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...I have not seen any published information on the scale counts for the Isla Marajo Rainbow Boa, Epicrates cenchria barbouri. The information has to exist somewhere even if only within the original paper describing the subspecies. If anyone is aware of this information please share it with us here on the forum. I counted scale rows at mid body on my three barbouri and found 45 to 47. These numbers are within the range of 44 to 51 for the Brazilian Rainbow Boa, Epicrates cenchria cenchria. Three specimens is too small a sample size to say for sure that all barbouri would have mid body scale counts within the range of the BRB but it seems likely that this is the case. So how is someone to identify this subspecies? There are plenty of dishonest people in the reptile business who would be more than happy to misidentify a particularly dark BRB as a barbouri and sell it for twice what it would bring if labled as a BRB. These are head PICs of my adult male Isla Marajo so that you can see how they differ from BRB heads. Besides the obvious thicker darker dark markings the Isla Marajos have heads that are fatter and more rounded.

This third PIC is a BRB head shot for comparison. Notice that it is slightly slimmer and more angular. If someone has a BRB head PIC with more detail they may be able to count head scales and find a difference between these two subspecies.

Uh oh, i think were in trouble when jeffs asking US for advice.

Jeff,
I count 13 upper labials on your male but I may be missing one. On the attached photo of my BRB male you can clearly count 14.
Can you give an accurate count of the upper labials?
Also how old and long is that male. The head looks massive.
Beautiful snake.
Paul

Paul,
...Yep, all three of my Isla Marajos have 13 upper labials on each side. I counted on four BRBs and found counts of 14 on all of them. That male Isla Marajo is four years old and between 5.5 and 6 feet long. One of my females is a little smaller than him and the other female is a little longer and lots heavier. The heavy one looks a little overwieght. The male and smaller female are very muscular and athletic looking. This subspecies is like the Colombian Rainbows in that they do not want to be straightened out for an accurate measurement. Like CRBs they are extremely muscular. They seem to spend more time hiding in the flowerpots than the BRBs. Other than those differences in behaviour and musculature and the darker coloration and thicker dark markings and rounder heads they seem much like BRBs and the different labial counts you found. I will have to take a look at the difference Linda noticed.
Jeff

>>Jeff,
>>I count 13 upper labials on your male but I may be missing one. On the attached photo of my BRB male you can clearly count 14.
>>Can you give an accurate count of the upper labials?
>>Also how old and long is that male. The head looks massive.
>>Beautiful snake.
>>Paul
>>

//

The Frontal(?) does seem a little larger as Linda indicated but difficult for me to tell by this photo of my male (angle is different).

Linda and Paul,
... Thanks for the help with this. I looked at all three Isla Marajos. The frontal scale is wider on all of them than on my BRBs. The scales right behind it are parietals and they are also wider on the barbouri. I need to take head shots of all three Isla Marajos and several BRBs. They do not like to hold still while I am counting and measuring scales on their heads.
Jeff

>>The Frontal(?) does seem a little larger as Linda indicated but difficult for me to tell by this photo of my male (angle is different).
>>