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 #2079303


Lovemypythons
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 So i have a new addition and some questions

I have added Patrick to my family. he is a redtail boa. at least i was told so and judging by the darker color on his tail than the rest of him i would guess this to be true. the problem is that he is a young, two or three month old boa, and he is very soft, and has a very pretty pink hue on his sides and stomache. he is 21 1/2 inches long and very pretty . is there a name for the type of boa that has a red tail and a very pretty pinkish color on his sides? i will post picks soon. i have to wonder for as long as he is he is very thin around. extremely thin. is this normal i am usedd to ball pythons not boas but it seems strange for a snake with the growth potential of a boa to be so small around right now. Any info would be great but i am thrilled to have added patrick to my family, and tomorrow we will add two more.
10/01/09  11:48pm

 #2079325


ReptileJay
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   Message To: Lovemypythons   In reference to Message Id: 2079303


 So i have a new addition and some questions

Hey man,
Sounds like you got yourself a Salmon morph. how much did you pay for him, because they usually go for between 150-300 bucks. So if you paid more than 100, it sounds like that is what you got. As far as the size around, its normal. I have a two-three month old boa, as well. He’s a little bigger around than my pointer finger right now. As far as the "red tail" boa, there is no species called "red tail." it is an industry term placed on these snakes to make them seem more appealing to the buyer. Simple thing is there is Boa constrictor constrictor, and boa constrictor imperator. you most likely have a boa constrictor constrictor. but it does sound like you have a salmon morph. which is awesome. i was at a reptile show in September, and a guy, www.locolizards.com, tried to sell me a salmon morph for 350, when i said i couldn’t pay that much he offered me it for 225.00. i was going to take it, but i was only willing to spend big money on a green tree python, so i turned down the offer and got a traditional boa constrictor c. with an orangasm blood line. beautiful boa. chocolate brown tail. yeah. i’m rambling. get those pics up man, but i would almost guarantee its a salmon. the cool thing with salmons, as long as its not a het, no matter what boa you mate it with, the offspring will be salmons. enjoy, they’re wonderful snakes.
10/02/09  01:19am

 #2081081


Lovemypythons
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   Message To: ReptileJay   In reference to Message Id: 2079325


 So i have a new addition and some questions

i got him off of craigslist in my area and they only charged me 60 for him they charged my friend 25 each for two baby ball pythons so i am not sure where they created their price list. worked out great for me except two days after i got him he regurgitated the food they had fed him the day i got him. not supposed to do that but hey.....so he was expected to throw up if they fed him and new i was coming an hour away to get him. he is ok now ate a fuzzy last night an seems to be ok. cant find my digital camera but will definately post picks when i can. he is one of six snakes in my home now and as of thursdy i am going to get an albino....ball? i think. i saw him when i picked up my four foot ball python last week the guy said he’d hold it and i think it is the pretties thing i ha ve ever seen.



10/06/09  06:45pm

 #2081164


ReptileJay
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   Message To: Lovemypythons   In reference to Message Id: 2081081


 So i have a new addition and some questions

Post the pics when you get them. Again, sounds like a salmon morph. selling balls for 25 bucks, although cheap, isn’t totally uncommon. Fairly common snake and if they aren’t morphs, its getting harder for breeders to get rid of them. Just convinced my son not to breed his pythons because of this. I find it hard to believe anyone would sell a salmon for that price unless they didn’t know what they had. Now, my boa has some slight pink hue to his sides, so it could just be his/her coloration. Depends on how much pink there is. Salmon morphs sides are very pink, not just a hue. It will be clear in a good pic if that is what you have. Get those up when you find your camera.
10/06/09  08:46pm

 #2081168


ReptileJay
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   Message To: Lovemypythons   In reference to Message Id: 2081081


 So i have a new addition and some questions

Nero - You can see in the pic that you actually can’t see any of the pink hue on his sides. If you have a salmon, it’ll show up in the pic. Go to www.locolizards.com and look at their salmon morphs and compare. (Its also not easy to tell, but his tale is actually a gorgeous milk chocolate color, and the breeder said it would spread up his body more as he gets older. We’ll see. I hope so)



10/06/09  08:49pm

 #2081302


Bciaddict
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   Message To: Lovemypythons   In reference to Message Id: 2079303


 So i have a new addition and some questions

Pictures would definitely help. Pink sides and pink/red in the tail could just be a nicely colored normal. There is soooo much variation in normals.

By the way, just because a boa has a red tail, does not make it a "red tail." "Red tail" refers to Boa constrictor constrictor, but many Boa constrictor imperator have red tails but are not considered to be "red tails"

A baby boa will not show huge amount of growth within just a few months. If he’s captive bred, he probably didn’t even take his first meal until he was about two weeks old. If he’s two to three months old he’s probably only eaten 10 times and that’s if he is a vigorous feeder.

You said that he regurgitated a meal that they fed him the day you got him? That’s fairly irresponsible on their part to feed him if they knew you were coming. But you said he did eat for you and has kept that down?

What are you considering to be thin? A baby boa is born with much fat, they all start out pretty thin.

Also to correct something that ReptileJay said....Most Colombian boas are Boa constrictor imperator (Bci), not Bcc. Also Salmon is a type of hypo, without seeing what it is it is hard to speculate whether yours could be a hypo (salmon, orangetail, or salmon x orangetail cross), possibly a pastel, or like I said, just a nice normal.....

