Reptile & Amphibian Forums

What a great article on dwarf boas! I had no idea that Nicaraguan Boas came in so many different “natural” color/pattern morphs. I’ve been waiting quietly on the sidelines for hatchling season to arrive so I can pick up a Hogg Island or two, but am considering taking a closer look at the Nicaraguans and maybe even the Caulker Cay Boas. Does anyone keep either of these two types of boas? Was the article accurate in it’s depiction of these snakes? I can tell they are going to be a bit more difficult to find and probably a fair bit more expensive, but how nice to have these alternatives available now for the boa enthusiast. Four and a half to five foot adult hypos, ghosts, Type II anerythristics, Wow! I can hear the stampede of corn snake keepers approaching. ;^P

>>What a great article on dwarf boas! I had no idea that Nicaraguan Boas came in so many different “natural” color/pattern morphs. I’ve been waiting quietly on the sidelines for hatchling season to arrive so I can pick up a Hogg Island or two, but am considering taking a closer look at the Nicaraguans and maybe even the Caulker Cay Boas. Does anyone keep either of these two types of boas? Was the article accurate in it’s depiction of these snakes? I can tell they are going to be a bit more difficult to find and probably a fair bit more expensive, but how nice to have these alternatives available now for the boa enthusiast. Four and a half to five foot adult hypos, ghosts, Type II anerythristics, Wow! I can hear the stampede of corn snake keepers approaching. ;^P

Vin Russo, the author, has some excellent info on those boas. That article was very well-done and accurate, although he did leave out another island form-crawl cays

I keep a Cay Caulker, and several Sonorans. I don't know anything about Nic's except that they can get above 5 feet, but usually don't-and they have a much wider color/pattern variety than Caulkers, which are usually that grey/white/brown color.

My Cay Caulker is an '02 and only at just under 2 feet right now. She is one of the sweetest boas, easy to handle, and only eats about once every 2-3 weeks or so. Being an island boa, they only eat in the wild once a month or sometimes less than that. I'm still trying to find a male for her.

A Cay Caulker baby should run you between $200 to $400 for a super-nice one. If you get one, don't try and feed it every week like you would a corn snake. Feed them sparingly. They also grow slow, and rarely get above 5 feet, which makes them pretty easy to handle and care for.

-cat
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http://chaoscat.lowerground.net/herps/
My collection and herp photography

www.lowergroundreptiles.net

... if you want more info on most of the boa-types in that article visit my website RioBravoReptiles.com.. Several people have commented to me that they think they see the source of some of the inspiration for that NEW article in my website..
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Gus
A. Rentfro
RioBravoReptiles.com
www.riobravoreptiles.com

"Quality is not an accident. Perfectly healthy animals are a minimum requirement.. everything else is just salesmanship" gus

Gus, is the Hog in the PIC on your site one of your breeders? It is a beauty.

no post
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Randall L Turner Jr.
www.aircapitalconstrictors.com

You never experience life until you have kids..then you realize what you should have done rather then what you did do

Thanks Cat.

Cat, your snakes are gorgeous, should be poster snakes for their kind ... I cannot wait to see them in person.

>>Cat, your snakes are gorgeous, should be poster snakes for their kind ... I cannot wait to see them in person.

Thanks! I'm looking forward to seeing yours, and showing mine off as well

-cat
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http://chaoscat.lowerground.net/herps/
My collection and herp photography

www.lowergroundreptiles.net

I can’t wait. I have heard nothing but good things about Hogg Island Boas. You are like me, patiently waiting for this years hatchlings. Good luck to anyone trying to find any pure blood Hogg's this time of the year. I got the only 2003 baby I could find. On the other hand there are plenty of other Hogg’s on the classifieds and Internet, but who knows where they came from and what they are mixed with.
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Jeff
0.1 Wife
1.2 Kenyan Sand Boas
1.1 Smooth-Scaled Sand Boas
0.1 Doberman
1.0 Pitbull
1.0 Collie

the interest in hoggs has peaked. There's nothing like a good article to generate interest in a species. I liked the article, thought it was well written, informative, etc. I also regret that I just accepted payment for my 1.1 '02's. I was offered another project, one I've really wanted, so something needed to go. I may come back to this project but I'm afraid it's going to get tougher and tougher to find pure hoggs. Don't want to start any battles but it really saddens me to see hoggs crossed to produce hypos. One look and you just know something is going on. They are pretty but ... I recently saw a for sale post where the breeder stated that there was some question about the lineage of his "reduced speckle" line of hoggs. Seems to me I saw his post last year sharing the eye candy hypo hoggs he just acquired!
Hope you like this female

I bet there will be an increase in interest in these boas going forward this season due to that article. I know I'm waiting for my pair of Lemke line hogs to arrive sometime soon (weather permitting). I have always been interested in boas but never had enough space with animals as big as the one's Gus posted pics of below (beautiful by the way)! I think the the smaller boa species are an awesome alternative (and will become more popular) for those that are not willing to pay over-inflated prices on various ball python morphs or variants. Plus, the subtle natural variations of some boa species make them more desirable, in my opinion than the genetically engineered morphs. Just my 2cents.
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www.members.aol.com/northeastsnakes

np

..
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Jeff
0.1 Wife
1.2 Kenyan Sand Boas
1.1 Smooth-Scaled Sand Boas
0.1 Doberman
1.0 Pitbull
1.0 Collie