Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Currently, I am only aware of 3 tangible Argentinian Rainbow Boas; 1) Jeff Clark's ad; 2) NatSamJosh/Ed's male on the forum; and 3) Underground Reptiles' ad. The frustrating thing about ARB's is there is not alot of photos that depicts their true, adult size. Another frustration is their lineage. How many unrelated animals make up the U.S. captive breeding population and does anyone other than Mr. Clark currently breed them?
It seems that Colombians are the only locale that I have encountered other than BRBs. It is a species I have been very curious about for a while, but they just do not appear to be widely available for contrast and comparison. I would like to get a general "feel" for ARBs before inquiring with a breeder and taking up unnecessary time from them if the species is not right for me. In regards to the term "right", I am referring to species I truly enjoy overall. Not monetarily. Not necessarily easy. After working with a spectrum of animals over the years, I have recently focused on a few species that have proven themselves fun to interact with and house; Liasis, Candoia, GTPs, ATBs, Erycines, and some odd colubrids. Sorry for all the hub-bub, let me get to the point of the post. I would like to request from the forum a few photos of an adult BRB alongside an adult ARB in the same tub (for size reference). Any feedback would be deeply appreciated.
Thank you for your time,
Scott

I agree, the lack of information on some of the more uncommon sub-species is frustrating to deal with. Jeff is probably the best person to talk to, at least in the United States. I don't have much information for you, other than that I do know that the Argentinians do not get as large as Brazilians. I believe they only reach 4-5 feet. Mine is almost 2 years old, and his growth rate seems pretty slow (compared to other snakes I've had.) I wouldn't be surprised if he doesn't reach 5' long as an adult. I inquired about the alvarezi in the classifieds, and supposedly Jeff did not produce that one. No idea if the parents or grandparents came from Jeff, though.

Just from personal observation, I've noticed a few more subtle differeces. The heads on Argentinians seem shorter and blunter than those of Brazilians and other subspecies. Also the head striping seems to be consistently different.

Not sure if any of this helps...

Thanks,
Ed

Scott,
...What we see here on kingsnake.com is only a part of the reptile hobby and business. I think there must be at least a few other people breeding them in the US. I have produced less than 70 babies from a couple pairs I had back in the 90s and the pair I have now. If you looked at all the small shows and the Reptile shops all over the country I bet you would find more than a few available. They used to be imported fairly commonly and so there is plenty of genetic diversity in the US. I have not checked the CITES website recently and so do not know if any are still being imported. My gut feeling is that few are imported these days. David Fabius from Uraguay produced some last year and I think a few of the litter were imported including one or two chocolate phase ones. They are not commonly bred because their litters are small and demand is also small resulting in little potential to make money breeding them. I like them because they are easy to care for and are very hardy. Their care is more like that of the common colubrids than just about any other boid. They seem to have more personality than Brazilian or Colombian Rainbows. When I open their cages they move to investigate what I am doing. In the PICs below the Argentinian was exploring and moving around and her movement caused the Brazilian to spend most of the photo session with her head hidden under her body. They will not eat meals as large as similar sized other Rainbow subspecies. The only problem people have with my babies is that they regurge if fed too large a meal or too often. They eat much less and so grow much much slower than Brazilians. The Brazilian Rainbow and Argentinian Rainbow in the PICs are both adult females. They have both produced several litters of babies and are between eight and ten years old. The Argentinian is 54 inches long and weighs 2 pounds 2 ounces. The Brazilian is 75 inches long and weighs 5 pounds 8 ounces. Fist PIC is with flash and second PIC is without.
Jeff

Thank you both for taking the time to respond. And thank you Jeff for the photos! Being a highly visual person, those help fill in quite a few blanks. I do appreciate them; and I really do like the looks of her. Just to clarify, currently Jeff has a breeding pair?
Thanks again,
Scott

Just to clarify, currently Jeff has a breeding pair?

Scott,
...Yes, one breeding pair of them here. I also have one remaining male baby from this year. The adult male is much smaller than the female. Most adult males are 40 to 48 inches long. I had one female that was 5.5 feet long. All the rest of the females I have ever seen were less than 5 feet long.
Jeff

"They seem to have more personality than Brazilian or Colombian Rainbows. When I open their cages they move to investigate what I am doing."

Jeff,

I was pleasantly surprised by Mendoza's personality. He is a curious little guy. It's always funny to see his head poking out of wherever he is hiding to try to see what's going on when he senses I'm in the snake room (or even the room outside the snake room.)

Thanks,
Ed