Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I am going to buy a true red tail boa but I have no idea what local I should pick. It is going to be a pet but I also want to use it as my first breeder later on down the road. Which trues market the best? Which one is the best eye catcher? Any and all opinions welcome!

Luke Deer

Surinams are the only non morph locality that I personally keep and find to be the "best" example of a "true" red tail boa. Of course this is only my opinion and I'm sure you'll hear several different opinions and reasons as to why. At the end of the day it comes down to what you like and find appealing. Do you research on each locality, take a look at a few examples of each and then make the decision based on what you like visualy and what you can handle (care, size & temperament wise) Just my $.02 Good luck!
-----
"Go Big or Go Home" Muscle Morph Constrictors Inc. Long Island, New York * MuscleMorphConstrictors@yahoo.com

There are BEAUTIFUL examples of True Red Tails available from several countries. The most common are Peru, Guyana, and Suriname. There are also occasionally animals available from Trinidad, French Guiana, Venezuela, and North Brazil. As was already mentioned, perhaps you should do some research to see which boas you like the most and then try to find the best example from that country. Or, if you see one that blows your socks off, buy it without bias.

In terms of "investment", they're ALL excellent compared to morphs. Morphs decrease in value every day whereas true Red Tails usually at least maintain their value.

My big question is, do you think you're ready for the demanding captive husbandry of a true Red Tail? Your last post showed us that you couldn't tell the difference between a Peruvian and something else.

jb
-----
What's written above is purely my opinion. In fact, MOST of what you read on the internet is someone's opinion. Don't take it too seriously

Jonathan Brady
DeviantConstrictors.com Site received a complete makeover! Check it out!

JB,

Identifying and caring for are two very different things. Ill admit I am very new to the snake community and cannot identify Red Tails just by looking at them yet. I have been researching a lot everyday so that I can get better at telling the difference. I ordered the book: Captive Husbandry and propagation of the Boa Constrictors and related boas, by David Fogel, to help me out. Last night for example I had someone try to sell me another Nicaraguan saying its a Guyana. Needless to say im going to buy off of reputable dealers for now one.

As far as car goes, I have had regular Columbians for a little over a year now and after researching I found that the care is not too much different for True Red Tails. The reason I posted this is to get a better idea, by hearing from people what their favorite traits are in their snakes. But thanks for the advice, I agree it would not be a good idea to get a True Red Tail if I didn't know how to take care of it.

Luke Deer

HI Luke,
First, sorry about getting duped thinking you were trading for a Peruvian Bcc when it's clearly not. I hope you get your snake back without any problems.

Everyone has already offered up some great info regarding your questions. Another book that I think you should get is "The Complete Boa Constrictor" A Comprehensive Guide to the Care, Breeding, and Geographic Races, by Vin Russo. There are other books that are also great but I think Vin's book is a must have IMO for Boa keepers at all levels.

But really I would take advantage of this forum and other Boa forums and use the search function to look up all the different Bcc. You'll find an enormous amount of photos where you'll will start to notice common trends in pattern and color of all the different Bcc. Even better you might come across photos of animals that really blow your skirt up and also know who bred them.

As said already no one can tell you what you like you're going to have to figure that out on your own. They are all beautiful in their own way and it's to subjective to ask someone else what you should get.

I would get familiar with the more reputable breeders of Bcc and checkout their websites if they have them. If they don't have sites you usually can see animals they have produced posted in threads by them or by their customers.

My personal favorite are North Brazilian Bcc which includes Brazilian Bcc from Belem.

Here are a couple of my North Brazilian Bcc. The first one is a Belem, Brazilian Bcc produced by Gus Rentfro at Rio Bravo Reptiles. The other is a North Brazilian (Dyer X Lemke) Bcc produced by Amer at Florida Redtails.

'11 Belem Brazilian Bcc

'08 FLR North Brazilian Bcc


photos by Dan Mulleary DMExotics

-----
Charles Koutris

Thanks for the info, and those are some great looking snakes. I just saw that book on amazon the other day too. Now I know it will definitely be worth getting now. This site is great, I always get the best information lol.

Luke Deer

Your very welcome!! And thank you for the comment about my snakes, I appreciate it!
Definitely snag that book you won't be disappointed.
Here's a list of Bcc breeders that I highly recommend, most of them post ads in Kingsnakes classifieds Boa section- Locality and Subspecific Boas.
The order has no relevance and this list is not complete as I'm sure I left a few out but at least it'll give you some direction.

I also added which Bcc each are working with as best to my knowledge. Projects could have been added or abandoned.

Amer Baghdadi at FloridaRedtails- Suriname, North Brazilian, Guyana
Gus Rentfro at Rio Bravo Reptiles- Belem Brazilians, Peruvian, Suriname
Orlando & Joel Diaz at Legacy Reptiles- Suriname, Guyana, North Brazilian,Trinidad, Venezuelan, and Peruvian
Dan Mulleary at DMExotics- Suriname, North Brazilian
Jonathan Brady at Deviant Constrictors- Guyana
Barry Miller at Miller Reptiles- Suriname
Joel Thomas- Suriname & Peruvian
Richard Ceniceros- Suriname, Guyana, Peruvian
Mike Eckert- Guyana, Suriname
Vin Russo at Cutting Edge Herps- Suriname, North Brazilian, Peruvian, Guyana, Venezuelan
Mike Weitzman at Basically Boas- Suriname, North Brazilian, Guyana
Eugene Bessette at Ophiological Services- North Brazilian
Bob Futo- Suriname
Jack Dyer- North Brazilians

I hope this helps you out some and apologies if I forgot to add someone to the list.
-----
Charles Koutris

Trust me on this Look up Barry Miller website give him a call see what he's got in his snake layer at home to sell! You will thank me later I promise. wink

Jake

Like said already, look around and see what you have an interest in. Google is your best friend when it comes to topics like this for me.

No one will tell you what looks good better than yourself. There are many different tastes in this hobby of keeping and/or breeding boas and i think different colors/patterns/contrasting catch the eye of each individual differently. I like pink and red in my boas.

I wish you the best on your search. I would refer someone but im not really into BCC's. I just sold the one and only that i ever owned.

Ulysses

Look at the Surinamese and guyanan boas produced by legacy reptiles. They're mind blasting!