Locality Boa constrictor imperator information

 

Columbian BCI's 

Possibly the most common BCI in captivity and due to selective breeding has the highest number of morph combinations. They are much larger and heavy bodied boas than many of the other localities. Columbian boas adapt well to captive bred conditions been the easiest locality BCI to keep and breed. The variety of morph combinations is ever growing (BCI Morph List) as we learn more and more about boa genetics.

It is impossible to know how close todays captive bred Columbian BCI is to its wild cousins. Many BCI's have been irresponsibly bred to other Boa c. species, including the Boa c. constrictor and other Boa c. imperator localities.

 

Dorsal Saddles Count from Snout to Vent:

Columbian Boa - 20 - 21

 

Mexican BCI's - Sonoran, Vera Cruz, Cancun, Tarahumara Mountain

 

The habitat of Mexico varies from dry desert to tropical rainforests; boas from here inhabit dry cactus lowlands and also high altitude forests. Temperatures in the north of Mexico have been recorded to reach as high as 110oF in the summer and as low as 50oF in the winter. BCI's from the Mexican region are more heavily patterned and have dorsal saddles that are usually connected in a continuous or near continuous line. Background colour can be tan, chocolate, orange, grey, charcoal, silver or any combination. Tail or caudal markings vary from entirely black, brown or orange to brick and sometimes a dull red.

 

Sonoran Desert BCI's have a background colour of grey to greyish brown with heavy speckling and some pinks and oranges, they also have a large black head spear that occasionally may have a cross that goes from eye to eye. The Sonoran BCI is also available in a hypomelanistic and anerythristic form. The hypomelanistic form is a blond or orange coloured boa with a greatly reduced black colour and through selective breeding super forms of this boa has been produced; these super hypos have very bright, almost red eyes and purple tongues. The anerytheristic form has a silver or gray background with black saddles and white ventral scales. The Sonoran BCI also has a pattern anomaly know as the leopard boa.

 

 

 

Tarahumara Mountain BCI's are the smallest of the BCI localities and are from the north of Mexico living at altitudes of 4000 feet or more in areas of high peaks, forested plateaus and deeply eroded riparian canyons. Youngsters have beige to white background with hints of pinks, as they mature the overall colour darkens and their tails turn rust red to jet black colour. True Tarahumara boas show a typical black headmarkings with a thick spearmarking similar to that of the Boa c. longicauda and their ventral scales have an orangey hue.

Cancun Quintana Roo BCI's have a distinct orange colour with a brightly colour tails, heavily patterned dorsum and connected saddles. The Cancun boa has been almost entirely lost in captivity through crossing into colour morphs and other Central American boas, very few breeders have pure Cancun BCIs.

Vera Cruz BCI's are found in central Mexico. They are often lighter shades of brown to the other Mexican boas with bright orangey tails looking almost hypomelanistic in colour; they also display salmon-pink or peach colour ventral scales. There are very limited numbers of pure Vera Cruz BCI's in captivity, JnB Boas are lucky to have acquired a pair of Vera Cruz BCI's originally bred by Chris Gillam in 2005 who imported a handful from Europe in 2003.

 

Dorsal Saddle Count from Snout to Vent:

Sonoran Desert Boa - 26 - 29

Tarahumara Mountain Boa - 26 - 29

Cancun Quintana Roo Boas - 27 - 31

Vera Cruz Boas - 24 - 29


 

 

Belize BCI's - Crawl Cay, Caulker Cay

Cay Caulker and Crawl Cay are both small islands located off Belize. Both the Crawl Cay and Caulker Cay BCI's have a different head shape to other locality BCI's, resembling that of the Boa c. orophias, and they are lean, muscular snakes.

Caulker Cay BCI's are some of the rarest BCI's kept in captivity, they have the smallest geographical range of any BCI and due to development of the island they are in real danger of extinction. They are naturally anerythristic like in appearance (although some can show a small percentage of pink hues), and grow no larger than five feet, females can breed as young as three years and at 45 inches.

