Please note: Of course dwarf boa constrictors are NOT a subspecies of their own. We have placed them here anyway in order that interested people will find the information on them more easily.
A significant number of boa constrictor enthusiasts prefer to keep a boa that doesn’t grow too large. Frequently we get inquiries as to variants that will not exceed a length of two meters, not even as adults. Normally following variants of Boa c. imperator do fulfill this requirement:
- Hog Island Boas
- Corn Island Boas
- Boa c. imperator from Roatan/Honduras (Firebellies, La Bahia Boas)
- Honduras mainland boa c. imperator
- El Salvador boa c. imperator
But there is a little hitch in this matter. Provided a duly feeding schedule and a corresponding genetic make-up adult females of the variants mentioned above can exceed the 2 meter limit considerably.
We have seen a Hog Island Boa female and an El Salvador Boa female whose length and body mass were awesome (and so was their behavior). Don’t get us wrong: As a rule the variants mentioned before don’t exceed the 2-m-limit not very often, but nevertheless - it happens.
Another issue is that crossbred boas are frequently mislabeled and sold as small sized „Hog Island Boas“, „Honduras Boas“ and so on in order to get them sold. The inexperienced buyer is in for a nasty surprise a few years later because crossbred boas ARE NOT small sized – on the contrary.
If you want to make sure to get a real “mini-boa“ that can be handled even by a dainty woman the acquisition of a dwarf boa is obligatory.
The Tarahumara dwarf boa is the nicest and most demanded variant of the dwarf boas. Up to know it is still bred scarcely but (hardly surprising) a lot of fakes are already on the market. People who have bought a "fake-Tarahumara Boa" in order to get a dwarf boa are in for a nasty surprise in a few years. In the photo you can see a purebred offspring of our litter in 2010.
| Dwarf boa | small sized boa | small sized boa constrictor | Tarahumara Boa | Tarahumara dwarf boa | Cay Caulker Boa | Caye Caulker Boa | Crawl Cay Boa | Crawl Caye Boa | Boa smaller than 2 m | Boa smaller than 1,5 m | miniboa | Boa c. imperator small sized |
In the boa constrictor scope dwarf boas are specimens where adult females don’t exceed a length of 130 cm considerably.
To the best of our knowledge there are only four variants of Boa c. imperator that fulfill this requirement:
- The Tarahumara Boas (Mexico)
- The Tamaulipas Boas (Mexico)
- The Cay Caulker Boas (Belize)
- The Ambergris Caye Boas (Belize)
- The Crawl Cay Boas (Belize) but only the bloodline that is anerythristic by tendency.
Only these variants provide the certainty have a real „mini - boa“. We keep and breed every of them and we have the most and longest experience with these boas in Europe. Therefore we are the best address in Europe for the acquisition of a dwarf boa constrictor.
Just ask us!
Here you can read what the experienced boa keeper and breeder Gus Rentfro can contribute to this topic:
Genetics and food availability combine to determine the adult size of boas in captivity. A locality or form could be considered dwarf if individuals reach sexual maturity and give viable young without complication at a significantly smaller size and mass. Mainland populations of Boa constrictor properly managed mature in 3-5 years at 5 to 6 feet in length, depending upon the subspecies and to a lesser extent the locality. The imperator sub-species generally will mature earlier at a somewhat smaller size than the B. c. constritor. Some insular forms (Corn Is. as an example) can and do breed successfully at lengths just over 40”. The Tarahumara boas bred and gave birth while still less than 38” long.