"The Big Babies" by Pounder73

Many people on VT seemed to be intrigued by my pets. I decided to make an album just for them. If you have any questions in regards to my boas, please feel free to drop me a line and ask whatever you want because I am always happy to inform and educate people about these creatures.

www.kingsnake.com (in the “forum” then “boa”) is probably one of the best websites out there for amateur and professional herpetologists alike. It is not unlike VT in that it is a place to share ones experiences, ideas, photos, and to ask questions to more experienced people. If you are not familiar with these animals, some of their photos will blow you away

common ?'s that I'm always asked

*Poisonous? No... they are constrictors.

*Do they bite?
No. Mine are "dog tame" All mine were captive bread and raised by either me or my friend. I’ve never hesitated anyone from holding or petting them. However, my big guys are strong, and in reality, you just let them hold you. But you should NEVER touch a snake that you are not familiar with or have no experience with. That’s just stupid.

what do the eat?
Mine eat dead rats. (more humane and safer for the snake) In Nature they eat more birds and other mamals.

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seneca

Head Shot of Seneca

Hogg Island Boa
Hogg Island - Cayos Cachinos
off the Coast of Honduras
known as a dwarf boa (4 to 6 feet)

If you can tell from the first two pics, one of the interesting traits of Hogg Island Boas (yesssssth, spelled with 2 G’s) is their rapid and extreme color change. Other members of the Boa family do the same, but not as pronounced. The reason is not like a chameleon – not for camouflage, but time of day, mood, shed cycle, temperature etc.

The basic colors and contrasts of boas from any locality can drastically be different. With Hogg Island’s, they are naturally hypo-melanistic (reduction in black pigment), but they very in the “peppering” (the black dots) and their base colors can range from very silver/blue to very orange tan. The parents of Seneca were both on complete opposite side of these spectrums, and he was the “unique” one of the littler.

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seneca

Seneca - The Debate

There are many different debates that surround these pets and even more so with ones such as Hogg Island. I will briefly touch on some of these and give my $.02. Keep in mind these are my opinions, others may vary.

As stated on my homepage, there have been mixed reports in whether Hogg Island Boas are extinct from their native land. Sad. (Cayos Cachinos are small Islands) This is due to several factors; loss of habitat, pet trade, the local population randomly killing them, and so on. These factors are not limited to Hogg Island, but anywhere else these creatures are found throughout the world. I am sure I don’t need to get on my soap box about the loss of the worlds rainforests etc… my feelings are that there needs to be a limited shipment of “new blood” for darwinistic purposes and people like me may be the only ones keeping the species alive and viable in the world. On the flip side, if we can save their natural environment, I DO NOT want to see the exploitation of these animals, and have them be removed permanently from their environment! It is a thin tightrope… I know. But that is why I will only own captive bred animals.

What you see in the news or even National Geographic…. This frustrates me. Every once in while you see some irresponsible person let their snake go “free” in states like Florida. (where they CAN survive naturally). And then there are big news reports of missing pets etc... first, %99.99 of these are HUGE pythons (read: NOT boas – big differences). Somehow stupid people buy baby (Reticulated, Rock, or Burmese) Pythons and once they reach 100 to 200 (or WAY more) pounds and 20 to 30 feet later, they just release them in the woods because they were short sighted and ignorant. Should their be limited restriction on CERTAIN types… probably.

I once had someone who owned a pit-bull tell me that they should be banned. Don’t get me started on the #’s and %’s of dog mauling cases vs even the larger pythons…arggghhhh….

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Sebastian

Sebastian - Columbian Boa

Sebastian is commonly known as a “red-tail boa” but that actually a wrong term. He is a Common Columbian Boa… from what locality? You guessed it, Columbia. These are the ones that you will most likely see in pet stores that do not particularly specialize in cold blooded creature. “True redtail boas” are Sebastian’s “brothers” from areas like Suriname, Guyana, Peru etc…. These boas are nothing short of incredible, with their high contrast colors and sharp patterns and high iridescent skin. Columbians are usually smaller, their colors fade to a tannish brown, but are VERY mild tempered. The true-redtails tend to be a little more “hissy”

males about 8 feet
females 12 feet
both with about a 2 foot variation both ways.

You can see the iridescent in the skin when the light hits it right. Can you believe that Columbians are not known for this. Imagine what the “true redtail” can look like. One of the most iridescent snakes is called a Brazilian Rainbow Boa.

This is a Dumeril Ground Boa. They are know as a “short tail” boa, heavy bodied with a stumpy tail. Their girth at 6ft can be the same as a Columbian at 8ft. They are found in Madagascar and their habitat is drastically being taken away from them. As pets, they can be hissy as babies, but once worked with, they are very docile. These guys have never even nipped at me.

The two Dumerils I have are named Dumb and Dumber - and they are pretty interchangeable.

it is not like the come when you call them.

But the way, they are about 6+ feet and about 25lbs (11.5 Kilo)