How long do red tail boas live?

How Long do Red Tail Boas Live in the Wild

Red tail boa constrictors (also known as the Colombian red tail boa) are large animals rarely predated on by other animals in their territory. Therefore, you would expect the red tail boa to live longer lifespans than other smaller animals in its ecosystem. However, these snakes still live unpredictable lives in the wild. Without consistent access to food, habitat destruction, and competing with other large predators in the area, the life of a red tail boa is often tremulous and cut short. As is the case of many other animals, the average lifespan of a wild red tail boa is much shorter than it would be in captivity, capping off at an average of 7-12 years.

How Long do Red Tail Boas Live in Captivity

Humans have the capability of providing shelter, food, and medical care to any animal that we decide to take in. This allows for the animal to potentially live out the extent of its natural lifespan. For red tail boas, this means being able to live for around 20-30 years. This is an animal that’s going to stick around for a while. You should consider this level of commitment before purchasing one.

Letting Your Red Tail Boa Live its Best Life

Assisting your red tail boa in living a long, healthy life means attending to its needs. This includes providing it with the proper diet, a safe, clean enclosure, and access to a knowledgeable vet. So, let’s look into what to expect when you’re bringing home that red tail boa for sale.

Diet

Due to the sheer size of the red tail boa, their diets are slightly more specialized than that of a typical snake. Remember, these snakes are eating prey like small monkeys and capybara in the wild. While most snakes are content with eating small rats and mice, these reptiles need something more substantial. This includes rabbits and large rats. In general, you should feed your adult snake an appropriately sized food item around three times a month. As a hatchling, your red tail boa should eat around once a week.

Environment

Before elaborating on the type of setup that will be best for your red tail boa, let’s examine one of the most important attributes of this animal. One that will have a huge impact on how you handle and raise it. That is, of course, its size. These snakes grow to be around 7-10 feet (with the females being larger), and weighing up to 30 lbs. Imagine a medium sized dog that moves like a wiggly stick. This is not a reptile that you can just handle on a whim or place in a small corner in your closet. To learn more about how large these snakes can truly get, read “How big do red tail boas get?“.

To accommodate your snake’s size, you should invest in a tank measuring 6′ long, 2′ wide, and 2′ tall. However, a hatchling will require a smaller habitat of around 10-20 gallons. To gather all of the accessories needed for your hatchling, it would be wise to invest in a prepackaged boa constrictor habitat. If your snake’s habitat is too small, it may start exhibiting certain signs of distress. This can include lethargy and certain gastrointestinal issues.

Medical Care

Providing regular vet visits will be a huge factor in your red tail boa living out its potential lifespan. While these are generally healthy animals, they should be examined on a regular basis. Especially as it ages. However, one of the trickier parts of owning this reptile is that it can’t be checked out by a regular vet. The healthcare of this pet will need to be tended to by a knowledgeable exotics vet. Preferably one that has experience in snakes of this size. While finding someone like this isn’t always easy, there are many people in the reptile keeping community that will be happy to refer you to a good vet.

Wrapping Up

When looking for a red tail boa for sale, you are going to have to think about the investment in time and space it’s going to require. This means thinking about it’s lifespan and how to tend to it during that time. Where are you going to be in five years? Will you always have the space for it? Are you able to handle and transport it from place to place? Of course, this level of consideration should be applied to any animal you may want to take in. Once you have a general idea of what life with these animals will really look like, you’ll be much more confident in providing it with many wonderful years to come.