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Here is a little tale of an old Hypo male. I call him "Billy G" after the Boa guy I bought him from. Billy G was born, if my aging memory is correct, in 1989:

I just took this picture this morning. He is about 5 1/2' long now.

"Billy G" was acquired originally by Marcia Lincoln and Bill Girden from Dr. David Hardy from Arizona. Dr. Hardy acquired the very first Hypo known while on a trip to Panama back in the 80's. This original Hypo was just a baby when Dr. Hardy first began to care for her. She started making babies in the 80's and Marcia's Hypos were, I believe, from that original female's second litter. I had talked to Bill Girden at the time who told me about these special and different baby Boas. About half the babies had very bright orange tails while about half of them did not. We now know they were Hypos of course but we did not know that back then. Jeff Gee was the first one to identify them as Hypos in about 1993 or so. They called the babies with the bright orange tails appropriately "Orange Tails" at the time that Bill and Marcia acquired theirs. The cost was $100.00 each at that time from Dr. Hardy. Bill and Marcia raised the 2.1 trio they acquired but did not breed them successfully. I acquired them from Marcia in 1994 or 1995. Billy G's sister is actually the grandmother of the first litter of Ghost Boas ever produced. Bill Kirby did that a number of years ago using a male double het for Ghost that Marcia's female produced here for me. This makes "Billy G" the Great Uncle, Great Great Uncle and maybe even the Great Great Great Uncle of many of the Ghost Boa descendants around today. Also, "Billy G's" brother was actually the Hypo to have had the privilege, and pleasure I might add, of being the first Boa to breed the original Monster Tail female. His brother produced the first litter of Monster Tail Hypos back in 2000. "Billy G" did make some babies of his own in 2000. This is one of those babies moments after he was born:

Quite a family legacy but what I really wanted to show was this old male Hypo. Does anyone else know of a male hypo older than "Billy G"?
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hey Jeff. Corey here. i love that story. call me sappy but i get fuzzy when i hear about a boa that has been kept for 18 years. even more so when i know you got more boas than most. good job. i just had a 8 or 9 year old male sire a litter. the owner past away so a solid dob isn't around. any way keep up the good work.

The old man produces some nice babies. At that age I wasnt allowed to have any snakes and even so didnt know much about anything other then a normal BCI.

Thanks for the history lesson
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Chris Farmer
Explicit Reptiles

I can't beleive Billy G is 18 years old! That's fantastic. It's nice to see the lineage that so many of our boas originated from. A question - at 18 years old, is Billy G still an avid breeder or is he just enjoying the golden years and the great grandchildren?

Thanks,
Celia
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Celia Chien
Celia Chien Photography

www.ExoticsByNature.com

www.BoaConstrictorMorphs.com
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Billy G is a lot like old guys. He loves to talk about the good 'ol days but doesn't see so much action any more.

Partially because Billy G is... well, not a very good looking fellow any more in comparison to all the young suiters who I am much more likely to want to use vs. him. After he made that one special baby in 2000, I tried for several years to get him to breed that same female to see if lightning would strike again. It never worked out. Here is a not so great picture of her wrapped around a friend of mine's neck:

She was born in 1989 coincidentally here to a baby from my first litter. She died unfortunately about two years ago aged 16 years after producing many Pastel babies herself in addition to that first produced litter of Pastel Hypos in 2000.

I didn't try to breed him at all this past year. I did last year though to a daughter of the big female above from an earlier breeding. It didn't work out though. I'll just keep him around till he gives out but for now he seems to be doing fine, for an older guy with fond memories. Here is one of Billy G's Grandsons born last year:

He is a proud Grand Daddy that's for sure.
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Actually one of the nicest guys around, and as it turn out also full of very interesting historical data!

It is so nice to see you have cared for that fella for so many years now, he must be like a part of the family by now!!

Denny

I loved your little informative posts. I think it is nice of you to share your history with boas with us. I was only 3 when Billy G came into this world!

Again Great Post! I LOVE reading them!

Greg

You are only 21!?!? I have underwear older than you! LOL Just kidding but seriously folks...

I have two Boas older than you are! One is a wild caught Bolivian female that I obtained as a 6' adult in 1992. She must have been at least six years old at that time and maybe more like ten. Wild caught Bolivians do not get very big and at 6' there really is no way to know for sure. I just assume she must be at least 21 years old but is probably more than 25 years of age. She produced her most recent litter in 2003. Here she is last year being bred by a much smaller fellow:

She did ovulate in 2006, but alas just produced slugs. You would not know it to look at her, but she is that old. She is not a great eater unfortunately so it will be two more years likely before she will be hefty enough to try to breed again. I may try her again, I may not.

