A review of The Complete Boa Constrictor: A Comprehensive Guide to Care, Breeding, and the Geographic Races By Vincent Russo

Hardcover: 280 pages
Publisher: ECO/Serpent's Tale NHBD (2007)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0978897927
Purchase Price: About $55

This is not the book a person would buy at the pet shop along with his or her first boa, and that's a shame, because this book should be mandatory prior reading for anyone who thinks they might want to own a Boa Constrictor.

Vin Russo has generated exactly what the subtitle claims, “A Comprehensive Guide to Care, Breeding, and the Geographic Races” of boa constrictors. This is in the truest sense a reference book, one to which you will return again and again to answer questions on genetics, breeding, geographic distributions, identification and that all important question; what locale must next be represented in my collection?

The first thing I noticed when I received my copy was it's heavy weight for a book of its size. This book is beautifully bound and contains 280 high gloss pages that are riddled with hundreds of great color photos (many of which are contributed by prominent figures in the herpetological community).

As soon as I began to read chapter one, I realized that this book was going to provide its readers with an education. Beginning with taxonomy and nomenclature, Vin Russo explains the history and importance of understanding how these snakes have been classified and provides a great explanation of scale counting; both how to, and the value of counting for identifying subspecies.

The chapter on genetics is worth the purchase price of the book. He explains the terms and their significance in such a way that he leaves no reader behind, yet writes with a sophistication that will end anyone's days of Punnet square shame on their favorite boa forum. If you are interested in morphs and breeding, this is a must read.

The section on basic care is a sound exposition on all the information a newer keeper needs to know to provide adequate care for a boa. Similarly, the sections on breeding and illnesses and injuries, are very good, yet plow little new ground (perhaps because there is little new ground to plow).

Russo firmly cements his place as a go-to resource for serious keepers with the second section of the book, in which he describes (in detail) “all the recognized subspecies, geographic races, and localities of the boa constrictor, including color and pattern morphs and anomalies.”

He begins with Boa Constrictor Imperator and moves through its range, country by country, from north to south, describing the habitats and habits of each locality, paying special attention to variations in size and appearance, breeding peculiarities, and threats to a particular locale. A helpful item is the inclusion of known importation data on some of the more rare locales. Russo includes the actual Cites documents in several cases, showing the limited shipments from certain places, helping to understand why the “Panamanians” at the pet store are almost certainly farmed Nicaraguans, etc.

In this section, the localities as the points of origin of many of the popular morphs are detailed, and the section on Colombians is sure to be a morph lover's favorite.

Vin treats B. C. Constrictor in a separate section, where his love of true red-tails and his years of experience with them are evidenced. His treatment of transitional forms in areas of probable inter-graded breeding is very helpful (both with BCI and BCC) in understanding why some boas are simply inter-grades where territories over lap, and other insular forms are separate subspecies.

Along with the factual data conveyed, Russo passionately pleads for responsibility among keepers and breeders, especially in regard to maintaining purity among Boas of known localities. As someone who has visited much of the range of these snakes, Russo has concluded that deforestation and other types of habitat encroachment could very well result in the herpetological hobby becoming a De facto Noah's Ark for some localities, and there may come a day when captive born boas from your locality-based collection are reintroduced to their native lands to repopulate them. Of course, this is only possible if the documented purity of the locale can be maintained.

In conclusion, this is not a book, it is an education. It is a resource. It is a reference. It is the culmination of the passion and experiences of Vincent Russo and many giants of herpetology who have gone before.

If you are only interested in a care sheet to keep a boa alive in captivity, or a guide to cranking out the best money-making morph of the moment, you won't enjoy this book.

But for those who are passionate about these magnificent animals, this book is a gift; it is a purchase you will never regret.

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