Yes - all of the Saboga boas that Rich Ihle myself and Gus ( and a bunch more breeders here in the U.S. ) have are from Saboga Island in the Pearl Island Archipelago ( hence the name boa c. sabogae ). The Boas in Europe that are sold as Taboga boas are in my opinion Boa c. imperator. I say this because of two main reasons. First - Taboga is only a mile or so from Panama & therefore there is no genetic isolation from the mainland ( Boa c. imperator can swim to & from that island ). Secondly - the Taboga boas resemble & make both Hypo & Normal phase mainland looking boas( more evidence of imperator blood ). As for Saboga Island - that Island - is over 50 miles out in the Ocean & hence Genetic Isolation is the reason they are a recognised & valid sunspecies ( and yes - even CITES recignizes them as a valid Subspecies & the scientific community too ).
As far the Reptile park in Costa Rica ever shipping Saboga Boas again - that will most likely not happen simply because they acquired permits that one time ( back in 06 ) and Zoos acquire permits to get Zoo animals for themselves & rarely sell any surplus ( which they did in this one case )- so they have what they need now.
And lastly - thru Cites documentation (of these "Bushmaster" sabogae & Rich Ihles sabogae ) & verbally speaking to the Zoo - these boas came exactly from Saboga Island & entered the US under CITES as Boa c. sabogae.
Lastly - its my opinion that these saboga boas are truly unique from any other Central American Boa. A novice could tell the difference simply by looking at them. I myself have noticed multiple differences from the Saboga boas & mainland Hypo Panamanians in that the Saboga Boas have longer heads & the Panama boas have short heads ( the Saboga Boas were originally described as Epicrates because they had a longer head ). Secondly - Saboga boas breed like tree Boas ( complete wrap each other up ) & their Babies are born huge compared to the tiny Mainland panama Boas. These big saboga babies are probaly an evolutionary response to island life where large prey items are more common than smaller ones & therefore the larger young stand a better chance at survival. Third - saboga boas have small litters of Large Babies While Mainland Panama boas have Big litters of small babies.
And finally - I hope this info helps to settle any questions ( but I really cannot understand why there are any ).

Vin Russo



Saboga Boas

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