Well, they're pretty much crap/useless. I agree with charles that we use these names of boas (i.e. surinam, or guyanese etc.) for marketing purposes and so that a well informed buyer has some "image," shaped by the hobby as to what his boa may look like. However, no matter how well a breeder may have kept track of his lines and where they oriniginated from, their validity as a locality specimen will always be questioned. Even wild caught imports are pretty much useless as far as a researcher is concerned...for instance, I was going to work on the systematics of erycine boas, but without vouchered specimens (collected by university/musuem expiditions and preserved with locality data) I couldn't do the project, even with the words of trusted importers telling me a certain snake was collected here, or there...their word just wasn't enough. I think people should keep and appreciate snakes for the subtle (and not so subtle) beauty they each have...none of these animals will ever be used to re-seed wild populations or be used for inclusion in a species survival studbook, just for our own viewing pleasure...

just my two cents...

cheers,
gabriel

[ Hide Replies ]

• Completely Unscientific Assumptions...................... much more............ - Hoppy, Fri Feb 18 07:41:27 2005
• exactly!!! everybody wants to be a true herpetologist without any of the - CE, Fri Feb 18 08:04:43 2005
• RE: exactly!!! everybody wants to be a true herpetologist without any of the - PBM, Fri Feb 18 09:02:31 2005
• RE: regarding locality bred boas and their usefulness in science... - g.gartner, Fri Feb 18 12:33:54 2005
• RE: exactly!!! everybody wants to be a true herpetologist without any of th - chaoscat, Fri Feb 18 16:02:51 2005
• well maybe I should read a few books and then perform open heart surgery - CE, Fri Feb 18 16:32:25 2005
• RE: well maybe I should read a few books and then perform open heart surger - chaoscat, Fri Feb 18 16:37:20 2005
• RE: well maybe I should read a few books and then perform open heart surger - callmedaddie, Fri Feb 18 16:59:39 2005
• RE: exactly!!! everybody wants to be a true herpetologist without any of th - callmedaddie, Fri Feb 18 16:53:22 2005
• RE: exactly!!! everybody wants to be a true herpetologist without any of th - chaoscat, Fri Feb 18 17:01:48 2005
• RE: exactly!!! everybody wants to be a true herpetologist without any of th - callmedaddie, Fri Feb 18 17:16:03 2005
• RE: exactly!!! everybody wants to be a true herpetologist without any of th - chaoscat, Fri Feb 18 17:39:17 2005
• RE: exactly!!! everybody wants to be a true herpetologist without any of th - callmedaddie, Fri Feb 18 17:57:31 2005
• RE: exactly!!! everybody wants to be a true herpetologist without any of th - chaoscat, Fri Feb 18 18:49:43 2005
• RE: what constitutes a herpetologist? Plus, issues of scale in the great boa debate! - g.gartner, Fri Feb 18 18:53:22 2005
• Chaoscat.... - callmedaddie, Fri Feb 18 17:33:00 2005
• RE: Chaoscat.... - chaoscat, Fri Feb 18 17:52:09 2005
• Chaoscat.... - chicagopsych, Fri Feb 18 20:41:03 2005
• Dang it, Jim, why did you have to go and.... - sonoranreptile, Fri Feb 18 08:05:39 2005
• great post!.......more - chicagopsych, Fri Feb 18 09:58:51 2005
• I'm het for, "My Mom." Proven genetics...roflmao - snakepimp, Sat Feb 19 20:48:31 2005
• I am not a Phd, but ... *PIC* - snakepimp, Mon Feb 21 09:35:06 2005
• RE: I am not a Phd., but ... I do have poor punctuation. n/p - snakepimp, Mon Feb 21 09:36:10 2005
• I agree 100%, but your clear, pure logic is probably due to you being into - tcdrover, Fri Feb 18 10:04:30 2005
• Both agree and disagree - callmedaddie, Fri Feb 18 13:30:27 2005