It has been nearly four years since I produced the “proving” litter of Key West Boas in 2009. As a result of seeing quite a few Key West Boas of various and sundry additional combinations, I have observed a number of details that I think it is important to detail for all to see. The Key West Boa is an incomplete dominant or dominant mutation. To use the incorrect term typically assigned in the Herp world today, that co-dominant or dominant. We have not been able to prove that there is a “super” form as of yet, though there is very good reason to believe that there will be a super produced. Perhaps in 2014. I was able to get one female Key West gravid this year from the 2009 litter, but she did not produce any offspring.
Key West babies from the proving litter born Oct, 8, 2009:
I do not pretend to be a seer on this mutation or any other. I cannot predict with certainty the future of precisely everything I am going to detail in this write up. This is simply based upon my experience observing more Key West Boas than anyone else has, with the eyes and mind that have proven to be observant throughout the years. So based upon that and what I have seen in some of the other connected pattern type mutations, I will detail what has happened and where I think things are going to go in the future with the Key West Boas.
First; Not all Key West Boas are created equal. That is not all Key West Boas have the connected pattern to the exact same extent as all other Key West Boas. I know that some will say that if a purported Key West Boa does not have a Laddertail, that it can’t be a Key West. However, the Key West mutation and the gene that causes that mutation, remains entirely unaffected by that opinion. There are many poly-genetic characteristics as well as single gene mutations that can and do have influence in the final resulting pattern and color of any Key West Boa. The fact is that some bloodlines and some Key-Combo mutations tend to have an altering impact upon the visual appearance of the connected pattern of the Key West offspring. I would guess that most people prefer the strongest connected pattern possible. In terms of the heterozygous form of this mutation I would fall into this category. However, though a discussion of the “Super” may be just day dreaming right now, I speculate that there are going to be a wide range of “looks” in the Super Keys when and if we do see them. I believe this is a positive in that it will allow for a wider range of “looks” in both the Heterozygous and Homozygous forms of Key-Combination Boas in the future.
Exampled of Key West Combinations:
Key West Motley:
Key West Hypos:
Key West Jungle with inset baby shot. Note the color change over time:
Key West Hypo Jungles:
The thickest connected pattern Boa for which there already is a proven super is the Roswell, or for clarity I refer to the Super form and NOT the Visual Het/laddertail Roswell. Some of those have had the tri-stripe sort of look that is more akin to a Rosy Boa than a Boa Constrictor. In stark contrast is the Super Raptor that produces a visual Het that is subtle to such an extent it is surprising to me, that anyone could have ever identified it as something other than just a normal Boa. This though clearly it is far more than just a normal Boa. The Super Raptor retains the saddle dorsal pattern of a Boa while being insanely busy and super strongly connected in what is an obviously desirable visual appearance.
It is my prediction that a pair of the wispy patterned Key West Boas will make a super that visually is less extreme than two of the thickly patterned Key West Boas will produce together. My reason so saying that is the super forms we have already seen tend show us just that. I don’t know of any reason why the Key West should be different. However, breeding trials are needed to prove it. Now it may very well be with additional breeding that all the connected pattern type mutations may prove to be capable of producing this wide range of visual appearances. Only time with show that or not.
Second; Key West Boas are generally fundamentally more colorful and more washed out than their non-Key littermates. The more Key Wests I watch grow up and change in terms of achieving more mature colors, the more I see richer colors and more overall washed out appearance. The washed out difference is more on the subtle side, but the color difference can be in many instances, shocking!
Thirdly; This is an observation regarding Key West Boas, that I just made in early August 2013. With the exception of Albinos, T-Positive Albinos and Labyrinth Boas, almost all Boas regardless of the mutations packed onto them, will have a BLACK mustache at the very tip of their snout. The size and shape of the mustache can vary, but that BLACK is universal. Not so on Key West Boas.
Note that even on this killer light Ghost Boa, the BLACK is very black on the mustache:
Key West Boas have a faded mustache. Some more so than others and this appears to continue to fade even more with age and size. This is a really valuable observation because some Key West that have the more wispy pattern give away their true genetic treasure by showing that faded upper lip. I have several Hypos that are two years old that I could not tell for sure if they were Hypo Key Wests or not. Once I made this observation, I noticed that each of them had a very faint mustache except one that has a bold black upper lip. I was pretty excited to spot this trait as I think it help others more accurately pick out the potentially questionable Key Wests. It is important to know that the mustache is still there. It is less black but not gone or even necessarily as washed out as the examples that I show below. It is just not the BLACKest of black that the mustache normally is. The darker the overall animal, the more difficult it is to see this faded characteristic. I do not know why this is the case, but it is.
So far the only dark Key West Boas that I have produced are some of darkest Key West Boas Het Sharp. I can see on a couple of the larger and lighter Key West Het Sharp that their mustaches are faded. But it’s really hard to see that change on the darkest of the Key Wests.
Note the faded mustaches on these Key West Boas:
This is one of a handful or nearly four year old adult female Key West Boas.
Here is a crazy beautiful Key West Het Ivory Anery with almost no mustache at all.
Now to be sure, I have had very few of these more wispy patterned Key Wests. I would say only maybe one in twenty or so. It seems that the genetic details contributed by the Non-Key half of any breeding may have an impact upon the way the Key West mutation is expressed. I had Hypo Key West produced by two females in 2011 that ALL had their patterns diminished by the Hypo mutation. But in 2012 and 2013, I have had Hypo Key Wests, one which also made several Hypo Jungle Keys, and each of them you could easily identify as Keys from across the room. The same thing with Key West HET Sharp. One litter they jump up and slap you. The other, they are wispy and made me wonder if there were any in the litter at all at the time when they were born.
I produced five Key West VPI T-Positive babies that all have more wispy Key West patterns compared with Keys with the strongest patterns from other litters. There were two non-Key VPI T-Positive babies in the litter. It is obvious which are which. I also had four that are het Pink Panther VPI babies. Three are Key Wests and one is only a het. All the traits I detailed here can be seen on these non-VPI Key West. More washed out. Very faded mustaches compared to the BLACK mustache of the non-Key. Overall brighter color is starting but will get even better over time.
Here I will illustrate what I have written about here today especially regarding the wispy pattern and the faded mustache:
Two brothers that are both Key West Het VPI T-Positives:
Here is another image on the wispy patterned Key West male with his Non-Key brother. Wispy Key on the left. Sorry the Key West was being a little crabby for the shots.:
Close up shot of the normal non-Key West mustache:
Close up shot of the Key West faded mustache:
See what I mean?
One last image. A wispy patterned Key West Boa on the left and a close up on the bottom left of that Key Wests faded mustache. His brother from the same litter that is not a Key West with the normal Black mustache in the bottom right image.
It sure is fun to stumble upon these subtle little markers or keys to the truth.
;-]
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Jeff Ronne Sr
The Boaphile
Director USARK
Originator of Boaphile Plastics
The Boaphile Boa Site
