At the end of last year I decided to diversify my collection and get some boas. These animals were meant to be strictly "pets" and I told myself that I would not "settle" when picking them out. Any animal I purchased had to meet every single one of my criteria perfectly or I was going to pass on it.
Well, in January I found a beautiful Nicaraguan Boa at my locally owned pet shop. Until I saw her, I never really thought much of Nics. Any that I had seen up to that point had been too dark or their colors and patterns had been too "muddy" for my tastes. However, when I saw this girl I fell in love instantly.
Then, in February, my mom told me that in celebration of my 30th birthday she would purchase any snake I wanted. I was completely stunned! She hates snakes and generally only gets me a card for my birthday... not that I'm complaining, I never really feel comfortable accepting gifts for my birthday. When I told her how much the boa I had been eye-balling was she didn't even bat an eye!
The snake I wanted was a 2008 male Suriname that Barry Miller had posted on his website. I had been looking at this particular male for over five months and when I quizzed my wife and son about which one they liked the best they both agreed that he was the pick of the litter. I just couldn't ever bring myself to actually buy the little guy.
Anyways, I received him in March and since then he has grown to become my absolute favorite animal in my collection. I also keep ball pythons -various morphs, various species of tree frogs and a few other "odds-and-ends". Even when compared to my ball python morphs I still find this "normal" Suriname boa to be better looking. Between his awesome color and pattern and his incredible personality I can tell that him and I are going to be great lifelong "friends" not just "owner and pet". I would sell off every other animal in my collection if I had to, but this guy will live with my family and I forever.
Here are the pictures for all of you patient readers!
This is Sian (pronounced Sye-anne) my female Nicaraguan Boa:
Another shot of Sian.
This is Ronin my Suriname boa. He has a fabulously clean pattern and his tail is the perfect red. EXACTLY the animal I was looking for!
Ronin again. I took all of these pics as the sun was going down. Some of the detail was washed out due to how bright the sun was, but the color is actually very close to the way they look in person.
Ronin's pinks are very subtle. His ground color is a sort of light gray. There isn't much difference between his dark and light phases. I think this is my favorite picture of him.
And, finally, the obligatory "tongue-shot"!
Please, feel free to comment, I won't be upset with any opinions posted. I know everyone has different tastes in what they look for in an animal.
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Stay United!
"...I say 'apparently' because despite all our progress she is not at all a tame or handle-able snake and gettting her from that cage would re-start a war.. and we've had a good armistice for several months now."-Gus Rentfro
