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questions

Whereisalice Jan 10, 2007 05:08 AM

I've been keeping colubrids for a couple of years, but am fairly new to boas and would like some info from you more experienced people.

My husband and I were at a local park on Saturday and happened on a ranger who had found a "big snake" and didn't know what it was or what to do with it. We told her we had snakes, we'd be happy to take a look. Turned out to be a 5-6' redtail. (Not something you expect to see in Florida!) My husband picked it up and we took it home.

We already own a pair of baby bci's and are not sure if we want to keep this one or not. When we brought it home, I was thinking bci, 8 feet, etc. Then started thinking, how do I know it's not a bcc and on it's way to "too big" for me? Is there a way to tell?

Will the shape of the tail give an idea of gender like it will with the kings and corns? We will get it probed tomorrow at our local reptile shop since we aren't comfortable doing a big guy like this, but was curious if an educated guess is possible. If it is, I think we could have a female, in which case, we may keep it.

Anyway, thanks in advance for your help.

Replies (5)

Whereisalice Jan 10, 2007 05:16 AM

Here are some pictures from that morning...

boapaul Jan 10, 2007 07:31 AM

Telling the differance between sub-species is done by scale counts.

mrcanada21 Jan 10, 2007 11:11 AM

I'd like to see a larger version of that map. Anyone know where I could find one?

Cheers

brett beiner Jan 10, 2007 11:38 AM

np

slithering_serpents Jan 10, 2007 11:38 AM

You appear to have a BCI (probably a Colombian), and you can feel for the gender just past the cloaca. Just feel there, if it's a male you'll feel what feels like balls (retracted hemipemes) under the skin, and on a female there will be no such feeling.

Good luck,
Caden
-----
Caden Chapman
slithering.serpents@gmail.com

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