Morti: Tony, First let me thank you for taking the time out of your schedule today to talk with us about the exciting things going on in the world of Rainbow Boas!
Tony Basica: Thank you for asking me to the interview. Any chance to talk about rainbow boas.
M: First up, Tell us a little about the care of Rainbow boas in general. How do they compare to keeping Boa Constrictor Imperators or other boas?
TB: Actually as far as caring for rainbow boas, in general the adults are basically just as easy to care for as red-tails. However baby rainbows especially BRB's require an extreme amount of humidity whereas adults are pretty good with about 70-80% humidity.
The best part is that rainbows LOVE to eat!!!! No worries about feeding problems, very seldom will you get an adult rainbow that was freshly imported refusing to eat anything other than live rats.
M: Wow! The lack of problems with feeding seems like a great benefit! Where would you keep the humidity for a young, growing rainbow?
TB: I keep my young rainbows basically at about 95% humidity in Rubbermaid or Sterilite shoe boxes. I use sphagnum moss to keep the humidity up in my baby boxes and cypress mulch once they get to about a year old. Both substrates work wonderful for keeping up humidity.
M: Once they grow up a bit, how hard is it to convince them that it is time to breed?
TB: Breeding tends to be a bit difficult. Actually let me rephrase that, breeding them is fairly simple, however getting viable offspring and nut just a bunch of slugs is the trick. I simply keep my temps set according to what the averages of their natural environment are. I also don't use any lighting other than what comes through the windows to help with photo periods.
M: I love how boas really don't need special heat and lighting to cycle them. Do you control their food intake before and during the breeding season?
TB: Fortunately rainbows tend to go off feed on their own during breeding season which is awesome. After ovulation an occasional small prey item is given just to help the females keep healthy. Otherwise I don't purposely hold food back from them.
M: So what is the breeding season for Rainbows?
TB: As for breeding season I tend to start putting my males in with my females around the end of September through October on and off until they go off feed. Then I allow the males to spend more time with the females. I basically let the snakes tell me when they are ready.
M: It sounds like they breed pretty readily. So how do you feel about the statement that I heard recently that rainbow boa morphs are the "next big thing" in snake breeding?
TB: I completely agree with that statement. Here are the reasons:
They can't be bred in their first year, they grow fast but don't reach sexual maturity that quickly no matter how much you feed. They have much smaller clutch sizes than red-tails and as seen with ball pythons those two things together create a higher $$$ market. Not to mention the HUGE number of already being worked with pattern and color mutations.
Not to mention that even normal nicely colored babies are going to start selling for at least $200 apiece. So even folks interested in not breeding the high-end morphs will still be able to get a decent investment snake.
M: It really does sound like these are the next big investment snakes. Speaking of morphs though, tell me about the ones that have been proven and tell me which ones you have personally proven.
TB: As for proven morphs there is some fun stuff out there already. The "KEY" player is the anerythristic BRB's proven by Brian Sharp, much like the Axanthics are the "KEY" in other markets the anery will help create the SNOW RAINBOW. The Bulls-eye Type I BRB was proven by David Lorio who produces some very nice animals, the Type I Bulls-eye (at least that’s what I've been calling them) have the solid black circle patterns on their sides. There is a "yellow phase" BRB that has been proven by a breeder in Europe that is very pretty snake. There are also the White Crescent BRB's that have been proven as well by breeders in Europe and I believe Jeff Clark as well. There is also a line of Anerythristic Colombian Rainbow Boas that have been proven and are being worked with now by a private breeder who is keeping them quiet. Hmmm, oh the beautiful Patternless Columbian Rainbow Boas (Co-dominant by the way) have been proven as well.
The star of the Morph market currently, of course, the Hypomelanistic BRB's, proven by East Bay Vivarium, and I believe Daren Bell is working with a line as well.
Those are the proven lines I can think of at this time. There are a TON of unproven animals being worked with as well. Personally I'm working with a killer pair of almost identical twin Hypermelanistic BRB's, a really nice Hypomelanistic female BRB, the awesome one-and-only imported directly from Peru Hypomelanistic Peruvian Rainbow Boa, and a beautiful orange female BRB currently nicknamed highlighted as she has the bright orange coloration found in the crescents bordering the inside of her dorsal pattern as well. I'm also working with a very unusual Colombian rainbow that was born in a clutch of patternless rainbows with a very faint pattern that was much lighter and is still much lighter than the normal and patternless. I'm also working with the Calico BRB's and the Anerythristic BRB's as well.
I've got another very young baby BRB that is so unusually colored I have no idea what she is other than simply BREATHETAKING!!! I will be getting lots of pictures of her as she gets older, all I know about her is that she is going to be a BIG TIME investment once she is proven out!!! Myself and other breeders working with these animals have notice that most "mutations" in rainbow species tend to prove out as simple recessive and VERY seldom show up as co-dominant, in fact currently only the patternless Colombians have been proven as co-dominant!!!
As for more unusual animals being worked with there are 2 varieties of striped BRB's the absolutely stunning double dorsal stripe being worked with by Rich Nuzzi, the Type-II Bulls-eye also by Rich Nuzzi, there is a single dorsal stripe as well as a beautiful pattern nicknamed Leopard as that’s exactly what they look like!!! Also soon to be proven the Leucistic Columbian Rainbow Boas, Hypo-Cream Columbian Rainbow Boas and I'm sure a slew of others being kept quiet.
M: Tell us a little bit more about this "Breathtaking" morph. What color pr pattern variations does it exhibit?
TB: Actually as for that girl I will have to wait until I get some nicer pictures of her before I unveil that project. All I can say is that she has a wild story in that when the breeder looked into her mother’s cage he saw one snake being born so left them alone. He went back about an hour later to find 3 babies and the mother eating a slug, so it is unknown if there were more than one like this in the clutch or not. Its gonna be AWESOME to see what happens with this project!
After a LOT of wagering and begging basically I finally was able to trade lots of animals for this beautiful girl.
M: So what is your most exciting new project... the most exciting you are willing to share with us anyway.
Tony: (Laughs) Probably the Hypomelanistic Peruvian Rainbow, simply because she is so big and beautiful and the ONLY ONE!!! Although for shear looks I would say the Hypermelanistic BRB's...the super dark snake does an amazing thing for bringing out the iridescence on them! Plus the Hypermelanistic will help clean up the other color morphs and may be another route to a Snow Rainbow.
M: One last question... Going into this, you promised our readers a glimpse into something new. What would that be?
TB: Just imagine an almost completely totally 100% WHITE RAINBOW BOA that still keeps its iridescence !!!!!!
M: That would be worth the wait... Unless you happen to have such a snake. (said with a wink)
TB: Only time will tell.... just gotta keep watching the forums. I would keep watching probably late fall, hopefully at Daytona!!!!
M: You are a cruel man... We will be eagerly awaiting all your new projects! Keep them coming! Is there anything else you would like to tell your captive (and captivated) audience?
TB: Yep just one question for everyone out there in Rainbow Boa land...... Is there an albino rainbow boa??? Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmm
M: Hmmm is right. Again I want to thank you for talking for me today. I am sure that rainbows will be the next big thing.
TB: Yep, with the time it takes to breed them, the small clutch sizes and the sheer beauty of them will truly make them the next BIG INVESTMENT SNAKES!!!!
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