Here are a couple of lousy pics of a rainbow boa I owned in the 80s. I bought it at a petstore in Houston, Texas around 1981 or 1982 as a juvenile (yearling?). I'm sure it was wild caught as not too many people were breeding rainbows back then (BRBs were $500+ if you could find one!). I tried for several years to find a mate for it but was unable.
what is odd about it (to me) is that I had the snake for almost 11 years and fed it every 7-10 days during that time. It ate 2-3 adult mice per meal but it never got very big. Even at 10 years of age, an adult mouse left a visible lump in the animal. These pics were shot in 1985 when the snake was at least 5 years old, but it didn't really change in the ensuing 5 years that I had it either.
Furthermore, it never turned brown like all the maurus I had seen before (in pictures). I kept its bold pattern and was noticeable darker brown than most maurus I was familiar with.
Anyone seen others like it?
Any ideas as to geographic origin/ssp?
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Chris Harrison
San Antonio, Texas
