Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Alrighty. As per the locales of our infamous "dwarf" boa types, Costa Rican boas are different from Nicaraguans (unless I've totally misread all that).
So, here's some old pics of my male (need new ones) showing his pale silver sides, pale silver and orange belly is not seen but I have yet to capture it on camera) and his dark backside.

Also note his tail...this boy does not have a single full red scale on his entire body BUT, where you do see some sparce red scales on his tail, note that each of those scales is either only tipped in red or 50% red and the rest of the scale (particularly the part attached at the body) is black.
Anyone ever seen this before?

So what is he? When I bought him, he was labeled as a Nicaraguan and by the description on Gus Renfro's site, he IS Nicaraguan.
But, I just recently got a female for him that looks almost EXACTLY like him and she was labeled as a Costa Rican (pics coming soon).
So how do I tell the difference? I love them either way so it makes no difference which they are...just want to properly label them. ;D

Hugs!

Amanda Rose

Side details.

tail details

Sorry!

wow, he is great lookin he looks EXACKLEY!!! i mean EXACKLEY like my boa!!

wow! Well what is yours? Do you know? LOL I'd love to find out. ;D I fell in love with this boy when I first saw his pics and he blows my mind away with his beauty every day.

Hugs!

Amanda Rose

no, im not shure what he is other than a Male BCI. like i dont know the locality. but he is very dark like that one. nad there tails resemble alot. but your boas tail is alittle darker than mine. but there skin tones. they just look alot alike

if you want to e-mail me, i can show you pics of him

my email is rmman125@sbcglobal.net

Costa Rica and Nicaragua are adjoining countries.
I'm no expert on Central American boas, but I would think that since there are no rivers or mountains seperating the two countries (same with Suriname and Guyana) that it would be difficult to label them without having reliable collection data.
Obviously, Gus would be the one to answer this more reliably!
I was in Costa Rica last year for vacation and I never saw a boa...except in books. It was very disappointing!!
I would love to see your Costa Rica boa when you get a chance!

If I showed Gus these pics of Hector when I got him a couple years ago or not...I want to say I did and he thought it might be a mainland Nic (as opposed to his lovely Corn Isle boas).
It would be really awesome to know but I don't have to I suppose. ;D

I am just more or less wondering, when they breed, what the heck to I label the babies as? lol!
I really want to say he's a nic but I'm not sure. :/

I'll get the pics of the female Costa Rican this weekend. ;D She just shed a few days ago so she's all purdy!

Hugs!

Amanda Rose

It would be nice to see the whole animal in a 3/4 dorsal view so we can get a feeling for how all the parts go together! Anyhow I think you sent me that photo series a while back.

How does it act? real laid back, not much movement when you first pick it up? Don't laugh, behaviour is a big part of locality ID.. The reason I ask is that the Nicaragua boas that have been going around for the past couple of years are smallish, have those looks and act very reserved.

A couple of boxes of Costa Rica boas have been imported and at least one litter of known Costa Rica boas was born last year.. those animals have similar looks, but more orange and red, especially up in the saddles and on the sides.. where this boa is more grey. They also tend to be less cooperative.. My guess is it is most likely a Nic, or mostly a Nic..

The comments on intergrading between these locales are on the money but look at that from the perspective of a locality keeper.. if it is a Costa rica, Nicaragua border boa, then that is what it is, or if you find two boas, each from the interior of those countries and they look identical in every way they are still either Costa rica boas or Nicaragua boas.. until someone crosses them. Then they are something else.

Looks don't determine locality, point of origin does.

Gus

you bring up all the valid points. ;D

I'll work on those picture angles (always love taking pics of him!) and the female for comparison so we can all see belly, side and dorsal views, saddle counts, etc.

I agree with you 100% that appearance does not determine fully where they came from or what they are. It takes a trained eye to determine if a suri is a suri and even then, everyone still tries to identify these as closely as possible, but unless they were there to pick up the animal in its native home in person, there is no 100% way of knowing.
Upon seeing them together, what I am trying to do is determine IF they are the same. If you see some differences...I obviously do not want to cross them. I'll get the pics and we'll see where they are coming from. I'll also do some background digging to find out where these boas originated from as they are both said to be CBB. So we shall see if that also sheds some light on it. ;D

As far as temperament. The female gets scared after a bit but is calming down (she is just an infant and just slithers away quickly out of my hands if she gets the opportunity). The male, even since the first day I got him has been really reserved, shy (he'll go hide almost all the time except at night in his cage and if you set him down away from you, he'll slowly go find the nearest dark hiding spot) and has never offered to hiss, strike or bite. I'm not laughing at you at all on this. I was even reading on your Crawl Cays....interesting (have any ever calmed down with handling as a baby or do they all turn out wanting to be left alone?)

Biggest hugs!

Amanda Rose