Reptile & Amphibian Forums

From what I've been told, naturally wild-caught boas are one of the most beautiful snakes out there. I was wondering what are some problems that could occur with imports that couldn't occur with captive breds? And also, are these problems able to be treated and fixed, so the boa can be kept in captivity?

My opinion is if you can buy captive bred then do it. There is not much if any differance in color and pattern with captives and imports. Unless you are importing a morph or a to die for BCC then I would buy captive bred. Imports can be very shy or very aggressive, they tend to come in with internal and external parasites, some may take well to captive life while others will not. Some will only feed at night when nobody is around and others will not eat at all or regurge. You can still find boas that look like the wild ones that are captive born. I own some imports and one of them has been great and the other took a few years for her to adapt to captive life.
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True Redtails

Well, a BCC is what I'm really interested. I'm not going to buy one right now because I have absolutely no money for a new snake. But I've always seen some REALLY pretty BCCs that are wild caught. Now if there is a very good looking one, are they a lot of trouble to get back into shape?

Some wild-caughts are nice, but captive-bred animals are almost always better looking. There are two reasons for this: one is because they are healthier and because breeders choose the best-looking animals to breed, and prettier parents produce prettier babies.

There's probably no problem that can occur with imports that can't occur with captive breds. It just that nearly all problems are much more likely to happen with imports. If you buy from a reputable breeder, your animal will be free of internal and external parasites, and will have little chance of carrying a serious disease. None of these things are necessarily true of imports.

Are these problems able to be treated and fixed? Sometimes easily. Sometimes at great trouble and expense. And sometimes not at all. It just depends. You pays your money and takes your chances when it comes to imports.

Breeders also breed for temperment, so captive-bred animals may be easier to tame. And of course, by definition, captive-bred animals are descended from parents who thrived and reproduced in captive conditions, so they are genetically more likely to thrive and reproduce themselves. Even when they are healthy and well-established for many years, imports don't necessarily breed as readily.

Captive-bred animals are a superior product in every way. That's the advice you'll get from just about anyone with experience. Somehow, though, you sound like a guy who's going to have to learn the hard way. I hope I'm wrong.

Really Now ......? :rolleyes:
Breeders BREED TO "BREED" !! Temperment is the "last" thing on a Breeders Discernment List.(if at all)

M/

Quoted;
Breeders also breed for temperment, so captive-bred animals may be easier to tame.

>>Some wild-caughts are nice, but captive-bred animals are almost always better looking. There are two reasons for this: one is because they are healthier and because breeders choose the best-looking animals to breed, and prettier parents produce prettier babies.
>>
>>There's probably no problem that can occur with imports that can't occur with captive breds. It just that nearly all problems are much more likely to happen with imports. If you buy from a reputable breeder, your animal will be free of internal and external parasites, and will have little chance of carrying a serious disease. None of these things are necessarily true of imports.
>>
>>Are these problems able to be treated and fixed? Sometimes easily. Sometimes at great trouble and expense. And sometimes not at all. It just depends. You pays your money and takes your chances when it comes to imports.
>>
>>Breeders also breed for temperment, so captive-bred animals may be easier to tame. And of course, by definition, captive-bred animals are descended from parents who thrived and reproduced in captive conditions, so they are genetically more likely to thrive and reproduce themselves. Even when they are healthy and well-established for many years, imports don't necessarily breed as readily.
>>
>>Captive-bred animals are a superior product in every way. That's the advice you'll get from just about anyone with experience. Somehow, though, you sound like a guy who's going to have to learn the hard way. I hope I'm wrong.

I breed a couple of different species of python, and have always considered temperment in selecting breeding stock. Other people I know do the same thing. Admittedly it's less important with boa constrictors (which I have not bred yet), but I would completely avoid any psycho ones, no matter how otherwise nice.

Name calling ?? LMAO !!!
Well great Wizard do explain the genetic percentages of such breeding doctrine ?Understanding Boids for what they "are" and not what most "assume",this should be pretty entertaining
If its valid enough,Im off to Las'VEGAS !!

