By Steve Hammond-
Imagine if you will, going into your snake room and discovering a totally new mutation of boa constrictor(Boa constrictor ssp.) lurking in a small litter of normal common (Colombian) boas that had just been born. First reaction:Awesome! Second reaction:It probably will die in two weeks. Third reaction:Could it be genetic?
In the summer of 1989, just such an event happened at my home. A new and unique genetic mutation of common (Colombian) boa constrictor-later named arabesque (pronounced air-a-besk) for its linear pattern motif-was born.
It was an exceptionally small litter of five live, healthy offspring and a dozen or so infertile ova, or "slugs." There was one snake that stood out from the rest. He was boldly marked in a fantastic pattern where the dark saddles were reduced to narrow bands with all bands connected dorsolaterally from head to tail with bold stripes. Upon closer examination, I saw very prominent and different head and tail markings, as well.
What happened here? The female was a very old snake (25-plus years old)and had only been with one male that was approximately 15 years old. Both were normal-looking common (Colombian) boas that had been in my collection for eight and nine years and had never produced. I nearly sold them on several occasions, but the deal fell through because the snakes were old and had never produced. This later proved to be fortunate for me.
What had apparently occured was a spontaneous mutation of a new morph of common(Colombian) boa. One in which it is a given genetic trait that the pattern is much reduced dorsally and connected head to tail with bold stripes.
I have been breeding snakes full time since 1990, and would frequently receive requests for boa constrictor offsrping that had connecting saddles. It was a request I could rarely fill because even common (Colombian) boas and red tails with connecting saddles will frequently throw offspring that have seperated saddles. I had tried unsuccessfully to produce some lines of common(Colombian) and red tails with a connecting saddle pattern, but it never seemed to be a genetic trait. Ironically, it was a pair of snakes that I had kept for their extremely light coloration (but which were nothing in the pattern department) that ended up producing the ultimate connecting saddle boa. It would be nice if I could say that through an arduous program of selective breeding I was able to produce a true genetic morph of connecting saddle common (Colombian) boa, but such is not the case, I just got very lucky.
The first thing to do if such an event occurs in your collection is to make plans for breeding the offspring together to see if the new morph is a true genetic mutation.
I did, and it was. On June 30, 1993, the first litter of the new connecting saddle mutation of common (Colombian) boas was born. I cannot describe the thrill I felt when I looked in that cage and saw many miniature duplicates of the father. Prior to this time, it was undetermined if it was indeed a true genetic mutation.
The next thing to do was to decide how many to sell and how many to keep. That was easy. I didn't want to sell many. Next, is how attractive would the new morph be to a wide cross section of herpers-the acid test, so to speak.
Being a strong supporter of Tim Hoen's concept of purchasing rain forest with a captive-bred reptile show, it was decided to unveil the new boa morph at his show. So, without any fanfare or prior announcement, I exhibited six specimens of the new boa mutation at the first Mid-Atlantic Reptile Show in Baltimore, Maryland in 1993. I videotaped people's reactions to the new boa, which drew a lot of attention. Everyone seemed to find the new morph very attractive. Even some non-herpers commented on how neat they looked. Some people were overheard commenting that it looked like the pattern had been drawn on them with magic markers. My thoughts exactly. All of the six boas at the show were for display purposes only and were not yet offered for sale. I still hadn't decided on a price. Also, I had yet to come up with a name for the new morph. After the show, I received numerous phone calls and letters with suggestions for a name, but none that really appealed to me. I began late-night journeys into the dictionary that lasted almost two weeks. Finally, I came across a word that was both descriptive and had a nice ring to it. The new common (Colombian) boa mutation was christened the "arabesque boa."
Only very few offspring were available for purchase, and they went quickly, despite the $10,000 price tag and no advertising. We are very excited about our continued work with this most interesting and very attractive mutation of boa constrictor, and hope to have surplus offspring available this year.
Steve Hammond is the owner of Exceptional Exotics in Louisville, Kentucky, a breeding facility for boas, pythons and colubrids.
something more curent) to see that it has been accepted by Hammond and Kahl that it is co-dominant mutation. Steve does mention a test breed(in the article) with the offspring, since he got results, it only proved that it was genetic. It could still imply a inheritance by a recessive inheritance or co-dominance. Futher test breeds were done by Kahl. Breeding an albino to an Arabesque, seems to imply that the gene is expressed in a co-dom fashion, by 50% of the offspring being Arabesque. You'll notice he didn't mention any Albino Arabesques. That would imply he did the right thing by following the linebreed(or inbreed) done be Steve(nothing wrong with that), with outbreeding. Of course, it shows a degree of vision- rather than only make more Arabesques, he went right for the Albino Arabesque project. That's how he's staying on the cutting edge. Now, the next post is going to be about a lucky mutation- if you can stand anymore "head against the wall banging".
