Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I was at a reptile convention recently and saw a nice madagascar ground boa - really pretty colors and markings. I was wondering, does anyone have them and breed them? I notice they are a CITES snake. Do they stay that bright color throughout life or fade/muddy as they age?
thanks,
Donna

Hi Donna, MGB's are closely related to Dumerils boas. Ive never owned any but I have had Dumerils which are quite similar and they are great snakes!! MGB's are known to get bigger than dumerils and I believe have bigger litters.

Dumerils boas seem to keep their coloration throughout their lifetime and Im sure its the same for the madagascar ground boa. Babies sometimes exhibit bright pink hues throughout their bodies and this usually WILL fade. For the most part though, what you see is what you will get as an adult, the red/maroon markings in conjucntion with high contrasting whites and blacks will stay. Awsome animals!

Heres a link that might be of interest to you

http://www.eastbayvivarium.com/virtual/snakes/madboa/madboa.html

Donna ,

I have kept Madagascar Boas,but have never bred them. Neonates seem to be fussy eaters initially. There are lines of them being bred that have a lot of orange and peach colors in them,however, most Mads seem to have a variety of different shades of brown, tan and white. Even the regular ones are attractive snakes. I believe that they are a little more nervous than Dumerills, at least the two that I kept were. Litter size in Madagascar Ground Boas is SMALLER than Dumerills boas in quantity, but the neonates are HUGE. Truly huge. And the adults get larger than most dumerills boas. I rank them right up at the top as one of my favorite snakes.Im not sure how many bloodlines exist, and if there is sufficent genetic diversity in the bloodlines so as not to cause inbreeding problems in the future with this species. My female ate mice,pinky rats, fuzzy rats, and then graduated to larger prey. My male was always a problematic feeder, no regurge or anything but reluctant to feed half the time. All in all, a great snake. Rober Seib, a fellow breeder of Indigo Snakes, breeds these and I beleive has some available. Best of luck to you with these fine snakes.

Sincerely,

Fred Albury

FYI, all boids are listed under C.I.T.E.S. the appendix varies depending on threatened/endangered status.
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tree boas all the fun none of the venom