Motley Boa

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Mojo's Mom

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Okay, when we went in to get crickets for my gecko, Incognito, there weren't any at the usual place we go, so we went to the next one. There were only large there...and he eats small. So then, we got to the last petshop that we know of in town, and they have the right size.

While we were waiting for our crickets, I was looking at the snake. This pet shop usually has more unusual stuff that are way outside the normal ball pythons and corn snakes. They have tons of things that I have never heard of.

Any ways, there was this little snake that was marked, "Motley Boa"
It was sort of pretty, so when I got home I looked it up, all I can find is that it is a color morph of the boa constrictor, so did they just assume that everyone knows its a boa constrictor or is it a really-hard-to-find information on snake?

Thanks.
 

Floof

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Yep, Motley is the name of a pattern mutation (morph) in the Colombian Boa Constrictor. Not its own species. :) Sounds like they assumed it was self-explanatory.
 

Mojo's Mom

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Okay. Gotta ask, any more info? I just want to know the basics. How big, how fussy they get with food, how aggressive they are, what is is the level of diffiulty to keep them, so on and so forth.

Also, just out of curiosity, what is a good price for them? I keep finding that they are the latest morph that has been developed and are really fun to breed with because they unlock a lot of good morphs. The pet store said it is a female, but it was really little, so I bet they just guessed. Does that change the price?

Thanks. :D
 

Floof

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I don't have a clue as far as pricing goes. I haven't bothered following the market for them, since I don't plan on getting any more--2 is plenty! You can get an idea of what normal pricing is on Classified sites like FaunaClassifieds.com and Kingsnake.com.

As far as boas themselves: Great eaters. Usually very docile. Other than their size, they're fairly simple to provide for.. Nothing more complex than a ball python or the like. Enclosure size, you're looking at anywhere from 3-3.5 ft for small to average male Dwarf localities, up to 6 ft or so for female Colombians.

As for how big they get... It depends on what locality you're looking at!

The most common boa constrictors in the hobby are the Colombian boas, also sold as "Colombian Red Tail Boas" in most pet stores. They're just one locality (type?) of the Boa constrictor imperator or BCI subspecies.
Odds are, that's what the little Motley girl is.
Colombians do get to a pretty large size. I keep reading they have the potential to hit 10 feet, but I've never personally seen one over around 7-8 feet. You're looking at around 5-6 feet average for males, and 6-8 feet for females. They're a big enough snake that, even working with the most puppy dog tame boa, you should always have a second person around to help. They're powerful!
Back to enclosure size, you're looking at 4' minimum for males, and 6' for females. Bigger is better, naturally, if you can provide it!

That said, there are dwarf localities of BCI. I'm not terribly up to date on the localities, but a few of what you'll see are the Central Americans, Nicaraguans, and Hog Islands. None of these get over about 5 ft (maybe a bit bigger for more heavily fed female Hog islands) if you can get a verifiable, pure locality animal.

Like I said, I don't keep up with the market much, so I don't know if there's been a motley gene discovered in any of the dwarf localities, but it's sure worth a look if you want the look but not the size. If not, the dwarves are all gorgeous in their own right, and have many nice morphs and morph combinations of their own. I'm especially a sucker for Super Hypo and T+ Albino Nicaraguans!
Space-wise, you should be able to get away with as small as a 3' enclosure for a smaller male dwarf locality, but it's best if you can provide at least a 4' enclosure. 4' is still minimum for female dwarves.

Ha... Sorry... Me and my long posts! Hope that helps!
 

Mojo's Mom

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Thanks, sure does. Now thinking about it, she did have sort of a reddish brown, maybe almost black tail.
 
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