Is my boa a BCI or BCC and how do you tell?

[Conners]

Originally Posted by devine*

one word... WOW what a great thread, I've got a few comments:

the big snake picture posted a few pages back - GORGEOUS
congratulations for raising such a beautiful obviously well tamed BCI of that size... I'd love to see more pics and hear more about that one in the future.

That would be my girl, Paris! Thanks for your kind words about her.

I should point out that, as I've posted everwhere on the Forum, I actually got my measurement of her size hopelessly wrong. I used a 60" tape measure, not, as I thought I was using, a 100" tape measure. As such I overestimated her length by exactly 40 inches.

I've measured her a number of times since, and also used the excellent Snake Measurer program, and I always get the same figure - she's 8' 10". (Not 12' 1" as I originally thought!)

She's still a very big girl, though - 50lbs at the last weigh in.

	Boa Constrictor Imperator Boa Constrictor (Boa constrictor imperator). Most common is the Colombian Boa.

[KyleZ]

Originally Posted by devine*

looking at her straight on, I kinda think she might be a Bci too... not 100% sure, if anyone else wants to throw in what they think she is (and why) please let me know!

I'm guessing possibly a "crossed" boa too (BCIxBCC)...she resembles my crossed female a lot. It might be useful to e-mail the breeder and ask if they have pics of both parents...Mine was sold to me simply as a "Colombian," but once I got pics of the parents, the father is clearly nearly, if not 100% BCC (looks Guyanese/Suri), and the mother a BCI (possibly a cross herself)...made for a good combo though, and she's a beautiful pet snake, as is yours...

	Boa Constrictor Constrictor Red Tail Boa Constrictor (Boa constictor constrictor). Refers to "true" red tail boas such as the Guyana and Suriname locales.

	Boa Constrictor Imperator Boa Constrictor (Boa constrictor imperator). Most common is the Colombian Boa.

[devine*]

I bought this snake off a snake collector who was downsizing his collection (all his snakes were purchased Piorun Reptiles). He collected red tails and borneo shor-tailed pythons. He said he paid about 350$ when he first go her from there. I will email the breeder today tho. good idea actually

[Conners]

One of the funny things about the BCC/BCI identification issue is the degree to which some keepers, not on this site I hasten to add, are very snobbish about owning the former, and not the "common" subspecies.

BCCs cost more than BCIs, but are still relatively cheap, some there's nothing especially exclusive about them.

Yet there seem to be people who hang out at the UK reptile classified forums waiting to pounce on anyone who offers a "red-tailed boa" for sale which is a BCI. In these cases the seller isn't trying to earn more money by passing the animal off as a BCC - they're just unwittingly using the term "red-tail" as a generic common name for the species.

The way some people talk about it, you'd think true red-tails were as exclusive relative to commons as Angolans are to Royals.

	Boa Constrictor Constrictor Red Tail Boa Constrictor (Boa constictor constrictor). Refers to "true" red tail boas such as the Guyana and Suriname locales.

	Boa Constrictor Imperator Boa Constrictor (Boa constrictor imperator). Most common is the Colombian Boa.

[Conners]

Originally Posted by Conners

One of the funny things about the BCC/BCI identification issue is the degree to which some keepers, not on this site I hasten to add, are very snobbish about owning the former, and not the "common" subspecies.

I was thinking that I should clarify what I meant here, as it sounds as if I'm objecting to people being fascinated by the different locales and subspecies.

What I had in mind were situations on a couple of message boards I've seen (again, not this one), where for example someone will proudly post a pic of their boa, and a poster will jump in with, "Yeah...only a common though".

	Boa Constrictor Constrictor Red Tail Boa Constrictor (Boa constictor constrictor). Refers to "true" red tail boas such as the Guyana and Suriname locales.

[devine*]

still no word back from the breeder... any more guess's to cleos background? so far I'm thinking mix as well, but I'm still researching.

[devine*]

Originally Posted by Conners

That would be my girl, Paris! Thanks for your kind words about her.
I should point out that, as I've posted everwhere on the Forum, I actually got my measurement of her size hopelessly wrong. I used a 60" tape measure, not, as I thought I was using, a 100" tape measure. As such I overestimated her length by exactly 40 inches.
I've measured her a number of times since, and also used the excellent Snake Measurer program, and I always get the same figure - she's 8' 10". (Not 12' 1" as I originally thought!)
She's still a very big girl, though - 50lbs at the last weigh in.

she is deffinately big & beautiful... how is her tempermant? do you take her out very often? If I had it my way, I'd love to have a "safe in every way possible" room of my house that looks like a mini jungle to keep a snake like that in. I'd love to be able to walk my own "mini jungle" very nice indeed.

[ssjsmits]

Originally Posted by devine*

here's my little girl who I still assume to be a BCC, I beleive she follows all the criteria accordingly

Devine, here's something I'd like to show you because it reminds me of one of my boas when he was younger. Like yours, you can see BCC influence, primarily in the tail..... perhaps a little in color.

.
And here he is 3 years later.

.
In my unprofessional guess, I would also agree that your boa is a cross. But very nice nonetheless.

	Boa Constrictor Constrictor Red Tail Boa Constrictor (Boa constictor constrictor). Refers to "true" red tail boas such as the Guyana and Suriname locales.

[mdot]

I'm pretty new to the boid world. I've had iguanas, corn snakes, and even rehabbed a couple of garter snakes, but this seems to be an entirely different world. I dig it.