in your opinions what generally make the more docile??? i have posted questions regarding using heat mats aswell. this seems ok when using a thermostate for any viv? just i prefer them to ceramics as they take up a lot of the viv - caged up and suspended etc etc.

we would prefer a hatchling in what ever one we got, we have a spare exo terra viv tho. the largest size at 2ft x 2ft x 2.5ft i think it is. but would easily get another if this wasn't suited 100%.


thanks for the help everyone.

thanks
:-o
 
#3 ·
buy a salmon boa from gaz, they only grow to the same size as a royal, are easier on the feeding side and in my opinion are a better lookin snake
 
#5 ·
i really cant decide, but just prefer the use of a heat mat and if possible in a glass exo terra for a while as this is what i have before going into a wooden viv, i'm starting to lean towards a royal tho' just they dont grow as big and i can also handle that alone when its fully grown, so pro's for a royal please???

thanks

:-o
 
#8 ·
Boas will get larger. Generally are less tolerant. But have better feeding in terms of consistency.

Royals are smaller. Very tolerant. Have the POSSIBILTY of fasting. However that isn't a problem really, as all but WC and some CF animals will return to regular feeding.

As long as you stay on top of handling they will be as tame as one another. I see the major factor being size of viv. Where royals will thrive in a small viv - Boas will need that fair sized viv with a bit more height that some people are able to find.

Also most dwarf Boa are quite snappy. I'm sure Gaz will confirm that. Mind you, Crawl Cay do look lovely.
 
#9 ·
i would get a royal but boas are mint to if you get a nice boa that be mint i had some and there were violent as hell gazz will sort you out with a boa :crazy::crazy::crazy::crazy:
 
#13 ·
My Boa is more tolerant of handling than one of my Royals.
They are all different so you shouldn't go too much by what others say.
By all means read and take on board what they are saying but, like humans, all snakes are different and some will be grumpy sometimes and some will not.
 
#18 ·
Im getting an 07 Crawl Cay from Gaz. I was in the same boat, considering royals and boas; I was eventually swayed by the slightly larger-on-average size of the dwarf boas, and the fact that they dont get too large to handle comfortably. You hear a lot of conflicting stories about the temperaments of dwarf boas...personally I think its because a) the market is saturated with royals and has been for a while, so you'll get a lot more opinions on their behaviour in general than dwarf boas, and b) quite a few dwarf boas seem to be in breeding situations rather than "pets", going by the different stories I have read. If you're keen on a boa, I think you can do yourself a great favour by buying from a dedicated breeder who can recommend a calm, healthy snake from his stock - starts you off in the right direction :)

Having said that I still like the look of pythons, and wouldnt mind one one day - a carpet or a royal. I just personally preferred the Crawl Cay over the others.
 
#19 ·
yes salmon or as johelian says also crawl cays and from my experiance with the man it's got to be gaz to speak to
 
#20 ·
It's true most dwarf Boa, being that they are mainly found in breeding programs don't recieve as much handling as a pet would. Thus you can expect said dwarf boa to be less used to handling and more unwilling.
However snappy-ness is a trend in most dwarf species (Python included).
 
#22 ·
Possibly. I'm not really able to say. Though I think part of it is genetic. You can breed a dog to be aggressive afterall.
 
#25 ·
Still investigating this, but apparently they are preyed upon by crabs of all things on the Cays! This is the reason they are semi-arboreal - to escape these predators at high tide. The Cays are also inhabited to a degree I believe by people.

I know its the same for parrots - the smaller, brighter species are generally more nervy than the larger birds. Some books even go so far as to say that temperament can be linked to colour! Of course, there are exceptions - most notably the highly-domesticated birds like budgies. But I think a general correlation between size and fear-response would probably be the case.
 
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