Crawl Cay BCI's are again a true dwarf, reaching lengths of only five feet. They exhibit more reddish brown shades than the Caulker Cay with smaller saddles and heavy speckling. These are more readily available in captivity due to large wild caught imports in the 1980's and very successful captive breeding in the 1990's.

Dorsal Saddle Count from Snout to Vent:

Caulker Cay - 22 - 25

Crawl Cay - 23 - 25

 


Honduras BCIs - Mainland Honduran, Hog Island, Roatan Island

Mainland Honduran BCI's are extremely small but heavy bodied boas that stand out to other Central American boa due to their reddish-orange ventral scales. They also exhibit a lot of red on the sides and have a quite a short head with a pointed nose, they also have little or no spearmarking on the head. The dorsal saddles are not usually connected and appear more to be bands than saddles.

Cayos de los Cochinos or Hog Island BCI's are very different from the mainland Honduran boas as they are very pale light pink or orange background colour, some almost white. Their dorsal saddles tend to be faded and the tail colour a shade darker than the rest of the body. The Hog Island boa has an ability to change colour, going much lighter in colour after dark.

 The Isla de Roatan or Roatan Island BCI's is very similar to the mainland Honduran boa but grow much larger. They have been given the name of 'Fire-belly boa' because of their bright red to orange ventral scales with little or no speckling. The background colour is dark grey with maroon highlights.

Dorsal Saddle Count from Snout to Vent:

Mainland Honduran - 23 - 25

Hog Island - average 25

Roatan Island - 23 -25


El Salvador BCI's

The El Salvador BCI is commonly seen in captivity and a relatively dwarf with adults reaching an average of five feet or less. They have a light brown to dark grey background colour with faded, connected saddles. They also have quite prominent head spears.

The blood boa morph originated from the El Salvador. The 'blood' coloured morph has an entire background colour of red, with youngsters been blood red in colour and adults fading into a burnt, darker red.

Dorsal Saddle Count from Snout to Vent:

El Salvador - average 25

Nicaragua BCI's - Mainland Nicaragua, Corn Island

 

Mainland Nicaragua BCI's are a relatively small boa and come in a variety of colour and pattern mutations. They are relatively easy to obtain as many captive farmed mainland Nicaragua BCI's have been exported over the years. Colour and pattern mutations include hypomelenistic, anerytheristic, ghost, T+ albino, reverse or super stripe, tiger and motley.

 

Corn Island BCI's are located on the Isla de Maize which is 52 miles of the coast of Nicaragua. They have a very distinct background colour that is greenish-tan to almost olive green; they are the only boa with this green colouration. They also have a red or maroon colour flanks and rose pink ventral scales that fade to white or cloudy green with hints of pink as the boa matures. Like the Hog Island BCI the Corn Islands have the ability to change their colours.

Dorsal Saddle Count from Snout to Vent:

Corn Island - 23 -26


Costa Rica BCI's

 

Costa Rica BCI's are very colourful and are a tan/orange colour with very bright rust-red or orange tails. The saddles are orange-brown and usually connected and the ventral scales are also quite orange in colour with a lot of speckling. Costa Rica boas do tend to be a little bit nippy until they mature but do calm down as they get older with regular handling.

Dorsal Saddle Count from Snout to Vent:

Costa Rica - Average 24


Ecuador BCI's

The Ecuadorian BCI is not very common in private collections; in the wild it is found in the west of Ecuador where the highland region separates it from the boa c. constrictor. They have cream to yellow colour backgrounds with dark saddles and a dark, nearly black tail. They have very defined, dark head spears and light grey heads.

 

Dorsal Saddle Count from Snout to Vent:

Ecuador - 18 - 20


True and pure bred locality BCI's

It is safe to say that a lot of 'cross breeding' has been done in the past with locality Boa c. imperators, and because of this many pure lines have been lost. If you wish to own a pure bred locality BCI then ensure you purchase from a well known and reputable breeder. Breeders should be able to trace bloodlines back to the original wild caught specimens. There are very few breeders committed to keeping the blood lines pure. Here at JnB Boas we are working on aquiring some of the finest, pure bred locality BCI's from around the world and we will be committed to keep these line pure.


 

 © Rebecca Lindsay VN