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ARE THEY CONSIDERED TO BE A DWARF SPECIES JUST IN THE SAME WAY AS A NICARAGUAN?

I guess that it depends who you ask. I consider the nicaraguans and Hog Islands (actually almost all central american) smaller boas. To me a dwarf boa is from the Tropidophiidae genera. These boas are true dwarfs.

I think that recently people have coined the term "dwarf boa" to mean any boa that grows to 8 feet or smaller in an attempt to differenciate them from the large b.c.c. and therefore make them more appealing to people who are intimidated by boas thinking that they all grow to 12 feet.

Just my 2 cents...

Amie

I would say yes - even though Hog Island Boas differ in coloration and size from most other common BCI, they are still classified as the same species. So, like nicaraguans, they are "dwarfs", if you just take that to mean "smaller than when fully grown" when compared with normal BCI. From what I've seen though, nicaraguans are smaller than most Hog Islands (my Hogs are both over 4 feet).
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Lauren Madar
www.ophidiagems.com
1.1 Hog Island Boas
1.1 Hypo BCI
0.1 Sorong-type GTP
1.0 Normal Ball Python

I think Dwarf is off base. Smaller than a BCC yes, but hogs will get as big as most other CA boas. They can and will breed at a smaller size, but just because they bred and produced at 4-4.5 ft doesn't mean they arent going to get bigger.

I have seen sonorans that were 20 years old at 8ft.. Most are 5ft but they have not reached their max size potential.

I think there are true "dwarf" boas, but without doing scale counts, and selectivly breeding the ones with the lowest counts to keep them small they could revert to average sized in a few generations. Nature doesn't need scale counts because food availablity, and enviorment, naturaly select who will live and who will not in a certain condition.
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Ed Lilley, www.constrictorsnw.com
www.reptileinsider.com