Reptile & Amphibian Forums

What is the difference and should i be mad if these two babies were sold to me as true columbian red tails?

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1.1 Columbian red tails (Zeus, Athena)
1.1 Corn snakes (Appolo, Boreas)
0.1 King snake tri striped cal morph (Helios)

If someone sold them to you as TRUE redtails they were not honest with you. True redtails have a RED tail, not a brown or rust one. A true red and a common are distinctly different.

I could go into Meristics, but that would mean nothing to you other than add more confusion. At this point , understand no one is trying to be mean, but they are NOT True reds or reds of any kind. The common boa Moniker is more apt. whether it sound bad or not. Commons are wonderful animals in their own right.

That's why it's best to go by the latin name (or at least initials) when buying a boa. There seems to be a LOT of confusion lately in regard to boas labelled "columbian".

Historically, a normal BCI (boa constrictor imperator) has been called a Columbian Boa, and sometimes as a "common" boa constrictor.

"True" redtails are the species BCC (Boa Constrictor Constrictor), which have a noticably blood red tail. There are some other differences as well (size, feeding, growth rate).

The confusion comes because there ARE BCCs in Columbia. So you could have a Columbian Boa that has a blood red tail, because you are just referring to where the boa came from (there are both BCI and BCC in many South American countries).

Whoever sold you the boa might have just known that it was a "columbian" red tail and not known the difference between BCI and BCC.

Next time you buy though, keep that in mind. If the person does not know if the snake is a BCI or BCC, and you can't tell, I'd avoid buying from them unless you just want a pet and don't mind not knowing its background.