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Understanding Boa Constrictor Morphs

The following boa care information is intended to be a general, down to earth approach to understanging the basics of boa constrictor morphs. This covers the most common morphs of the Boa Constrictor Constrictor and Boa Constrictor Imperator Species.
Boa Constrictor Imperator

Boa constrictor Imperator (BCI) have 253 ventral scales (or less) and a midbody scale count of 55-79. 21 or more dorsal blotches (saddles). Adult BCI boas reach an average of 7 to 8 feet, with a length of around 10 feet being very unusual and very rare. General maximum weight 30 pounds.

BCI's are located West of the Andes Mountain Range. There are some in the trade that believe Colombians are in fact BCC, and still consider them BCC to this day. Arguments can be made for both sides of the fence. The majority of the herpetology industry still consider Colombians to be included in the BCI classification.

Colombian

Normal Colombian Red Tail Boas. There are a tremendous amount of variety in coloration and patterns.

Pricing: $75 to $250 Availability: High

Photo by Clay English

Albino

Complete lack of melanin (Black Pigment) Original Strains from Peter Kahl and Brian Sharp Stunning Boas. Kahl and Sharp Strains are NOT Compatible.

Pricing: $800 to $1500 Availability: Low
Photo by Clay English

Pastel

Pastel Bloodline Colombian Red Tail Boas. Pastel is a Polygenic trait, and each generation of offspring will result in pastel babies. The degree of the pastel offspring can vary from part of the litter to all of the litter depending on the parents.  The Pastel trait is based on a high reduction in black pigment (washed out appearance) which can result in an explosion of color. There are a tremendous amount of variety in coloration and patterns.  Pastels are a result of selective breeding.

Pricing: $150 to $500 Availability: Medium

Photo by Clay English

Hypomelanistic

Reduction or absence of black pigmentation. Hypomelanism is a co-dominate trait, and each generation of offspring will produce even more orange coloration. These are also called Salmon, Hypos and Orange Tail Boas.

Pricing $500 to $1500. Availability: Medium

Photo by Clay English

Anerythristic

Complete Lack of Red Pigment. These light silver and black boas lack all red pigment. This variation is an important genetic marker to create other variations such as snow and ghost.

Pricing $300 to $500. Availability: Medium

Photo by Jeff Ronne/Boaphile

Snow

A Snow Boa is the result from a combination of albinism and anerythrism. It produces a white boa with a red tongue and eyes. The first Snow Boa was produced in 1996 by Peter Kahl.

Pricing $5000 to $10000. Availability: Rare

Photo by Peter Kahl Reptiles.

Hogg Island

From the Cayo de los Cochinos Islands. Hogg Island Boas. These special boas have a very unique coloration. They have reduced amounts of dark pigment and are a natural hypomelanistic morph. These boas are thought to be extinct in the wild. These boas grow to maximum size of 6 to 7 feet.

Pricing $150 to $250. Availability: Low

Photo by Clay English

Narrow Saddle

These boas have very Narrow Saddles. This line is from Jeff Ronne’s “Fine Line” collection, and have fine line connectors between the saddles. When bred to each other these boas will produce all Narrow Saddled Boas. Look at their "AMAZING" narrow saddles. Their color is the color of newspaper.

Pricing $300 to $500. Availability: Low

Photo by Clay English

Arabesque

This co-dominate trait was first produced by Steve Hammond of Exceptional Exotics. Ithas a beautiful golden colored with a full patterned thin and connected saddles. This is a beautiful variation.

Pricing ????. Availability: Rare

Photo by Peter Kahl Reptiles.

Jungle

This is a very variable patterned boa that originated in Sweden several years ago. Jungle boas are very rare. There tongue can be red or red and black or just black. The eyes are usually brown with the cat eye pupil.

Pricing ????. Availability: Rare

Photo by Peter Kahl Reptiles.

 

Boa Constrictor Constrictor

and Others Known as the “True” Red Tails

Boa constrictor constrictor's (BCC) have 234 to 250 ventral scales and a midbody scale count of 89-95. Less than 20 dorsal blotches. Adult boas may reach 12 to 14 feet in length, and these boas are the "giants" of the red tails. They can reach an average maximum weight 60 pounds although larger ones have been seen.

BCC's are located East of the Andes Mountain Range. It is this split of the mountain range that leads me to believe that Colombians are not part of the BCC species.

Bolivian

Bolivian Boa Constrictor (boa constrictor amarali)

Pricing: $800 to $2500 / Pair Availability: Low

Photo by Jeff Ronne/Boaphile

Peruvian

Peruvian Boa Constrictor (boa constrictor constrictor)

Pricing: $400 to $600 Availability: Low

Photo by Jeff Ronne/Boaphile

Brazilian

Brazilian Boa Constrictor (boa constrictor amaralli)

Pricing $500 to $1500. Availability: Low

Photo by Jeff Ronne/Boaphile

Trinidad

Trinidad Boa Constrictor (boa constrictor constrictor) These boas were produced by Rob Tudehope from Iowa

Pricing: $1500/Pair and $1000/Second Pair! Availability: Rare

Photo by Ron Tudehope.

Guyanan

Guyanan Boa Constrictor (boa constrictor constrictor)

Pricing $250 to $650. Availability: Low

Photo by Tom McCarthy Boas.

Suriname

Suriname Boa Constrictor (boa constrictor constrictor)

Pricing $250 to $650. Availability: Low

Photo by Tom McCarthy Boas.

This concludes the Boa Constrictor Care Guide. I would appreciate any comments, suggestions, corrections, etc etc.

Please let me know how I can make this care guide STAY the ULTIMATE CARE GUIDE.

Other Resources

I also recommend the following books for extended reading.

The Boa Constrictor Manual Philippe de Vosjoli / Jeff Ronne Herpetocultural library
Boas, A Complete Pet Owners Manual Doug Wagner Barron's
The Guide to Owning a Red-Tailed Boa Glen Drewnowski TFH Publications
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