Reptile & Amphibian Forums

well the time has come, one of the best things a dad of a 4 year old girl can hear "daddy i want to see more fuzzys" my daughter named my 6 year old female rubber boa fuzzy about 2 years ago.. i dont know why.. heck she was 2 she didnt know why, lol. of all my snakes she has taken the biggest liking to my rubber boas ( i have 1.2, .1 of which is due any day) and now wants to go herping with daddy. we went up near pacifica last weekend and came up short handed, she was all ready with her little barbie camera and we struck out. any ideas where we may run into a few this time of year? i had found them in the past where we were but no luck this time. going out and finding gophers and kings isnt fun to her because they are "meanys" she says, lol. i know its hot and ill be looking in very cool areas close to water and under logs/branches, or thick ground cover that would shield them from the heat, im hoping that they arent all mainly underground now. any help would be great, thanks in advance

Jay

Jay,
This is the time of year that road hunting at night is likely to be more productive. The species becomes nocturnal during hot weather conditions.

I have done very in the way of searching for the Rubber Boa by driving roads at night. But from the input I have received from others, the odds of encountering the species on roads at night increases with cloud cover and /or after rain showers.

Richard F. Hoyer

I live in the Bay Area, which I guess would be considered Central California.

The only Rubber Boa I've ever found was about 10 or 12 years ago. I don't remember too much about it (because it was before I was really into snakes), but I do remember it was thick, solid brown snake with a stubby tail. Rubber Boas seem to be the only possibility, but the habitat in which it was found was a coastal oak/madrone/bay forest with an elevation of about 130 feet. Weird...

These past few years I have been intentionally looking for Rubber Boas with no luck. I've been looking in seemingly perfect habitats, but still I have found none. I've looked at all times of the day (and night), and gone driving down rural roads in the middle of the night but still no Boas. One thing I think might be wrong is the elevation... I have to drive a long time to get somewhere where the elevation is fairly consistently above 2000 feet. Most of the areas I've been looking in are about 500-1500 feet in elevation.

I'm still looking for them around here, even though I finally broke down and bought a 1.2 trio a couple months ago. Hopefully someday I'll be able to find a wild one...
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- Natalie
(San Francisco Bay Area)

1.0.0 Banded California King
1.0.0 Mexican Black King
1.0.0 Bay of LA Rosy Boa
0.0.1 Kenyan Sand Boa
1.2.0 Rubber Boas

Natalie,
Despite the mushrooming human population in the Bay area, the species persists. On the east side continues to be found in Alameda, Contra Costa, an and Santa Clara (Mt. Hamilton) counties. I have male from Berkeley (Alameda county) and a female from the area near Tilden Regional Park in Contra Costa county.

The species also occurs in Marin county north of SF and to the south in San Mateo, Santa Cruz, and Santa Clara counties. From reports of other herpers in your region, the species seems to be reasonably common in the Santa Cruz Mts.

Richard F. Hoyer

I live in north Marin County, so I mainly go looking in Marin and Sonoma. I've never been looking in the East Bay though... There are so many more people over there I figured they would be even more difficult to find.

Perhaps I should take a look...
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- Natalie
(San Francisco Bay Area)

1.0.0 Banded California King
1.0.0 Mexican Black King
1.0.0 Bay of LA Rosy Boa
0.0.1 Kenyan Sand Boa
1.2.0 Rubber Boas

Natalie,
A few years ago I examined the Rubber boas in the preserved collections at the major institutions in Calif. There are a reasonable number of boas from Marin Co., Mt. Tamalpias (sp?) are I believe. The species occurred in San Francisco county as well and may still be present if there is any suitable habitat remaining. For instance, they have been found in the Army installation called the Presidio.

I recall the species occurs near or along the coast in Sonoma County. I am presently maintaining 5 subadults, obtained as juveniles, and two adults from northeastern Sonoma county in the greater Mt. St. Helena area.

Richard F. Hoyer

Awesome, thanks for the information! I'll take that into consideration the next time I go herping. I've been hiking on Mount Tam a few times, and though I never found any boas, I was never specifically looking for them there.
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- Natalie
(San Francisco Bay Area)

1.0.0 Banded California King
1.0.0 Mexican Black King
1.0.0 Bay of LA Rosy Boa
0.0.1 Kenyan Sand Boa
1.2.0 Rubber Boas