My Red Tail Boas - Feeding Time

[pitbulllady]

Thank you so much. You have been extremely helpful.

If we do breed these two.. what would their offspring be categorized as? Would they be BCI x BCC x Pastel?

Also, at what age are they sexually mature (wondering at what point we need to separate them)?

Who comes up with the sub-species names such as Boa constrictor occidentalis? Do people who breed and come up with new sub-species create these names?

I'm sure I'll have a million more questions as time goes on. Again.. thank you so much for sharing your knowledge! If you have or come across information that you feel might be helpful, please feel free to email me at mich.reptiles@gmail.com anytime. I love reading and learning as much as I can about any animal I keep.

Have a great evening.

Toni

Unless you can prove the genetics with paperwork, just sell them as regular Boas(BCI's). You can "grade" them based on color and appearance if you like-that's what most breeders do. Their babies will be, for all practical intent and purposes, BCI's.

On a positive side, BCI's are easier to breed than BCC's, which is one of the reasons why they are so common in captivity. BCC's can be tricky to get to breed, especially some of the Peruvians. BCC's are more likely to run into shedding issues, too. As a large snake goes, you can't beat a Colombian Boa, especially if you have not kept and bred snakes before. Out of all the larger Boids, this is the only one I'd recommend for a novice snake keeper.

pitbulllady

 

[MichiganReptiles]

Unless you can prove the genetics with paperwork, just sell them as regular Boas(BCI's). You can "grade" them based on color and appearance if you like-that's what most breeders do. Their babies will be, for all practical intent and purposes, BCI's.

On a positive side, BCI's are easier to breed than BCC's, which is one of the reasons why they are so common in captivity. BCC's can be tricky to get to breed, especially some of the Peruvians. BCC's are more likely to run into shedding issues, too. As a large snake goes, you can't beat a Colombian Boa, especially if you have not kept and bred snakes before. Out of all the larger Boids, this is the only one I'd recommend for a novice snake keeper.

pitbulllady

Thanks PBL! So, for future reference.. if I should buy something that "deserves" paperwork will the breeder automatically give that to me or is that something I would have to request? I know when you get an AKC dog you get papers, but how does it work with snakes?

Toni

 

[pitbulllady]

IF someone is selling you a snake that is supposed to be this or that morph, they will include SOME sort of documentation, which might be photos and information on the parents, etc. If the snake LOOKS like whatever morph, but they do not know who the parents were or what the genetics were, most breeders will sell it as a "POSSIBLE whatever". Take Jungle Boas for instance-not all Jungles have very obvious pattern aberrancies, and there are snakes which DO have some wild patterns which LOOK like the Jungle patterns, but whose genetics is unknown, so until you breed those and prove their pattern is inherited the same way as Jungles, you can't really call it that. The pattern might be just a fluke, resulting from incorrect temps during the female's pregnancy, or could be another mutation that is recessive. I have a male that is a "low expression" Jungle, which means to most people, he looks like an ordinary Boa. Unless you really know what to look for, he's nothing unusual. I have the information on his parents, that he's from a Jungle x normal breeding. Now, BOTH of my Surinames have aberrant patterns, especially the female, but of course, I have no clue as to why-if those patterns are just flukes or if they are genetic, or IF they ARE genetic, how they inherited. They were both imports, caught and shipped as young adults, so absolutely nothing is known about their parents. They could even be littermates for all I know, even though they were purchased from different importers. I do not know if either of their patterns will show up in their offspring, if I'll get something even more odd and interesting than either parent, or if I'll just get a bunch of pretty run-of-the-mill BCC's, as far as pattern goes. They both have pattern aberrancies that are consistent with the Jungle gene in Colombians, but whether it's the same mutation or not I can't say, so while I am inclined to call them "Jungle Surinames", I honestly can't, because I don't know.

pitbulllady

 

[MichiganReptiles]

IF someone is selling you a snake that is supposed to be this or that morph, they will include SOME sort of documentation, which might be photos and information on the parents, etc. If the snake LOOKS like whatever morph, but they do not know who the parents were or what the genetics were, most breeders will sell it as a "POSSIBLE whatever". Take Jungle Boas for instance-not all Jungles have very obvious pattern aberrancies, and there are snakes which DO have some wild patterns which LOOK like the Jungle patterns, but whose genetics is unknown, so until you breed those and prove their pattern is inherited the same way as Jungles, you can't really call it that. The pattern might be just a fluke, resulting from incorrect temps during the female's pregnancy, or could be another mutation that is recessive. I have a male that is a "low expression" Jungle, which means to most people, he looks like an ordinary Boa. Unless you really know what to look for, he's nothing unusual. I have the information on his parents, that he's from a Jungle x normal breeding. Now, BOTH of my Surinames have aberrant patterns, especially the female, but of course, I have no clue as to why-if those patterns are just flukes or if they are genetic, or IF they ARE genetic, how they inherited. They were both imports, caught and shipped as young adults, so absolutely nothing is known about their parents. They could even be littermates for all I know, even though they were purchased from different importers. I do not know if either of their patterns will show up in their offspring, if I'll get something even more odd and interesting than either parent, or if I'll just get a bunch of pretty run-of-the-mill BCC's, as far as pattern goes. They both have pattern aberrancies that are consistent with the Jungle gene in Colombians, but whether it's the same mutation or not I can't say, so while I am inclined to call them "Jungle Surinames", I honestly can't, because I don't know.

pitbulllady

Thank you. You're awesome!