Reptile & Amphibian Forums

any particular marks or features to look for in differentiating the surinames and guyana boa constrictor constrictors?
pictures of each specie are very much appreciated.
how about the peruvians... are there any sites for this infos?
thanks alot.

classiffying them by country of origin is very convenient for dealers/hobbyists that just need to label them as something but is extremely vague and really has no scientific validity. An example of this would be the guyana origin redtails and those from surinam, they are the same species, sub-species and locale. There is no difference between the two IMHO.

Classifiying them by morphological differences based on geographical isolation is much more accurate, and complex.

It is a subject that needs much field research still and I'm certainly no expert. I'm just stating the obvious.

Cheers

the only difference is the country of export (note, not neccisarily origin). the phenotypes occoring in what we expect to see in a guyana, occur in suriname as well and vice versa. the same holds true with all countries with territory in the guyana highlands, or guyana shield region of south america. it includes parts of venezuela, guyana, suriname, french guiana, and parts of norther brazil. in knowing there they are the same ssp, and the same animal and the same 'expected' looks come from all populations (peaks, colors, on and on etc) is there any reason to keep them seperate?

sure, why not? i very much like the idea of pure guyanese boas and pure surinamese, north brazilian etc. we do have some verifiable lines of animals from these locales and theres no reason to mix up the lineage. the hard park is KNOWING the actual location of collection (not export), this region is not that large and the countries sitting there are much smaller. boas collected in guyana can be shipped from suriname and labeled such, and vice versa. So if youve got real deals, keep em that way, i think its rad. if not, be happy with them as being what they are, 'northern' or 'guyana shield' BCC.

the same can be said about the peruvian, ecuadorian, 'amazon basin', and colombian BCC's. all the same, with the subtle 'styles' occuring in all populations. but if youve got an 'iquitos' animal, why not find another? you could find an ecuadorian or a pucallpa animal and have a quite similar litter, and in my mind at least these would still be locality animals, eastern basin locale.

its a tricky subject, lots of people with different views, and ive flip-flopped on the matter before. the short answer to your question is nothing.

above is my assesment from my study on the matter. by no means claiming it is law, its a subject that interests me and i hope to one day have 'figured out'. quite possibly 'never' is when that will happen.
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recycle your pets

Classify them.
For about the past twenty years, people have essentially lumped them into the two groups depending on how they appear.
My perspective (other views may vary some):

Guyanans: Rich to dark lavender/purple sides.
:They tend to have a dark tan to silver dorsal coloration.
istinctive dorsal saddles varying from chocolate brown to almost black.
:Tail is a rich dark red - maroon.

Surinams: Light tan background, sometimes with beautiful pink sides. "Perfect" ones have zero black flecks.
orsal saddles are usually a dark brown.
: Tail has the brightest red of any of the "true" redtails.

Others may add different characteristics to them (please help out here guys

Both may, or may not have great widows peaks (bat wings).
Both usually have nice "eye-lash" markings.
The two of them, along with Peruvians, are my favorite - CLASSIC redtail boas.
Hope this helps.
Max
Pic is of my main breeder Guyanan.
Bill Cagle's Banner ad has (IMO) the stereotypical, perfect Suri.

wouldnt you agree the 2 characteristic sets you listed occur in both populations? i know those are the classic locale desriptions, but it seems that most certainly an animal fitting either description could come from either side.
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recycle your pets

I do agree...
but the original question was, at least the way I interpreted it,
what the differences were.
I took that to mean what people typically consider them to be, even if they do come from the same locales.

How deep can I dig myself here? LOL

The snakes I have & breed I consider Guyanans.
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Just how close do you want it to be, to be a locale breeding?
Careful now - We wouldn't want to breed related animals.

has a Peruvian BCC on it, not a Suriname BCC.

You're absolutely correct.
But, in my defense - it's one of the absolute most beautiful Boas ever...
Cheers, Max

just got a shipment of red tails. no marks wheter they are surinames or guyanans... just the invoice... so i am really having a hrd time distinguishing them.

but most thanks to all the people that gave their views, apparently, i think, as what i have read with this thread, that there is not much very obvious markings that can distinguish them from one another...

the peruvians, just looks very neat, just wan't to have some... that's the reason why i am askings. seemed like their really retty neat and markings are all clean.

again, many thanks.
maybe there are still some follow ups...
much much better if you guys (may i request) post some juvi surinames and guyanans...

Hmmm...
Here's a pic of a juvie Guyanan:

np