Back in the day - Me and my boas

[MLynch]

I was going through some old photos and came across these. Up to this point I didn't think I had any photos of my rainbow boa (Ginger), but low and behold I had several.

After looking at the photos she was darker than I remembered... I'm wondering if she wasn't a Peruvian Rainbow Boa as opposed to Brazilian.

Herpetology was my project in 4-H growing up, so the most of these were taken at the 4-H fair (which is mid August).

...just as a point of reference: I was 17 in 1987.



Ginger - Spring 1987


Ginger - August 1987 (4-H Fair). The guy with brown hair is a buddy of mine.


Ginger - August 1987 (4-H Fair).


Next up is Chuck - my BCI. One of the best boas I've ever had!

Chuck - August 1986 (4-H Fair)


Chuck - As part of my 4-H project I did several public presentations on boas. This is from one of them. Spring 1987.


Chuck - More from same public presentation. Spring 1987.


Chuck - Me and the snake keeping members of the 4-H Herpetology club I was a part of. August 1987 (4-H Fair)


Chuck - August 1987 (4-H Fair). The guy next to me with the larger boa was named Brian - I think. Also a club member.


Chuck - last day of fair - August 1987

[JenniferM]

Re: Back in the day - Me and my boas

i wish my 4H and FFA did that, all we had was cows, sheep and pigs. i showed sheeps

[zamora]

Re: Back in the day - Me and my boas

Awesome pictures! Thanks for sharing those memories with us. You don't still have Chuck do you?

I wish I had pictures of all the snakes I've had over the years but we never seemed to have a working camera when I was growing up! (My brother was always taking things apart and not putting them back together).

[MSwift]

Re: Back in the day - Me and my boas

that is cool i wish i had pics of me and my snakes from 1987.......wait i wasnt born yet...... lol and ya that is sort of dark for a BRB IMO dont know anything about the peruvians though to compare

p.s. digging the hair mike lol

[Boa Amarali]

Re: Back in the day - Me and my boas

Those are fantastic pictures Mike , beautiful Boa specimens you had.

You've been at this a long time Mike !!

I hope you don't mind me asking how long did you have Chuck ?

[RTB_luver]

Re: Back in the day - Me and my boas

VERY NICE! Cool boas Mike!

[MLynch]

Re: Back in the day - Me and my boas

Awesome pictures! Thanks for sharing those memories with us. You don't still have Chuck do you?

Thanks, Zam. And sadly, no I don't still have Chuck.

p.s. digging the hair mike lol

LOL! Thanks Mike. ...Hey, it was the 80's.

Those are fantastic pictures Mike , beautiful Boa specimens you had.

You've been at this a long time Mike !!

I hope you don't mind me asking how long did you have Chuck ?

Thanks, Lar. And yeah, I've been around boas a while.

I got Chuck towards the beginning of my freshman year in high school, so that would be 1984 (I got Ginger maybe 6 months later), and I kept him until 1990. After I graduated high school I did two years at a local community college. While doing that I was living at home and still had my boas, but in the fall of 1990 I started at Rutgers University, and was living on campus. I couldn't bring my boas with me, and it quickly became obvious they weren't going to be getting the care they deserved. My folks were capable (for the most part), but they didn't know my snakes like I did... and my father didn't get along with Arsenic (my 6 foot BCI... it was her personality, not anything he ever did... she left three teeth in his thumb to let him know just how much she didn't like him), and he'd been the reason Ginger escaped once during the summer of 1986 (I was away for a week, so he fed her but didn't secure the cage top). I came home to find her gone. ...Thankfully she turned up a week later no worse for wear.

So I eventually decided it would be best to offer them up for adoption to my former 4-H club members. I knew this way they would go to good homes, and to people who were familiar with them - as I had known many of the club members for several years. ...Watching them go off to their new homes was one of the hardest things I ever did. ...And I cried as Chuck left. He was the last to go.

Chuck was awesome! So gentle, so easy going, and affectionate... I never had a problem with him. And he traveled all over the state of NJ with me during 1987 as I did various presentations on boas - and not once did he ever get stressed or agitated. As a matter of fact I did pet therapy with him for a while in 1988. I would take him to nursing homes and such along with people and their cats or dogs, and Chuck was every bit the soother as they were.

He also had a way with the girls. When around a guy's neck he would get an anchor hold with his tail around the collar of a shirt or in an armpit... but when he was on a girl his tail would go right past the collar and straight to the bra strap! ...Every single time. And believe me, there is nothing better as a teenage boy than getting up close and personal with a cute girl to unwind your boa's tail from her bra strap. I even got a few dates because of him and his bra strap fetish.

My Bella is a close second, but Chuck will always have a place in my heart.

[Boa Amarali]

Re: Back in the day - Me and my boas

Thanks for the in depth answer, that had to have been tough to do , letting them go.

Were you able to keep track of the people who those Boas went to at all ?

I'm glad they went to people you knew.

[DIRTY SHOOTER]

Re: Back in the day - Me and my boas

Great pics you old fart!!

I especially love the feathered mullet!! "Business in the front, party in the back!"

You could be a stand in for Daryl Hall....or was it John Oates?? I get the two confused all the time! ROFL!!!

[bterrill]

Re: Back in the day - Me and my boas

you can just tell by the pics its the 80s

cool pics. our 4h also was just farm stuff here. I would of been all over a snake club.

[jvarner]

Re: Back in the day - Me and my boas

Awesome pictures and stories Mike. Thanks for sharing. Those were some really nice boas.

[bebowebb]

Re: Back in the day - Me and my boas

Great pics Mike!

[MLynch]

Re: Back in the day - Me and my boas

Great pics you old fart!!

I especially love the feathered mullet!! "Business in the front, party in the back!"

You could be a stand in for Daryl Hall....or was it John Oates?? I get the two confused all the time! ROFL!!!

LOL! Thanks, Mike!

Were you able to keep track of the people who those Boas went to at all ?

I was able to keep tabs on them up until the late 90's. All were doing well. Sadly, Arsenic passed in the mid 90's, she was 15+ years old. She was my first boa, and I got her in 1980, and she was 10 years old when I let her go. ...oddly I can't find any photos of her though, and I know I snapped dozens when I first got her. Although admittedly she wasn't the most personable of boas, and seemed to only act positively around either myself or my mother.

By 1996 Chuck and Ginger were still doing well. I lost touch with the guy who took Ginger after that. The last I heard of Chuck was in 1999. He was happy and healthy and pushing 8 feet. Unfortunately my father died later and that year, and that turned my world upside down. I withdrew from nearly everyone I knew, and it was a couple of years before I started to come back around. I tried to contact the family who had Chuck a few years later, but their contact info wasn't any good... they'd moved.

[chaosboa]

Re: Back in the day - Me and my boas

HA! those pictures are great! So 'old school".

[satyra]

Re: Back in the day - Me and my boas

wow those are neat pics, and neat history that you have given us thanks for sharing, i really enjoyed it