Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hola folks,

Thanks for the advice several people gave on looking for Charina this time of year.

Last night I went road cruising with some friends. We hit Icehouse road about 6:50 pm, drove around for a couple hours, and left around 9 pm. The air temps were mostly above 50 degrees at most parts of the road. We saw no snakes, dead or alive. There were a bunch of mice running across the road. Most of us in the car have been herping for the last 10 years, and I don't think we would have missed a snake on the road, even a small one.

While we didn't see any, its worth noting that the MVZ and Cal Acad have a number of Charina collected from the sierra in mid-late october.

I've also heard that in the fall Charina are much more likely to be out during or immediately after a rain. Has anyone else found this to be true?

Thanks,

Mike
http://www.mister-toad.com

I searched a board in Contra Costa Co. dozens of times without finding a Rubber Boa. However, following the first soaking rain in fall, on 14 November a large female was located beneath it. The day I found the snake was humid and warm: temperature 18.C (65.F). Yes, I would think that following a warm rain is a good time to seek Boas.

Sierra rain, I suspect, would be too cold while the coastal weather would be more mild. I've seen Charina in the Sierras after the occasional summer thundershowers, but that kind of cold rain might keep them under. I've seen "one here, one there" on autumn nights and I think it's like rosies: Go several days and see none, then several in one night.

Yeah i forgot, the same warm rains that hit the coast range in November, suddenly turn cold when they touch the sierras. They turn so cold that, the normally cold tolerant boa goes into brumation.

Hi William,
Was not aware of your nice photo of Contra Costa county female. She produced 8 large neonates on 8/29 ranging from 8.6g - 9.8g and 9 1/2" to 10 1/8". Besides the size of the parent female and adult male from the Berkely area, these result reinforce the scenario that the East Bay area population is of the large morph. In addition, without reviewing past literature, it is my impression that this litter represents the first such litter from that region to have been examined in detail as to weights, lengths, and scalation features.

After shedding, three of the neonates took a single meal. Will hold them overwinter before making the decision to either retain some of them or release them where the parent female was found.
The parent female has taken a few meals since giving birth so is in reasonable conditions similar to your photograph.

You may recall that I mentioned that the neonates from the Mt. St. Helena area of Napa and NE Sonoma counties have a much different dorsal and ventral coloration than all other newborn Rubber Boas I have ever examined. Well, the real surprise about the Contra Costa county female brood from the East Bay is that their overall coloration is identical to the Napa and NE Sonoma county neonate specimens.

Richard F. Hoyer

Richard,
I have seen dozens of boas from the spot where Will found your snake. Most of the neonates were tan or light brown and yellow-orange below. Some of the smaller adults were the same color, others were grey-green. What do your neonates look like?

Gary:
Neonates from all other regions, Utah, Washington, Oregon and various parts of Calif. invariably are some shade of flesh coloration, darker on the dorsal side gradually becoming lighter on the side and ventrals. Orangish-flesh is what I might characterize such neonate coloration. The shading or intensity of such coloration varies within and between regions.

However, when I first examined a litter of boas produced by Rick Staub's Napa County pair, I made note at the time that they possessed a very distinct medium brown dorsal coloration and a distinct lemon-yellow ventral surface. That was in about 2001. Then last year I received three neonates found on the road in NE Sonoma county with the exact same coloration. The Napa county and NE Sonoma county specimens all come from the population that occurs in the greater Mt. St. Helena region. I have examined two more neonates produced this year from Rick's pair and again the same distinct dorsal and ventral coloration.

Neonates from other regions, besides having a light orangish-flesh color ventrally, may have a hint of yellow ventrally as well. But nothing so distinct as with the Mt. St. Helena area neonates in which the ventral color is a very distinct lemon-yellow.

As mentioned, the E. Bay neonates have the identical coloration. The male parent from Berkeley also has a ventral color that is lemon yellow. But some boas in other regions also exhibit such a rich, lemon-yellow color ventrally so that is not nearly as unusual as what I observe in these neonates.

Naturally, a whole host of question arise. What is the coloration of neonates from the (West Bay region) Santa Cruz Mt. and south? What is the extent of the distribution of this form of neonate coloration in Calif.?

Richard F. Hoyer

Yes, that’s the one. And she is about to be famous, I’ve sold that picture to a publisher that intends to use it for a book. Great she produced offspring! What is the best food for neonates?

Nestlings of native small rodent and insectivores are their most common prey.

The first neonate to take a meal ate a 24 hour old, 1.7 gram lab mouse. No other takers. A day or two later I offered 48 hour old native deer mice babies at about 2 grams each and two other neonates took meals. All other trials since have resulted in none of the boas taking meals. So I will wait until next spring again offer meals to these neonate.

Richard F. Hoyer

have patience and cruise any back road in the sierras above 4,000 feet next june/july and you will see plenty of boas. up here in sonoma county they are fairly common in may/june. good luck/jon