Reptile & Amphibian Forums

does anyone work with these?the only person i know who used to keep them was Freight Freitas.They are very beautiful , would be nice to have established into hobby.Are they protected?is there
civil unrest on the island?They are considered Gonyosoma janseni,maybe they are being classified as a new species? thks
Darren

Freight could speak to this better than I but no way are they a "new" species. I currently have a Janseni and Gonyo in the same cage and other than the difference in coloration they appear identical. There are a myriad of color phases of Gonyosomas based upon where they come from and also each clutch can throw a variety of color phases. There may be some scalation differences I haven't taken the time to notice but on the surface there are very minor differences. An irascible temperment seems to be a constant regardless of final classification.
Bill

Thanks Bill for your response,what i mean by new species,is it's
considered a melanistic Gonyosoma janseni,but it seems to be built more like G oxycephala and more arboreal than the heavy bodied Janseni.I was not aware they had the same scale count-i am just basing my opinions on the few pictures i've seen online.
thanks Darren

Darren,

I'm not sure if they have different sclation..haven't taken the time to look that closely. IMHO they're basically the same snake...I always kind of thought the Janseni sub-classification was drummed up to get more $$ than from the Oxies! LOL. The two hybridize which in itself means squat based upon some of the more outrageous hybrids out there these days. There is also alot of coloration differences between varying populations of "Janseni" as well.

Bill

I used to keep them. It's a long story but I sold off a bunch and ended up with 0.4 instead of 2.2 and then traded those off as well when I couldn't find a male. At one point I think I had thirteen specimens here. Sadly as far as I know all but one female is left here in the US. The rest are either dead or over in Europe.

They are great snakes and gorgeous as hatchlings. If they are imported again I might once again subject myself to the struggle that is wild caught Gonyosoma, lol.

Here is a picture of a CBB baby.