Clearly the majority think this little boy looks like a Jungle.
The majority of the participants believe it looks like a Jungle. Another good question might be is does this look like it could be just a Hypo or maybe a super that has 5/8 Central America "type" blood in him?
Here he is along side his brother:
This litter was sired by the Hypo het blood below:
I had posted a poll asking who thought this Hypo, the father of the recent Hypo, was in fact a Jungle three months ago. The results of the poll were evenly split. Pretty much 50/50. Polls are of course just opinions, but I find it valuable to do these on occasion to see what people think.
This sire had a Jungle father and a Bloody Salmon mother. He and the other babies in the litter are 25% Central American "type" and 75% Colombian "type". His sister is more clearly a Hypo Jungle. Here she is:
The 3 normals from the litter are all females and are typical really unattractive Central American looking nasty Boas. They are robust great animals but they lack in the looks department. I have believed this sire to likely be a Hypo Jungle from the get go even though he isn't a really obvious one. Several points. The broken head stripe. Reduced number of cross bars. Missing a number of saddle points. Relatively good color and the greatly extended long tail blotches I think all point to Jungle. Of course that is just opinion.
Now this season he bred an unrelated 2007 Hypo Het Blood female that is 100% Central American "type". She is typical of that variety as is her non Hypo Sister that is also gravid by the same male. Typical in that a gazillion cross bars, horrible disposition and profound unattractiveness, that hit you full in the face. Again, it's all about the het blood genes.
So to my knowledge a breeding of a Jungle has not been done with a Central American "type" Boa. So we essentially are in the dark as to in fact how much nicer a half Central American Jungle combo animal might look. We don't know how much the color pattern and general appearance will change with the presence of the Jungle gene. That is so far a mystery as far as a conclusive tidy package of ideas to look for in identifying such. WE do know a number of things about the Central American "type" Boas.
Central American "type" Boas mostly have the following:
- More saddles than Colombian "type" Boas.
- Darker more cryptic color. Primarily due to the lack of selective breeding for such in the Centrals.
- A profound bold stripe usually with a cross pattern on the top of the head.
These things are ALL true for sure with all the Het Bloods that I have except the two that I think are Jungles.
I have searched out pictures of Hypo Bloods and found 8 or 9 of them. All but two of them have the stripe down the top of the head intact. Two have a tiny break in that head stripe. The Hypo I posted the recent poll about has the head stripe more diminished than any of the Hypo Bloods that I have found pictures of. The Hypo Blood in this litter has the head stripe obliterated and even segmented. Could this mean they are both Jungles as I suspect their father is? I don't know.
Further breeding is the only way to know for sure and further breeding is exactly what I have planned! The Het Blood sister of the mother of the litter below is gravid and due in three weeks. She was bred by one of her really reluctant non-hypo brothers on and mostly off till the last four weeks or so when I put the Hypo believed Jungle in with her. He was relentless and hopefully father the litter. We shall see.
So here is the litter:
I found the female tail up just as she was starting to push the babies out. By the time I got back with the camera she had already pushed out three kiddies.
There was not a single red snake in the litter after the first nine babies. I started to feel bummed out that the numbers were going to be so bad. Then after pulled my arms and camera out of the cage waiting for the babies, finally a red one was on her way out! I grabbed the camera and with great hast got this picture off. Batman style! Though that wasn't what I planned. LOL
I believed she was all done at this point. She was a LOT more interested in what I was doing now than in giving birth to anything. I went back up to get the better camera feeling a little bit disappointed in the results so far. I didn't get back for about 15 minutes. Then when I looked into the cage I saw that she had pushed out the best of the litter last. A little boy too!
I really liked this picture the best. It came out really clear and shows the brilliant colors perfectly.
You know something? There isn't even a guarantee that is is in fact a Hypo Blood. Since we don't know for sure, this could be a Jungle Blood and not a Hypo at all. I think it probably is, but I and nobody else can really KNOW.
This picture shows the Hypo Blood and the Hypo I started this thread about together illustrating some of the points I hope point to them being Jungles. Time will tell
I look forward to seeing more kiddies that hopefully will give a little better inkling as to what I may or may not have happening with some of these kids. Either way is fine. I am very happy to have the Hypo Blood that may be a Super Hypo too. Nothing wrong with that right!?
Thank you to the several of you who found the file where these pictures were located and yet did not reveal the secret.
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Jeff Ronne Sr
The Boaphile
Director USARK
Originator of Boaphile Plastics
The Boaphile Boa Site