I also have a male Bolivian Boa that was born at Joe Terry's place in Fort Lauderdale Florida in 1985. The first litter of captive born Bolivian Boas ever. He is on the left in the middle picture in this page from an article in Reptiles magazine that was published 11 years ago now. He is riding the large female trying to make a few little ones. I acquired him in 1991, if I remember correctly, and have bred him several times since then. This past winter he spent in California breeding some young babe at Derek Yagi's place in Sacramento. You know what they say about those "California Girls". Here is that page:

I'm just going to double check some stuff in my underwear drawer now...
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Don’t discriminate Boas are just as addicting no matter what age you are.

I was actually three when I insisted on having a Boa as a pet after I caught my first snake at a local park. It took ten years of learning everything I could about snakes and trying to convince my mom that it was not just a fad I would get over.

Since my first Boa it has been downhill for me I began experimenting with different morphs and eventually dug a hole to deep for myself to get out of.

And don’t think my parents handed me the money to put myself in this hole. I slaved at McD's for years simply to maintain my habit. My parents only pay room and board (electric bills lol

Thanks again Jeff for your interesting sometimes weird posts

Greg Reinert

here was born in 1981, from the first litter born in the US at Houston Zoo. So, here we are 26 years later! He has fathered many babies. He looks exactly the same to me, meaning he doesn't seem to have really aged.

That is amazing and a much smaller species at that! Great stuff! He was born before I had my first Boa, though I was dreaming of them for many years by then...

I have a Hogg Island Boa male that Mark Wendling bought from you at least 12 years ago. Probably more than 15 years ago, I don't know for sure. I got at least one male and two really large old females at the same time. The females were 7' plus when I got them. All were wild caught. He is one of the original wild caught animals I believe that you had a long long time ago. Any idea when exactly that might have been? Mark acquired him as an adult and he is doing well. He is right around 5' and would breed a rope if I had one for him. Any ideas? Recollections?
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Hi Jeff
I'm not sure if Jeff Gee comes here much, But i would be willing to bet he has some old Hypo's. They sure have cleaned up though out the Years. But my hypos don't even come close to the age of that male. Hey I have a Cron snake thats 24yrs or so. Ask Gee if he has any old hypos I think he has some old ones

Greg VanZweden

http://www.vanzwedenreptiles.com/

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Forever Trust in what we are,and nothing else Matters

That article was in the first issue of Reptiles Magazine that I got with my subscription. Oddly enough it was a few months after I purchased my first boa. Here it is 11 years later and I still have both the article and the boa.

Thank Jeff!!!

I for one would love to just sit and listen to you "old timers" sit and talk about the old days, especially people like yourself who have done as much for this hobby, I am not being sarcastic I am 100% serious, today it seems everyone is too interested in the newest and next great thing(I know I am guilty)I wish I could be considered a youngster, but I know alot of you guys have a ton of knowledge to share, thanks for doing so. Craig

It's nice to be a historian of sorts. I have actually had Joe Terry, one of the real pioneers breeding Boa Constrictors, call me to ask when some of his litters were born. Joe Terry produced the first captive born Bolivian Boas in 1985. He called that the "Original Bloodline". Not a particularly creative name but we hadn't gotten as fancy as we are today. It's just in my head. Who was the first to breed the Boa Constrictors that come from Northwestern Peru? These are called longicauda by most. Marcia Lincoln was first in 1990 or 1991 but very few people remember that because most people interested in Boas at that time are gone now and the majority of those that were interested, just weren't interested in those Boas in particular. Marcia bought those animals from one of the old timer reptile dealers in the 80's and well before, Al Weinberg. They were imported through Tumbes, Peru. It's just in there.

I think somehow there is a little bit of humor knowing "historical" stuff because I was a peer, and a Boa obsessed one at that, while most everything that has happened Boa wise, happened. I have seen a lot of stuff happen and nearly everything is good for the Boa Hobby. Most "historians" are such after much study and research about what happened. I suppose it is sort of like if you participated in the Civil War and could attest to what happened, you could be considered by some to be a good source of Civil War history, though to me this Boa stuff is just in the old noggin because I remember it and lived through it. It's all good stuff rolling around in the old mostly empty skull of mine.

Thanks again!

Jeff
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