[Misc] Questions about Central Americans

[artgecko]

Hi guys,
I have three questions for those of you that keep CAs. With retics being banned, and boas almost being banned as well, I've decided to at least look into breeding or buying a pair so that I could breed in the future.
At this point, I've decided that if I ever do want to breed, it will have to be with CAs. I'm just not comfortable with how large the female Colombians get, so I need to work with a locale that has smaller females. I've seen pics of various morphs / locals, and love CA motleys and some of the Nic. morphs as well. But I have some questions for those that own CAs that I couldn't find answers to.


1. How large do CA females get? (I would be comfortable with them getting the size of an adult male Colombian, but not much larger)


2. Have you found that most CAs calm down with handling, or are they mainly temperamental / bitey all their life? This is one apsect that really concerns me, as the calm temperament of my BCA and Bci are one thing that attracts me to them.


3 Are there any CA locals or mprhs that you think are particularly interesting or would be good to work with? (note, I'm not necessarily considering how profitable a morph would be if I do breed, but do want to keep something that people find desirable so that I could move offspring easily.)

4. Do you know of any breeders working with CAs that you would recommend? I haven't been able to find someone (other than legacy) that is working with them and am really interested in knowing who to look at when I start shopping.


Thanks, as always, for your time and help!

[bcr_229]

Re: Questions about Central Americans

I have 1.2 Tarahumaras, which have a rep for being extremely defensive, especially as youngsters. When you consider their diminutive size it makes sense; they remain prey animals for most if not all of their lives versus BCC's or even other BCI localities.

I've found that they are no worse to deal with than young Brazilian Rainbows, and thankfully because they're small a nip from one isn't a big deal.

Mine have tamed down nicely. They will all be two years old in a few months and the worst they do is hiss a bit when they're upset. My older female is especially vocal - she hisses when fed (f/t), hisses if you touch her when she's in shed, hisses when she's trashed her tub...

[Pandorasdad]

Re: Questions about Central Americans

I'm not really the one to go to here as my one and only CA boa is an assassin. He have never not tried to bite me.

[Morgans Boas]

Re: Questions about Central Americans

I have had a few CA's , and have one female now. The one that I have now is the only mellow one that I have owned. All of the others have been level 10 aggressive. I've had a couple of Hog Isl. females, and they were mellow, but they both grew over 6 ft with ease,and I'm not a heavy feeder. One of my favorite morphs out their are Leopards (Mexican Boas) .I've had several, and still own a few . They have such cool patterns, and the ones that I've owned were/are never to bad with their temperament . Sometimes they hiss , but they are usually bluffing, and mellow out. However, my one and only face bite came from a Leopard that I startled. He' never struck at me any other time though.
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My funky patterned CA Hypo Motley --
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My adult female Leopard --
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Hypo Leopard that I produced (3/4 Mexican ) --
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[littleb]

Re: Questions about Central Americans

I just got my first boa, a female Hog Island, a year ago and asked a ton of questions about temperament and size before buying. I received split answers for the questions. Some told me a female HI should be about 5 ft. full grown while others reported 6-7 feet (which is still no problem for one person to handle). More than half said that HI are the sweetest, most tame boas they own while others said they can be nasty and difficult. '

Mine is still only 21 months old so I don't know how big she will get. But she is very easy to handle and has never hissed or struck at me nor did she for the people who had her before me.

[Reinz15]

Re: Questions about Central Americans

Morgan, those are such Awesome Boas!

I love that Leopard!

[artgecko]

Re: Questions about Central Americans

Thanks so much for your replies guys!
Morgan- Those are great looking boas! I didn't know the leopard gene was so variable in expression.
My main issue, I think, will be temperament. If CA females generally stay around the size of a male colombian (6' about 10 - 15lbs max) then I would be fine with that... I just don't want a 30lb snake lol. BUT I do treat my snakes like pets and my husband and I both enjoy handling them... The boas seem to have the best temperaments of all our snakes, which is one of the main reasons I want to go this direction.

I guess a better question on temperament is: Is it possible for breeders to tell you which snakes will be bitey terrors and which will mellow out with handling when they are young? i.e. If I contact, say legacy reptiles, and say "I want a good looking but mellow CA hypo." Would they be able to pick out an animal that should mellow out for me?

[artgecko]

Re: Questions about Central Americans

After doing some more reading.. I think that I am leaning towards either Nicaraguans or BCLs.. Both supposedly stay a lot smaller than normal Colombians (but aren't tiny) and I like the coloration and patterning in both... The Nics. have more mrophs and an almost motleyish pattern, and the Anery BCLs are just stunning.

If you guys have any additional input with either of these in regards to cost, size, temperament, or what breeders work with them, that would be great.

Thanks again for your input and time!

[bcr_229]

Re: Questions about Central Americans

When we purchased a three month old baby female retic we specifically asked for one with a chill temperment, as we didn't want to eventually end up with a 20 foot snake with a bad attitude. The breeder was happy to oblige, and our quickly growing girl is super sweet.

[TattyJon]

Re: Questions about Central Americans

I've just got a CA Dwarf at the weekend.
He's about a year old and according to the shop hadn't been handled much.
So far he's been a dream to hold! Very chilled out and quite happy to wrap round my arm and spend the evening there

[Jrock23]

Re: Questions about Central Americans

I love that female leopard, those are extremely hard to find in my area.

[artgecko]

Re: Questions about Central Americans

Thanks for your replies! I'm hoping that with either locale / subspecies, I'll be able to find calmer ones that are more like a Colombian in temperament.

Any input on adult female size of CAs from you guys? I'm looking at acquiring a CA motley (talking with a breeder) and really like a female he has, but am not sure I want a boa that large... Do they stay in the same weight / length as an adult Colombian male or will they get larger? I am not planning on breeding the CA motley, so may feed on a slower schedule (if that matters in adult size).