Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hi all,

I posted in the morph forum also, but there wasn't a lot of activity there, and this pertains specifically to a boa, so I thought someone here might be able to help.

I have a Central American BCI, 7 foot female. Someone brought it to my attention that she may be a "circleback" morph. I looked more into this, and found out that she does in fact have the pattern I have seen in photos of this morph.

I was hoping that someone here might be able to look at her pics and give their opinion on if she is that kind of morph?

Her pics are at the link below.

Thanks a lot for looking at her!
~Kyle
My snake's pics

it is not a morph. In my opinion, your boa does indeed have the 'circleback' pattern, but this is not a morph. It is one of the many characteristics of the 'wild-type' Central American boa constrictors.
I am not all that much into morphs, so my knowledge is limited, but I don't believe that your boa is a 'morph'. I don't think that a pattern that is a common in the wild (like the 'circle-back') is a true genetic morph. In my opinion, too many breeders & brokers coin terms to try to make their boas more marketable. Just look at the ball python market.
Nice looking boa though Kyle. Good luck with him/her!
- Eric

Thanks! I don't know a thing about morphs, and I'm really not into them either, so it's good to get some thoughts about it from people who might know more on this than I do. Basically, I am just trying to learn as much about my boa as I possibly can.

For instance, I was told she was a redtail boa by the guy I got her from. I soon found out that this was not actual, and that she is in fact a BCI, and most likely a Central American of some type. I am still working on getting some possible locales that she may have come from, but as most people told me, you can't really be sure unless you went there and got her yourself.

I really appreciate the information. I was unaware that this was common in the wild.

Take care,
~Kyle

:-}

Hey Kyle,
There are a few thoughts about circleback boas..
I have seen two distinct 'circleback' type patterns, full
cirlceback and connected saddles. Rick S. who sometimes
posts around here has both types, he bred the female pictured
and she produced babies where half had circleback patterns.
IMO your boa's pattern looks like normal variation... the
only way to know for sure is thru many breeding trials which
can take years. Rick is working to prove his girl out since
it does seem to be something inheritable, just needs to figure
out how it's working and make sure it's consistanly duplicatable.
lol
does that make any sense?
I believe some cirlcback/laddertails out there may in fact be
genetic traits (rec/dom?) but those traits are seen so often
in 'normal variants' that most people dismiss the fact some
may be actual 'morphs'.

hope I'm not stirring the pot too much!
lol
-April

Hi Kyle,

I would agree with April on this one. it looks like yours is just a normal pattern aberrancy than anything else. I have started to really notice that there are two distinct types of circlebacks: 1. Is really just connected saddles, with square or blocky saddles, and the connections aren't alway there head to tail. 2. Has saddles connected head to tail, and the saddles actually from circles and aren't as blocky looking. The pattern also seems to be thicker where the saddles are connected.

I just had my female that April posted a pic of produce a litter this year. About 60% of them had circleback patterns head to tail with the saddles being rounded forming circles. I believe this trait to be co-dominant, and hope to prove it in future breeding results. The male I have is more of the square saddled type, which I think is more of just a pattern aberrancy. He is bredding a female here, so hopefully I'll find out in the near future. I attatched a pic of one of the babies I got here this year. I believe this one will prove genetic also, but we'll see.

As for circlebacks not being a true morph, I would have to disagree. I think that some are just from outside factors, temps etc., but I also am fairly confident some are truly genetic. To say that morphs are only created by breeders is kind of misleading, some morphs can and do survive in the wild to reproduce. A good example of this are Hogg Island boas, they are supposed to be a naturally occuring form of Hypo so some morphs do exist and thrive in the wild. I know, Hoggs are really a locale boa, but they can also be considered a morph. I definitely agree with Simbo that some people do call what they have a fancy name to get higher $'s on the snake though.

Hope this helps,
Rick

Here is a photo of one of my circleback boas, she is very clean and has very little black speckling on her, her belly is pink/orange with no black speckling.

boamorphs.co.uk

-----
with regards

Chris Gillam

Thanks for the great replies from everyone. This really helps me out a lot.

:-}

~Kyle