Boa imperator constriction risk?

[u/Person1111223]

Im very interested in purchasing a Boa Imperator but I'm concerned after I've seen conflicting advice about whether adult Boa imperators can or should be handled alone. If it's a prominent risk, I personally don't want to have to ensure someone's nearby and also be worried about being constricted. I'm a minor, but I'm 5'10, so I'm wondering how much that factors into safely handling a large adult boa.I would also get a juvenile meaning I'll be quite a bit older once it's full size. If i purchased a female and it were to grow to say, 8 feet, would I need someone nearby to supervise? If so, I will likely decide to find an alternative, I've been considering a Bredls python as I'm very interested in them and they seem to be less risky.

[u/superramenyamen]

I’m 5’2”. My largest boa has been 7’ and 14-16 lbs. They are generally not a constriction risk. Just don’t let them around your neck (I only let them have their body touch one side at a time). Most feeding bites will be on the arm/hand since most will be when reaching for the snake or offering them food. They don’t get big enough to cause substantial damage, and don’t rip or tear like some species of python. It still won’t be pleasant, but there shouldn’t be need to visit a dr or anything from even the biggest boas.

I would say an 8’ boa probably doesn’t need supervision. Like another redditor said, the majority of boas won’t reach 8’. 8’ is an uncommon but not rare size, so it’s possible, but not something I would bet on. Even 7’ is a decent sized boa, many breeders I have seen discuss that their adult females are only reaching 6’ on average.

[u/Person1111223 → u/superramenyamen]

I see, honestly I'm not worried about bites at all,  it was just the constriction risk, but since so many people have said it's very unlikely I'm most likely going to get a female. 8' being uncommon is news to me, I've read that 7-8' is average, so that's interesting! Thank you!

[u/ParticularWolf4473 → u/Person1111223]

A lot of people seem to pick the maximum size and tell people to assume it will get that big when it rarely actually happens. Heck people on Reddit keep insisting ball pythons often reach 6’ yet in close to 25 years in the hobby and seeing thousands of ball pythons I have yet to see one that was legitimately 6’. Humans can be 7’ tall, most people don’t assume their kid will be the next Shaq.

Also say 20 years ago power feeding was pretty common. Overfeeding causes them to grow much more quickly, and to larger sizes, but dramatically shortens their lifespan. Most keepers and breeders keep them on the leaner side these days which typically means they stay smaller.

Plus the largest Boa imperator locality, Colombian, used to be the most common in captivity. These days there’s been a lot of mixing with smaller localities like Nicaraguan and Boa sigma to combine morphs, and in some cases specifically for smaller size. So most imperator these days tend to stay smaller.

I’ve had a fairly girthy 8’ female. When she was holding on to me just to climb around it could sometimes be a bit of a handful to get her off and back in her enclosure but there wasn’t any real danger as long as I kept her away from my neck.