Red-tailed Boa
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- Boa Constrictor redirects here. For other uses, see
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| Boa constrictor |
Red-tailed Boa' or boa constrictor (scientific name), Jibóia (
Common boa constrictors or BCIs (Boa constrictor imperators, a.k.a. Colombian boas) are commonly misnamed "red tailed" boas and are the most common in captivity by far. They have an attractive and interesting pattern of brown to reddish-brown or black "saddles" or dorsal blobs of color on a lighter background color which can range through white, golden, grey or brownish, pink, with a reddish brown tail (see picture).
They do well in captivity, become quite docile, and are a common sight in zoos. Boas can easily live to be 20 to 30 years old in captivity, with rare accounts of them over 40 years, making them a long-term commitment as a pet. Animal husbandry is the most significant factor in captive lifespan.
Female boas produce live offspring instead of laying eggs. Fertilization by the male is internal. During copulation, females can cling to the male via a small set of "spurs" that are generally hidden below scales on either side of the vent and are actually remnants of the hind legs. The gestation period of boas is 108 days after the post ovulation shed.
BCI genetic anomalies (with mutated genes) or "morphs" are plentiful, produced through selective breeding. Some are color morphs and some are pattern morphs and some morphs are both color and pattern morphs. Some color morphs include albinos (lack of melanin, the black pigment), hypomelanistic (reduced melanin), anerythristic (lack of erythrin, the red pigment). By combining these traits we get snows (anerythristic albinos), ghosts (anerythristic hypomenistic bcis), sunglows ( hypomelanistic albinos) and moonglows (hypomelanistic, anerythristic albinos).
Other subspecies include the aforementioned BCCs (Boa constrictor constrictor), which have a red to bright red tail, and can be equally as colorful and show a more complex and attractive pattern in the saddles with widows peaks extending from the saddles in a longitudinal direction, sometimes. There may even be BCC morphs discovered one day. There are reports of what appear to be hypomelanistic BCCs (they would have to be proven with breeding to be genetically inheritable traits to be considered a morph). There's even a rumor of an albino suriname in captivity.
The species has been divided into a number of sub-species that occur from Mexico to Argentina, as well as on the Caribbean islands of Trinidad and Tobago, Dominica and
[edit] References
- ^ Mendes, John. 1986. Cote ce Cote la: Trinidad & Tobago Dictionary, Arima, Trinidad, p. 92.