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This is my darkest Brazilian Rainbow Boa,Epicrates cenchria cenchria. She was captive born in 2005 and I picked her up at the Daytona Expo last year because she looked interesting. I was checking cages awhile ago and she had the whitesidewalls coming up here sides really nicely. As soon as I started taking PICs and then took her out of the cage the whitesidewalls went away to some extent. The dark color along her back is a pretty accurate representation of her color and it typically extends all the way down her sides during the day. When I got her she was a much darker brown and her crescents were not as orange as they are now.

I took her out of the cage because I wanted to take PICs showing how she differs from Santarem my anerythristic looking 2004 male. The male has white crescents while the 2005 female has orange crescents. The female also has more red-orange pigment in her ground color where his ground color looks washed out. In this PIC both snakes look lighter and more colorful than they really are.

1) We should all put our heads together and design a study to quantitaively explain the lightening of the sides at night. Between us, we have enough snakes to make it statistically significant. It's been suggested that they do this to thermoregulate. I could buy this if they were diurnal, basking animals. But, I don't think they are. Also, if it was for thermoregulation (I'm assuming the darker phase is used to absorb more heat), then why not have the white extend all the way across the back at night? Why keep any red at all? This is a pretty cool phenomenon that occurs in our species. I bet we're smart enough to figure out why it occurs.

I might start by counting the number of scale rows that lighten and try to correlate this with a time of day. Chime in if there are any thoughts.

2) Do you have any baby pics of the "anery" male? He really does look like the anery adults I've seen. The baby pic would be the proof in the pudding (did I just say that? Where the hell does that phrase come from?)
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Mike Lockwood
www.tooscaley.com

mythbuster experiment Mike. How about putting an orange object in the shade and a perhaps a brown one too off the ground so not to be affected by the connection of the ground by any way (hang by a string) and see which absorbs more heat from the SHADE sort of a thermoregulating experiment to some sort. Just to see if the darker object absorbs more heat than the lighter colored object? Good bad or what? counting the scales are to hard for me lol
Bob

Exactly Bob, that's why I don't quite believe the thermoregulation thing. I'll tell you what, I'll work on the whole mythbuster thing and get back to you.
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Mike Lockwood
www.tooscaley.com

Mike,
...The anerythristic looking male was normal looking as a baby. I did not notice anything special until he was about 9 months old and seemed especially plain looking. It was six more months before he was different enough looking that I suspected something was up with him.
...My guess on the whitesidewalls is that is has something to do with camouflage while hunting at night. It actually seems counterintuitive turning lighter like that but it must be something like that.
Jeff

>>1) We should all put our heads together and design a study to quantitaively explain the lightening of the sides at night. Between us, we have enough snakes to make it statistically significant. It's been suggested that they do this to thermoregulate. I could buy this if they were diurnal, basking animals. But, I don't think they are. Also, if it was for thermoregulation (I'm assuming the darker phase is used to absorb more heat), then why not have the white extend all the way across the back at night? Why keep any red at all? This is a pretty cool phenomenon that occurs in our species. I bet we're smart enough to figure out why it occurs.
>>
>>I might start by counting the number of scale rows that lighten and try to correlate this with a time of day. Chime in if there are any thoughts.
>>
>>2) Do you have any baby pics of the "anery" male? He really does look like the anery adults I've seen. The baby pic would be the proof in the pudding (did I just say that? Where the hell does that phrase come from?)
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>>Mike Lockwood
>>www.tooscaley.com

I was thinking the same thing. Maybe it serves as camouflage. Maybe the lightening of the sides attracts food somehow. Or, how about this - as the color lightens on the sides of the snake, the crescents become more visable. These may attract prey or, they may deter predators - like eyespots or something.

I do believe it has more to do with interactions with other animals/species than it does with thermoregulation.
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Mike Lockwood
www.tooscaley.com

Wow, that is quite the contrast! I find it interesting how you said the white started to darken once it was out. Hmmm...

The only thing I know of that does something similar is my Chameleon. At night when he is sleeping, his colors are as bright as can be, but if you wake him up or it is daytime, his colors change to whatever he wants them to.

I know they are two completely different animals, I just find it interesting that the white walls only happen at night.

Heres a thought... has anyone tried putting their BRB in a very dark room for a few hours to see if the white walls come just when it is dark? I think it would be interesting to see if it is just form being in a dark environment, or when they sense it is actually "night".
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©

that male I got from you also changed color and has white in occli (ssp?)and looks anerish!!!
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Thanks,

Frank Roberts
Roberts' Realm Of Reptile Research

You should post a contrasting daytime pic..
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Thanks,

Dave Colling

www.rainbows-r-us-reptiles.com

0.1 Wife (WC and still very fiesty)
0.2 kids (CBB, a big part of our selective breeding program)

LOL, to many snakes to list, last count:
20.28 BRB
14.18 BCI
And those are only the breeders

lots.lots.lots feeder mice and rats

Jeff,

My Minnie seems to get very white too. Even during the day her sides are very light compared to her top. I will try to get a good pic as soon as she shedds.

By the way the male I got from you is great. I have been traveling quite a bit, and just had it out to where I could really look it over.
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Mike

1.1 BRB
1.0 Spotted Python
1.0 Cal. King