Reptile & Amphibian Forums

i have a brb at the moment,but am very interested in other subspecies,i was wondering which other ones are available, i don't ever hear about other ones besides crb and brb,can anyone tell me a lil info pertaining to some others like barbouri or gaigei?thanx...

I have both a columbian and a brazilian rainbow boa... i love my columbian. I think they are great snakes... they're not quite as picky about heat and humidity as brazilians are either. They're not near as pretty as brb's... but i think they make up for it... or maybe i just love mine.

~pam

a pic of iris.

This photo helps explain why I like this race so much. They are
solidly built-even massive at times, pretty and iridescent.
They are, in many ways completely UNLIKE the Brazilian form.
But all of the races are great in their own way.

thankyou for the compliment.

Judo,
. Gaigei and barbouri are not often available in the US. I have both of them and they are very much like BRBs. Gaigei are so much like BRBs that there is lots of disagreement about whether they actually are a valid subspecies. Barbouri are bigger and heavier and much darker than BRBs. Argentinian Rainbows and Colombian Rainbows are available in the US. Have a look at my website for more information about the other subspecies of Epicrates cenchria.
Jeff
Rainbow Boa webpage

In A. do Amaral's study on the subspecies of E.cenchria he concludes that there are two forms of rainbows, the cenchria types and the maurus types. Do you agree with that?
I think he is probably correct. Certainly, the cenchria types look mostly the same and the maurus types (maurus, crassus,alverezi, etc.) are built the same. The only confusing part for me is that they may be so widely separated from one another.

Carl,
. It seems like a reasonable idea to me. Except, that the ranges of the maurus/alvarezi/crassus types are so widely scattered and ALSO disconnected. Do we have a taxonomist in the house to explain geographocally disjointed subspecies? This subject is something I do not fully understand.
Jeff

>>
>> In A. do Amaral's study on the subspecies of E.cenchria he concludes that there are two forms of rainbows, the cenchria types and the maurus types. Do you agree with that?
>>I think he is probably correct. Certainly, the cenchria types look mostly the same and the maurus types (maurus, crassus,alverezi, etc.) are built the same. The only confusing part for me is that they may be so widely separated from one another.

But there certainly does seem to be two general forms of rainbows. There are those that are orange or red with light crescents on their sides and a more or less slender body.
Then, there are those that are more brownish without the clean 'eyespots' on the sides. These also seem to be similar, in general form, to crassus or maurus with a heavier build.
But like you, I can't explain the range separation.

Carl,
. What would you think of a theory that there are three forms of Rainbow Boas. Maurus could be one form. It is much different than all other Rainbow Boas and should perhaps be a seperate species. Cenchria cenchria and all the other big red and red-orange Rainbows would be a second form and all the southern smaller subspecies (alvarezi, crassus, assissi etc) would be the third. The Guyanans could be an interbreed between maurus and the cenchria cenchria form that occurred several eons back and has mutated slowly to become somewhat different than the first generation cenchria maurusXcenchria cenchria CB snakes which look different than Guyanans. Just an idea?
Jeff

>>But there certainly does seem to be two general forms of rainbows. There are those that are orange or red with light crescents on their sides and a more or less slender body.
>>Then, there are those that are more brownish without the clean 'eyespots' on the sides. These also seem to be similar, in general form, to crassus or maurus with a heavier build.
>>But like you, I can't explain the range separation.

I hadn't considered that the other brownish subspecies were smaller than maurus but you have a point. But then crassus and the Campina Grande subspecies aren't that much smaller are they?
Maybe they are?

The Guyanan theory seems to make a lot of sense. I and I guess others had sort of figured them to be an intermediate but stable form between cenchria and maurus.

The idea that E. maurus could be it's own species I have heard before from Dick Bartlett. They and cenchria are both found in Venezuela and maintain their identities but there could be and intergrade/interbreeding area there that hasn't been reported.