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Thought it was about time I put up some pictures of two recent additions to my collection. The first is a Boaowoman caramel direct from Sharon Moore (www.boastore.com). This is from her "Double Caramel Creme" litter.

Here is a hypo motley from Kevin Ivans (Bciexotics)

And one of a possible super hypo Sonoran I produced last year.

Enjoy.

Warren
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Dr Warren Booth / Director USARK
North Carolina State University
Department of Entomology

That BW is very nice, a lot different looking than what Big Mike is producing, yours seems to be more contrasty...nice pick up!!

They are all Killer!
JSC
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"As hard as I've tried, just can't NOT do this"
John Crickmer

some very nice boas you have there Warren

very nice warren if my memory serves me right this animal is from sharons vigin birth litter?correct?can you colaborate a little more about that i know youre the genetic wizard anyway much better looking than any others ive seen from that line great stuff man regards

You are indeed correct. This animal came from the "virgin birth" litter.
I have performed the genetic testing and am waiting on the results of one last thing before we release the findings.

Warren
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Dr Warren Booth / Director USARK
North Carolina State University
Department of Entomology

First a warning: I guess this is a bit of a nit picky post. Sorry about that but "words mean things". That being said...

"Virgin" would imply that the female had never ever been copulated with by any male at any time. That after all is the defintion of "virgin". I do not know if that is the case or not. Has this female never been bred before this year? Even if she had not, she was courted by a male this year leaving the door wide open to a copulation.

The female was intentionally bred with a Sharp bloodline male. Apparently, or presumably, that breeding was unsuccessful producing the expected offspring from this Caramel female.

All the babies came out female and Caramels. This suggests something not heretofore documented to my knowledge in Boa Constrictors, Parthenogenesis. If proven, which we will know for a fact soon enough, (though it certainly looks like that) will be the first for a Boa Constrictor correct Dr. Booth?

Great fun!

The one question is this; Would this have occurred without the courtship of the male(s) even if it is proven that the babies were produced via parthenogenesis?

I say no. Evidence for that answer is this; nobody has ever had a female pet Boa, that never had another Boa in with it, reproduce. Again, as far as I know.

Sorry for my run on sentences and bad grammar. It's chronic.
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Jeff Ronne Sr
The Boaphile
Director USARK

Originator of Boaphile Plastics
The Boaphile Boa Site

The term "virgin birth" is just part of the meaning of parthenogenesis. Definition -----
Parthenogenesis (Partheno-genesis from the Greek παρθενος, "virgin", + γενεσις, "birth" means the growth and development of an embryo or seed without fertilization by a male.
This definition of virgin birth in Greek does not refer to prior knowledge of a male, but simply refers to the embryo being produced without the male DNA.

I've been doing a lot of reading...

This has turned into quite an exciting project. Warren is a great geneticist, and I am glad he is on board.

Sharon/Boawoman
Boastore.com

Sharon is completely correct here. The term is derived not from the fact that the femlae has ever been with a male, but from the fact that ova develope without fertilaztion by a male gamete. Did this happen in this case, all will be revealed very soon. This has been a great study. Sharon has been great to work with and we have somethig very cool on our hands. I am waiting for the final piece of the puzzle to fall into place next week. After that, we will reveal all shortly after.

Has parthenogenesis been recorded in Boa constrictor. The answer is no, to date. It has been reported in other snakes, including Burmease pythons, however there are multiple forms of parthenogenesis and each has implications on th amount of genetic data passed on to teh parthenogens, and also the sex of the parthenogens.

Finally, courting and copulation with a male does not insure his genes will be passed on to offspring.

Watch this space.

Warren
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Dr Warren Booth / Director USARK
North Carolina State University
Department of Entomology