M/

>>I breed a couple of different species of python, and have always considered temperment in selecting breeding stock. Other people I know do the same thing. Admittedly it's less important with boa constrictors (which I have not bred yet), but I would completely avoid any psycho ones, no matter how otherwise nice.

"Understanding Boids for what they are..." blah blah blah. Man, what a NUT.

If you had any sort of clue, which you quite obviously do not, you'd know that precise percentages only arise in simple Medelian traits, not quantitative ones. Most genetic traits are not in fact Mendelian.

In case that's too complex for your limited intellectual capacity, I'll give you a specific example. I can't tell you how likely it is that the offspring of two exceptionally large animals will be exceptionally large. I damned well can tell you that they have better chance of being large than the offspring of two exceptionally small parents.

Take a genetics class some time before spouting your ignorance.

Learn something ? LMAO ! Most likely have forgotton what you have yet to learn.
Just as I figured .........
Your snakes are more educated.
Just be careful what you assume in that comfy space behind your keyboard.

M/

>>"Understanding Boids for what they are..." blah blah blah. Man, what a NUT.
>>
>>If you had any sort of clue, which you quite obviously do not, you'd know that precise percentages only arise in simple Medelian traits, not quantitative ones. Most genetic traits are not in fact Mendelian.
>>
>>In case that's too complex for your limited intellectual capacity, I'll give you a specific example. I can't tell you how likely it is that the offspring of two exceptionally large animals will be exceptionally large. I damned well can tell you that they have better chance of being large than the offspring of two exceptionally small parents.
>>
>>Take a genetics class some time before spouting your ignorance.

I don't need to assume anything...you clearly proved your complete ignorance with your previous question about odds with respect to what is no doubt a quantitative rather than Mendelian trait.

Nobody is impressed with your repeated bragging about how much you know, particularly while you are busy asking nonsense questions at the same time.

There are some smokin hot captive BCC's out there and you should pass on the wild caught. I havent had any experance with breeding WC BCC's but I have heard that they are very difficult to breed as captives and ever harder as WC. I have seen some nice looking WC but nothing better than a nice captive bred BCC. I just picked this girl up today, she is captive bred and I personally have never seen a WC that looks this good.

This pic was taken by CE I think

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True Redtails

Yeah that makes sense. Well, I'm just trying to find as much information as possible. And depending on all the opinions, I may or may not buy it because sometimes they're just not worth the risk. So far it sounds like it's a bad idea.

That is a VERY beautiful BCC! Where did you get it? That's just absolutely amazing.

Thanks, I bought her from a friend of mine and he got her a few months back. She was produced my Brian @ florida redtails. Im really stoked on her, she should make some nice babies here in a few years if all goes well. Keep you eyes on the classified ad here on KS for BCC's. I see them there all the time, all sizes and ages and even a few awesome ones from time to time. trust me you will be way happier with a CB. Good luck. Later

-Dylan Keays
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True Redtails

Yeah, I've always been interestd in Florida Red Tail snakes, however, they're all from '04, and I'm really looking for a baby. But either way, love his boas. At the moment I can't afford anything like that, but as soon as I get a new job, I should be able to. Anyways, thanks for your help.

I went back to square one here, because the mudslinging..well you know.

The biggest problem with imports is something you might not be considering. These creatures we love so much are not plentiful in the wild anymore. One day all there will be is captive bred boas because people dumbly think wild is better in ANY way. When you take from the wild you help to make boas become extinct faster (not just extinct, but extinct faster). Most wild captures are also here illegally. It's pretty impossible to take any out of S. America anymore, and very few have the legal means to do so. These laws exist to protect boas. It's pretty selfish in my opinion to take from the wild (unless it's something wholly unique in all the world, like a true albino suriname).

It is also impossible for wild caught bccs to be better looking than captive bred, how could that happen, think about it ...ultimately all the cb's are the same genetics as the wc because they came from the wild too originally. How could they be better in any way? Then people tried to select the best to breed, and becasue of this they get better looking offspring. While there are beautiful individuals from the wild still, there are even more beautiful tame babies with no health problems. If you think you'd like your offspring to have boas in the wild for generations to come, please don't buy wild caught. Just my opinion.

Caden