Tale of Two Tails

pitbulllady

Arachnoking
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Awhile back, there was a thread about "Red-Tailed Boas", in which I mentioned that in the pet trade, it's common to call ANY Boa constrictor sp. a "Red-Tailed" Boa, and that term is especially commonly used with the Colombians and Central American Boas(B.c. imperator). I decided to do a little impromptu photo shoot with my recent aquisition off Craig's List, a young adult male TRUE Red-Tailed Boa, a Suriname. He's a long-term captive, wild-caught import who has a rather aberrant pattern-don't know if it's genetic yet since he's never been bred. I threw in a light yellowish young female Colombian Boa that I've had for about a year now for comparison, and understand that she is lighter and probably a bit nicer-looking than the average Colombian Boa...more on her in a bit.

First up, the male Suriname:


AND the female Colombian:


Now, the two of them together:


You can see that the Suri is a lot "cleaner", and this is especially apparent in the tail.

Speaking of which:





There's differences in the heads, too. The BCC's have a larger head in proportion to their bodies, but it's got a more flattened appearance, with more prominent eyes, than the BCI's, and the body style of the BCC's tends to be leaner and almost Rat Snake-like, while that of the BCI's is more cylindrical.

I got this female in a trade about a year ago, and I'd actually been planning on selling her, since she's got more black speckling that I like on my Boas, but she's really coloring up nicely, speckling or no, so I'm really leaning towards keeping her. That yellowish-gold coloration is really quite nice.

pitbulllady
 

StephanieH

Arachnosquire
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I was part of that thread. They both are beautiful. I especially like thaa suriname. I also have been doing research and think that I like the Longicauda. I think that is close to the spelling. More specifically an anery. Although it will be a while before I get one.

Steph
 

KoffinKat138

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Wow the look Amazing!Aren't The Guyana redtails also considered "True" redtails?
 

pitbulllady

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Wow the look Amazing!Aren't The Guyana redtails also considered "True" redtails?
Yes, the Guyana Boas are also true Red-Tails. I know a lot of folks will argue that the Guyanas and the Surinames are very different, but I can't tell them apart. Those countries are side-by-side, and of course, animals do not recognize man-made political boundries. This snake did come from Suriname, originally, though, so I can be assured that he's 100% Suriname! He's really a sweetheart, though, nicer and calmer than most wild-caught BCC's, and a really good "neck" snake, which means he'll stay around your neck while you go on about your usual business all day if you let him.

pitbulllady
 

KoffinKat138

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Yes, the Guyana Boas are also true Red-Tails. I know a lot of folks will argue that the Guyanas and the Surinames are very different, but I can't tell them apart. Those countries are side-by-side, and of course, animals do not recognize man-made political boundries. This snake did come from Suriname, originally, though, so I can be assured that he's 100% Suriname! He's really a sweetheart, though, nicer and calmer than most wild-caught BCC's, and a really good "neck" snake, which means he'll stay around your neck while you go on about your usual business all day if you let him.

pitbulllady
Thats awsome that he has a nice Temperment to be W/C,and that he's from a Pure line.There's SO many crossbreeds with boa's out there,its getting harder and harder to get somthing Pure.
 
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Teal

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Beautiful snakes! Thank you for pointing out the differences between the two :)
 
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