Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hi Y'all,
Some of you probably saw me ask this question in the Facebook group, but does anyone know where I can find a reputable breeder of Dominican Red Mountain boas? I'm looking for top notch reds, probably a trio, for a breeding project with a friend. I know Tom Crutchfield has them, and Bob Occhifinto, is there anyone else? I like to get all the options before I make a decision, since this is a big purchase for me. Any other thoughts on the color and pattern variations of this species are appreciated as well!

And sorry it's been so long since I've posted here!
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~Cynthia

"And in the spring, I shed my skin and it blows away with the changing wind..."

Hi Cynthia,

These boa's are stunning. Both Tom C. and Bob O. have outstanding colored snakes. Price is dependent on color and intensity. The prettiest are the bright red type. From 1-3 years you will see constant color changes which seems to depend on night/day cycles, feeding times, or some other reason. Bright red shifts to ghostly white and browns go to purples.

Babies start on anoles, house gecko's, live day old quail, and sometimes live fuzzies. Most take mice at 3-9 months.

One of my pairs started breeding the past few weeks. The red female came from Tom and the orange male was from Bob. Several pictures are posted on my Facebook page.

Of all the boa's available these are my favorite.

Truly,

Paul Bodnar
Crocodile Wildlife Conservationist

Thanks, Paul! I'll check it out.
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~Cynthia

"And in the spring, I shed my skin and it blows away with the changing wind..."

Here is a two year old red female Dominican Mountian Boa that has turned bright red.

Truly,

Paul Bodnar
Crocodile Wildlife Conservationist

As much as I like Tommy Crutchfield, I personally got mine from Bob O. He makes good money in his real business and personally brought over these red mountain boas from the highlands of Dominican Republic (near the border of Haiti. Even Tommy Crutchfields are related to his. Bob is a bit rough on the side cuz' he's a busy man with his real job but his stock of red mountain boas are second to none and no body can dispute this. I believe his original founding stock is about 40 WC animals and you can not top that kinda of diversity. I was fortunate enough to visit his reptile facility and his personal collection is larger than most wholesalers. He produced so many red mountain boas he was giving males that did not turn red away for free for a while. That's the thing with these guys. You really have to wait a good two years before knowing how they'll turn. If u can't afford high red two year olds you can always go cheap and buy non red newborns and rear them up and hopefully they turn red on you! Hope this helps!

Hi Johnnic,

Thank you for your reply. I am glad you have these wonderful snakes, they really are fascinating.

Tom imported a decent sized group of bright red/orange DRMB from Europe unrelated and different in appearance to Bob O.'s stock. I saw both Bob and Tom last week and amongst other topics of discussion we were talking about the differences in the bloodlines during dinner conversations.

If you scroll down a few posts the female I have is a red European import with one of Bob's orange males.

You are absolutely correct on taking time to develop colors, I currently have 4.0 bright red males, 4.0 bright red females sub-adults, 3.0 pastel reds, and a few brown males, all are 3 years old except for 1.1 2011 snakes which Tom bred last year. The babies were born bright orange with black tipping on the pattern, unlike other DRMB which soon turn brown for a time before adult coloration, these babies have increased in color and continue to look bright orange.

When I last visited Bob's place in NJ you can see about nine different color/pattern combinations hypo reds, dark reds, greys, browns, combinations, pastels, and so forth, including calico's. The calico's are born normal looking but contain a masking gene that "turns on" at about 2-3 years, creating white patches or in a few cases a 95% white snake. Several pictures of individuals are posted on Facebook. Tom posts many pictures on his wall and undercurrent imports have several pictures on their page.

Both Tom and Bob are dear friends. You've got terrific boa's, pictures would be nice to view if you decide to post them.

Truly,

Paul Bodnar
Crocodile Wildlife Conservationist