Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Picked this guy up the other day from local store. Being sold as columbian red tail. To me the color pattern is much darker than columbians ive seen in past. Any thoughts?

Well, the thing is, without knowing the precise lineage and/or locale of the two parents that produced it, it is extremely difficult to know exactly what it truly is, even though it might look extremely similar or almost identical to a specific type. Without knowing the parental lineage, all you can do is go by the outward visual phenotype alone from the one photo there. It looks to be far more indicative of maybe a Colombian x Nicaraguan imperator, or even an authentic Nicaraguan imperator because of the darker body coloration, rusty/brownish-red tail, and smaller circular rings between the saddles that I can just make out in the pic. A good FULL-BODY shot of the entire snake from above without it being coiled in your hand would definitely give a more accurate idea though. It definitely isn't a pure type Colombian B.c.imperator (common boa) from what I can see there. Also pet shops and many hobbyists call Colombians "red tails", but in reality true "red tails" are actually reserved for B.c.constrictor even though common Colombians do also have a dark red tail. Colombian's red coloration isn't as bright or as saturated red and doesn't go as far up the back as true B.c.c. red tails from the Amazon basin area of Brazil, or Suriname, Guyana, Peru, etc...

Here is a Nicaraguan B.c.imperator for comparison.

cheers, ~Doug

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"a snake in the grass is a GOOD thing"

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