hi im building a outbuilding in march to house herps,fish,birds and mammals and one of my first breeding projects will be a boa. im just curious as what i will need to do and what species there actually are as always get confused with boas lol. iv heard of the there being different species of red tails but i have always thought that the red tail is its own species. i am on the look out for a pair now. i know from my signature it does not look like i have kept big snakes but i work with big and aggressive snake all the time as i work in my local shop. its just that iv never really been able to house any big snakes at home until the building is up. i have bred a few species of snakes at work so im not a complete begginer lol. im just looking for any info on breeding.
thanks
jb

well 1at of all before you start breeding you need to make sure that the animal is the correct weight and size. AS you work in a rep shop they should be the best people to advise you and you may even find that they can help you source what your looking for. I also suggest that you do research on breeding times etc and different types of Boas - i know there are a few out there - not my cup of tea personally. Plus boas also have different temperaments some can be very snappy others can be real calm, ive seen the snappy ones 1st hand and my son who also works in a rep shop was lucky he could shut the glass door just before it almost struck his face - bad tempered female. Ok all snakes can have a bad attitude but Boas pack a nasty punch. there is a site out there for boas, sorry have no idea of address - but im sure someone will know - you can try google and im sure youll find lots of info

So what else do you plan on putting in this out building, love to see it when its ready

thanks alot, the big snakes we usually have in the shop are mainly burmese and we get the occasional boa.

i will hopefully manage to get a pair of boa which will be in the shed 1st, then for the birds the first thing will be java sparrows and gouldian finches as iv never had a chance to breed them before, for the fish it will be a huge mixture lol from marines to tropical. i definetely want an enclosure for sugar gliders as we can easily get them in the shop and they look amazing lol. in the herp part i want to build a shelving unit that a can house a few species of inverts on, especially a goliath as iv never had room for one before. a lizard iv wanted for a while is a frillie as i think these are so smart, and then i want to try my hand at something like a burmese or retic. this sounds a lot lol but it will be built up over the next couple of years. i dont want to put too much in at once as i want to see how the electricity bill goes up as i get more and i want to make sure i dont overload myself with too much work as it wouldnt be fair on the animals if i cant spend enough time looking after them, this means it will be just the odd addition now and then like one animal every month or two

thanks
jb

wow sounds like a big challenge. Also sounds like this place is gonna take up a heck of a lot of room and if in future you plan on keeping tics and burms you are gonna need loads of room as those are 2 beautiful and large snakes (my favs).
Seems like quite a collection your plan on having in there, so id think very carefully about what is best living in the same area ie birds maybe to noisey for some reps and may scare them. Plus dont birds need an aviary rather than being locked in side a shed/cabin or what ever you choose to call it. I know nothing about birds other than they fly lol! And frillies think they need lost of space and Sugar gliders mmm again heck of a lot of space. Jsut dotn want burst your bubble and you have far to much in this place and they are all squashed for room as their quality of life will be at risk.
From what your saying about your plans sounds like you need a large bungalow rather than a shed. we have a double garage - cant fit 2 cars in in let alone half the things your planning. and as for the leccy bill well speak to your parents about that as its gonna cost you a small fortune. Most familes seems to be spending average of about £300-£400 per quarter and thats without reps Heating lighting etc could cost you probably about the same if you have that lot, and thats on top of the cost of the building, wow you must also have a big garden.

Dotn get me wrong im not trying to put a downer on things just trying to think realisticly especially wit the climate at the moment and people loosing jobs ect. a Fantastic dream and really do hope it comes off one day

good luck

it is quite a large building were putting up lol we have a massive garden luckily lol. the birds will be in a separate room to the reps as the building will be seperated into three rooms. i know it sounds a lot lol but with the plans that me and my dad have made the space is no problem. as i said i will add to the colletion very slowly lol dont want to overload myself with work as soon as building it begins i will get some pics up
thanks
jb

oh cool look forward to them then. your lucky your parents are helping you with this project - just hope you dont leave home one day and expect them to look after them all lol!

Out of interest what is your planned employment when you have finished your education? coz you really seem to know what you want and i wish you all the luck

my parents are really helpfull with this, they actually moved house so that we could have a bigger garden and i could expand my collection. another reason i dont want to rush into it is because one day when i move home i want to be able to bring most of the collection with me lol. im hoping to go to university to study something along the lines of zoology and marine biology but im not 100 percent sure yet, the job i want is something definetely where i will be travelling to places like the amazon to do research. i was thinking a while back of trying to become a wildlife presenter and i have tried to get in touch with the bbc but no reply yet lol. i also thought about one of thos people who travels around looking for new species.
thanks
jb

oh wow! fantastic choice of career! my may you could try and get hold of mr Attenborough or someone maybe even Mike O'Shea at WMSP

Glad your parents are behind you on this
my son who is 16 wants to be a Herpetologist when he leaves education

yer my mums trying to get hold of nigel marvin at the moment, shes friends with his godmother. the only problem i have is down here in Holyhead there not anywhere really where you can make a big break so i will probably have to move somewhere after i leave uni. we do though have a great university here. hope everything goes well for your son.
thanks
jb