Amie



10/07/09  07:06am

 #2081304


Bciaddict
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   Message To: Bciaddict   In reference to Message Id: 2081302


 So i have a new addition and some questions

Oops, I meant to say that a baby boa is not born with much fat....

Amie
10/07/09  07:07am

 #2081318


ReptileJay
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   Message To: Bciaddict   In reference to Message Id: 2081304


 So i have a new addition and some questions

Amie,
I never said anything about colombians being bcc’s or bci’s. I just said there is no species called "red-tail."
10/07/09  08:15am

 #2081334


Bciaddict
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   Message To: ReptileJay   In reference to Message Id: 2081318


 So i have a new addition and some questions

What you said was "...you most likely have a boa constrictor constrictor"

But that’s not necessarily the case. And if the boa is a hypo, it would be a bci or in the very least a bci x bcc cross.

Amie
10/07/09  09:46am

 #2081373


Fairy Frog Mother
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   Message To: Bciaddict   In reference to Message Id: 2081334


 So i have a new addition and some questions

Also ( And you may already be doing this) with getting it that cheap from someone who fed it when they knew you were comming to pick it up (from any distance...handling and putting in a new environment is stressful enough to cause a regurg without an hour drive) Id highly recommend you quarentine it for several months in a room seperate from your other boids and pythons in case it has any parasites or worse, is an IBD carrier.

Sounds like you may have gotten a really good deal! Cant wait til you find your camera so we can see pictures.
10/07/09  11:42am

 #2081383


ReptileJay
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   Message To: Bciaddict   In reference to Message Id: 2081334


 So i have a new addition and some questions

Well there you have me. I concede, but the I still never said anything about Colombians, nor did the person who posted. My knowledge of morphs is very limited. What I do know is the breeder who sold me mine, who was selling salmons, said they were bcc morphs.
10/07/09  12:04pm

 #2081386


Bciaddict
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   Message To: ReptileJay   In reference to Message Id: 2081383


 So i have a new addition and some questions

Salmons are not Bcc. Salmons and Orangetail hypos originated from Panama. They were originally Bci, although over the years they have been bred into Bcc.

Amie
10/07/09  12:07pm

 #2081419


ReptileJay
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   Message To: Bciaddict   In reference to Message Id: 2081386


 So i have a new addition and some questions

Alright then, learn something new everyday. Although I did just read an interesting paper on bci and bcc from Colombia. They did a 30 year study on Colombian boas and found that all the snakes in the study, from Colombia were bcc, classifying them by scale count. Paper said scale count of a bcc is 80 or higher, and 79 or lower is bci. Doesn’t really matter though does it? Is there anything particularly different from a bci and a bcc? I think when mine sheds i’m going to do a scale count out of curiousity, but the breeder said it was a bcc. I don’t really care. He’s a great snake, and a fairly good deal at $65.00.



10/07/09  01:20pm

 #2081694


Bciaddict
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   Message To: ReptileJay   In reference to Message Id: 2081419


 So i have a new addition and some questions

There are different opinions on whether Colombian boas are bcc or bci. General consensus (taking older information and newer information into account) is that if a boa is collected north or the Andes it is classified as Boa constrictor imperator, and if it is collected south of the Andes, it is is boa constrictor constrictor. There are different accounts of scale counts.

But integration between the the subspecies does happen naturally, so you can have a wild caught Bcc x Bci cross.

The boa morph industry doesn’t care what the taxonomy of a particular boa is but anyone working with pure locales does care.

What I can tell you, is if your boa has "Salmon" hypo in it, it is in the very least a Bci x Bcc cross....not a pure Bcc!

If you do a scale count on your boa, count the dorsal, ventrals, and subcaudals. Just counting dorsal scales alone does not identify a boa’s taxonomy.

Amie
10/08/09  06:49am

 #2081728


ReptileJay
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   Message To: Bciaddict   In reference to Message Id: 2081694


 So i have a new addition and some questions

When it comes down to it, I don’t think I really care. I love my snake. He’s awesome and I’m just happy to have him. Been one of my dream snakes since I was a little kid and I finally got one. He’s happy, healthy, eating and pooping and that’s all I care about.



10/08/09  10:36am

 #2081799


Fairy Frog Mother
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   Message To: ReptileJay   In reference to Message Id: 2081728


 So i have a new addition and some questions

Ha! I think most of us would agree with that. She knows her stuff though, and is awesome about trying to educate us all when the subject comes up. Ive learned alot from her, actually. Because of discussions here I have gone to look things up even more. I think I know more about snakes than half the snake volunteers at the Academy of Sciences here in SF- and Im workin with Kids, not animals there. Ha! (To work with the snakes you have to be available during the week, and I have a job during that time, sadly- But Im gonna worm my way in to meet them and have chats! Muahahaha)



10/08/09  02:18pm

 #2081999


ReptileJay
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   Message To: Fairy Frog Mother   In reference to Message Id: 2081799


 So i have a new addition and some questions

Yeah, she does. I’m all about getting educated. I’ve gone to our university library and google for everything. Its good to have people who know, rather than reading document after document that may or may not have anything to do with what you’re looking for.
10/08/09  09:07pm


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